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SPA Passport – Mineral Products (MPQC) Classroom Course

The SPA Passport – Mineral Products (MPQC) is the recognised safety passport for contractors and employees working on mineral extraction and processing sites. Run by the Safety Pass Alliance in conjunction with the Mineral Products Qualifications Council (MPQC), the two-day course builds on core health and safety knowledge by concentrating on the risks found specifically in the extraction and mineral products industry.

Many site operators treat a valid safety passport as a condition of entry across quarrying, aggregates, cement and asphalt operations. The course is available as classroom training and as online instructor-led training — both lead to the same SPA passport, valid for three years.

Course Details

  • Duration: 2 days
  • Format: Classroom training
  • Awarding bodies: Safety Pass Alliance (SPA) with MPQC
  • Assessment: Multiple-choice paper at the end of each module
  • Suitable for: Contractors, employees, agency and casual workers needing site access to extraction and mineral products sites
  • Prerequisites: No formal health and safety experience required
  • Cost: From £249.00 + VAT
  • Passport: Valid for 3 years; exemptions are not accepted on MPQC courses

Prices vary by provider, location and delivery format. Use the course search below to compare dates and fees.

View Classroom Course Dates

 

What is the SPA Passport – Mineral Products (MPQC)?

The Safety Pass Alliance is the most prominent safety passport awarding body in the UK, running sector-specific schemes across construction, food and drink, petrol retail, ports, warehousing and mineral products. The Mineral Products passport is the sector scheme for extraction and processing.

The course builds on basic health and safety information by concentrating on risks found specifically in the mineral extraction and products industry. It helps delegates understand the implications of hazards not properly controlled — risk of personal injury, cost to the business, job security, and environmental consequences.

SPA runs the scheme jointly with MPQC, formerly known as EPIC, which is why the passport is sometimes referred to as an EPIC card by longer-serving workers.

Is this the same as the SPA Quarry Passport?

Yes. This is the same scheme under its current name. SPA formed its alliance with MPQC in March 2013 and the Quarry package was rebuilt and renamed Mineral Products at that point, with updated course material, assessments and a module forming part of a QCF qualification.

If your site or employer has asked for a quarry passport, an MPQC card or an EPIC card, this is the course they mean. The card itself carries an ‘MP’ icon.

Who should attend the SPA Mineral Products Passport?

The course is designed for anyone needing site access to a quarry, mine, aggregates yard, asphalt or cement plant, or any other mineral extraction or processing operation:

  • Contractors and subcontractors working on extraction and processing sites
  • Maintenance engineers, fitters and electricians attending plant
  • Hauliers and delivery drivers entering site
  • Agency and casual workers requiring site access
  • Surveyors, inspectors and other visiting professionals

No prior health and safety knowledge is required. Please note this is not the MPQC Driver’s Skills card scheme, which is a separate qualification with its own route.

What’s included in the SPA Mineral Products Passport course

On completion of the course you will have the knowledge to successfully complete each module assessment paper:

  • Demonstrate your understanding of the subjects by successfully completing each module assessment paper
  • Appreciate how you personally can influence good standards within health, safety and environment
  • Understand the value of risk assessment and have the knowledge to recognise when change to a generic assessment is required
  • Understand the common hazards associated with working in this sector

Danger Areas

  • Blasting and precautions
  • Unprotected edges
  • Crushers
  • Excavations, tips and lagoons
  • Quicksand type material
  • Conveyors
  • Processing equipment
  • Bitumen
  • Cement
  • Railways and docks

Mobile Plant

  • Consequences of accidents caused by breaking the rules
  • Reversing vehicle hazards and relevant precautions
  • Working with heavy and mobile plant
  • Crane operation and slinging
  • Vehicle condition
  • Vehicle parking

Access and Working at Height

  • Hazards relating to slips, trips and falls
  • Good housekeeping
  • Ladders and steps
  • Safe practices in the use of scaffold towers and working on roofs
  • The safe use of cherry pickers and man baskets
  • Harnesses and clipping on when working at height

Hazardous Operations

  • Safety precautions during normal, maintenance and breakdown work
  • Fencing
  • Isolation / lock-off procedures
  • Permit to Work and example applications
  • Confined spaces, crusher clearance, conveyor tensioners

Excavations and Confined Spaces

  • Safe working in excavations and confined space
  • Precaution to prevent collapse
  • Inspection requirements
  • Access egress and prevention of falls
  • Lighting, ventilation requirements
  • Effect of weather
  • Emergency procedure
  • Confined space regulations
  • Specified risks
  • Control measures: basic precautions / permit

