How Long Is the IOSH Managing Safely Course?
IOSH sets Managing Safely as a three-day course. That’s the full course for line managers, supervisors and team leaders, and it needs no previous safety experience.
IOSH lists in-person, online and hybrid delivery, and each approved provider decides how to run the three days. Some run them back to back; others spread them out so managers aren’t away from their teams for a whole week. Self-paced e-learning versions also exist from some providers, and how long those take depends on the learner. Whichever format you choose, ask the provider how the days are scheduled and when delegates can expect their certificate.
We run IOSH Managing Safely over three trainer-led days, live online in a virtual classroom or on-site at your premises anywhere in the UK.
How Long Is IOSH Working Safely?
IOSH Working Safely is a one-day course for employees at any level. If you’re deciding between the two, our comparison of IOSH Managing Safely vs Working Safely sets out who each one is for.
Does an IOSH Certificate Expire?
No. IOSH’s own answer to “how long is an IOSH certificate valid for?” is that its certificates don’t expire. The Managing Safely course page says the same about the Managing Safely certificate. A certificate gained years ago is still a genuine IOSH certificate.
That’s different from many other workplace certificates, which carry a fixed expiry date. It’s also why people get confused: training providers, employers and site rules often talk about IOSH “needing renewal”, when what they mean is a refresher recommendation or their own policy.
How Often Should You Refresh IOSH Managing Safely?
IOSH recommends refresher training every three to five years, to keep knowledge current and reflect changes in legislation and best practice. That’s a recommendation, not a legal rule: no law says a manager’s IOSH certificate must be renewed.
The legal duty sits elsewhere. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers must give the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to keep people safe. Training that was right for a manager’s role five years ago may not cover the risks they manage now. So the sensible question isn’t “has the certificate expired?” but “is this manager still up to date for the job they do today?”
Some situations make a refresher worth bringing forward:
- the manager has taken on new teams, sites or types of work;
- there has been a serious incident or a near miss that exposed gaps;
- the law, guidance or your own procedures have changed;
- a client, contract or tender asks for a certificate gained within a set period.
What Is the IOSH Managing Safely Refresher?
The Managing Safely Refresher is a one-day course for anyone in a management or supervisory role who has already completed the full Managing Safely course. It’s not a shortcut for people who never did the full course.
According to IOSH’s fact sheet, it revisits the key parts of Managing Safely through a plan, do, check, act safety and health management system, with leadership at its heart:
- Thinking back: what delegates took from the full course, and the key reasons for managing safely.
- Leadership: why it matters and how to create a positive safety culture.
- Plan: what a safety and health policy is, what it includes and how to put it in place.
- Do: a risk assessment exercise, and how to communicate the findings to the workforce.
- Check: what can be measured, and how data shows whether the plan is working.
- Act: reviewing performance and acting on lessons learned.
Delegates who succeed receive an IOSH Managing Safely Refresher certificate.
We run the one-day refresher ourselves, live online