Health Risks Working in Quarries

  • Dusts, diseases, noise, vibration, and dehydration
  • Control risks measures including PPE

Environmental Considerations

  • Public perception of environmental impacts
  • Powers of inspectors / enforcing authorities and penalties
  • Precautions to avoid spillage and groundwater contamination
  • Waste segregation and disposal
  • Air pollution from dust and noise
  • Ecology and Archaeology

Exemptions are not accepted for MPQC courses. Every delegate attends both days, or the one-day renewal if eligible.

SPA Mineral Products assessment and certification

Assessment is by multiple-choice paper at the end of each module, completed during the course. There is no post-course project and no external examination, which is a meaningful difference from management qualifications such as IOSH Managing Safely.

Successful delegates are registered on the national SPA database and issued a passport photocard carrying their name, photograph, personalised ID number and expiry date. Employers and site operators can verify a passport directly with SPA.

Resit arrangements for a failed module paper are set by the individual training provider rather than by SPA, so ask the provider what their policy is when you book.

Does the SPA Mineral Products Passport expire?

Yes. SPA passports are issued with a three-year expiry date, and that date is absolute. The Safety Pass Alliance withdrew the three-month grace period for Mineral Products in March 2013, so the expiry date is the definitive point at which the passport ceases to be valid.

Renewal is a one-day refresher which can be taken at any point in the six months before expiry. Once the expiry date has passed you are no longer eligible for the renewal and must sit the full two-day course again, so booking ahead of the date rather than after it saves both a day and the difference in fee.

Are exemptions available?

No. MPQC courses do not recognise exemptions, and have not done so since January 2019. Every delegate attends either the full two-day course or, if eligible, the one-day renewal.

This is a genuine difference between the SPA sector passports. On some other SPA schemes, holding another recognised health and safety qualification can exempt you from the Core Day. That does not apply here — both days are mandatory.

How does this compare with the other SPA passports?

All SPA sector passports share a common structure and a three-year validity, but they differ in sector content and in whether exemptions apply.

Passport Sector Duration Exemptions
Mineral Products (MPQC) Extraction, aggregates, cement, asphalt 2 days Not accepted
Core & Food and Drink Food and drink manufacturing 2 days May apply to day one
Core & Petrol Retail Forecourts and fuel handling 2 days May apply to day one
Core Construction (CSCS) Construction, CSCS Green Card route 1 day Classroom only
Related training and progression
Find a SPA Mineral Products course near me

Classroom courses run at venues across England. If you are looking for a course near you, find dates in your area:

Or compare all SPA Mineral Products courses in the UK across every format.

SPA Passport – Mineral Products (MPQC) Online Instructor-Led Course

The SPA Passport – Mineral Products (MPQC) online instructor-led course is a live, tutor-led version of the two-day safety passport delivered remotely by video conference. It follows the same Safety Pass Alliance and MPQC syllabus as classroom training and leads to the same SPA passport, valid for three years.

This is not self-paced e-learning. It is live, interactive training with a qualified tutor over two consecutive days, where delegates ask questions and sit the module assessments in real time. If you would rather attend in person, see the classroom courses.

Course Details

  • Duration: 2 days
  • Format: Live online instructor-led training
  • Awarding bodies: Safety Pass Alliance (SPA) with MPQC
  • Platform: Zoom or Microsoft Teams, depending on provider
  • Assessment: Multiple-choice paper at the end of each module
  • Suitable for: Contractors, employees, agency and casual workers needing site access to extraction and mineral products sites
  • Prerequisites: No formal health and safety experience required
  • Cost: From £249.00 + VAT
  • Equipment needed: PC or laptop with webcam, microphone and stable internet
  • Passport: Valid for 3 years; exemptions are not accepted on MPQC courses

Prices vary by provider and delivery format. Use the course search below to compare dates and fees.

View Online Course Dates & Fees

 

What is the SPA Mineral Products online instructor-led course?

The online instructor-led course allows contractors and employees to complete the full two-day Mineral Products safety passport remotely with a live qualified tutor. Sessions are delivered by video conference over two consecutive days and follow the same syllabus as classroom training, leading to the same SPA passport.

The passport is run by the Safety Pass Alliance in conjunction with MPQC and is widely treated as a condition of site access across quarrying, aggregates, cement, asphalt and mineral processing operations. It demonstrates that a worker understands the hazards specific to an extraction environment before they arrive on site.

Is the online course the same as the classroom course?

Yes in every respect that matters. The syllabus, the assessments and the passport are set by SPA and MPQC, not by where the course is held. A delegate completing the course online receives exactly the same SPA passport as one who attends in person, and site operators make no distinction between them.

Remote delivery is explicitly permitted by the Safety Pass Alliance for this scheme. SPA accredited providers deliver both classroom and remote courses across the UK and Ireland using Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The one notable exception in the SPA range is Core Construction (CSCS), which remains classroom-only — Mineral Products is not affected by that restriction.

The differences are practical rather than substantive: no travel, no venue, and assessments completed on screen under webcam supervision. The full syllabus is listed on the classroom tab.

Who should attend the SPA Mineral Products Passport?

The course is designed for anyone needing site access to a quarry, mine, aggregates yard, asphalt or cement plant, or any other mineral extraction or processing operation:

  • Contractors and subcontractors working on extraction and processing sites
  • Maintenance engineers, fitters and electricians attending plant
  • Hauliers and delivery drivers entering site
  • Agency and casual workers requiring site access
  • Surveyors, inspectors and other visiting professionals

No prior health and safety knowledge is required. Please note this is not the MPQC Driver’s Skills card scheme, which is a separate qualification with its own route.

Why choose online instructor-led training?
  • Attend from home, site office or any suitable location
  • Learn from a live qualified tutor in real time, not a recorded module
  • No travel, accommodation or overnight costs
  • Ask questions and interact with the tutor throughout
  • Same SPA passport as classroom training
  • Suits teams spread across several sites, and remote locations where the nearest venue is a long drive
  • Usually a wider choice of dates than classroom, since courses are not tied to a venue
Online or classroom — which should I choose?

Both lead to the same SPA passport, so the decision is practical rather than about the qualification itself.

Classroom Online instructor-led
Schedule Fixed dates, set venue Fixed dates, remote
Duration 2 days 2 days
Instructor Live tutor in the room Live tutor via video
Time away from work 2 days plus travel 2 days, no travel
Passport issued SPA Mineral Products SPA Mineral Products
Validity 3 years 3 years
Best for Face-to-face learners, groups at one site Dispersed teams, remote locations
How is the online course assessed?
  • Module papers: A multiple-choice paper at the end of each module, completed on screen during the course
  • ID verification: Delegates must verify their identity and remain visible on webcam during assessments
  • Passport: Successful delegates are registered on the national SPA database and issued a passport photocard valid for three years

There is no post-course project and no external examination. Resit arrangements for a failed module paper are set by the individual training provider rather than by SPA, so ask the provider what their policy is when you book.

Equipment and technical requirements
  • A PC or laptop with a working webcam and microphone — mobile phones are not suitable and most providers will not accept them
  • A camera position that shows your face, upper body and desk area during assessments
  • A stable broadband connection. Connection quality is the delegate’s responsibility
  • Zoom or Microsoft Teams installed and tested before the course starts
  • A quiet, private space for both days

You do not usually need your own Zoom or Teams account — providers send a joining link by email. Joining instructions, including setup guidance, are issued in advance of the course start date.

Does the SPA Mineral Products Passport expire?

Yes. SPA passports are issued with a three-year expiry date, and that date is absolute. The Safety Pass Alliance withdrew the three-month grace period for Mineral Products in March 2013, so the expiry date is the definitive point at which the passport ceases to be valid.

Renewal is a one-day refresher which can be taken at any point in the six months before expiry. Once the expiry date has passed you are no longer eligible for the renewal and must sit the full two-day course again, so booking ahead of the date rather than after it saves both a day and the difference in fee.

Are exemptions available?

No. MPQC courses do not recognise exemptions, and have not done so since January 2019. Every delegate attends either the full two-day course or, if eligible, the one-day renewal.

Holding another safety qualification does not exempt you from the first day. That is the case on some other SPA sector passports, but not this one.

Related training and progression

Training more than one person on this course?

If you have a group to put through this course, it can be delivered at your own premises or a venue near you, on a date that suits your shift patterns. No travel, no overnight stays, and priced for the group rather than per person — which usually works out cheaper per head than booking individual places.

Tell us the numbers and roughly where you are, and we will come back with a written quote. Purchase orders and invoicing welcome.

Get a group quote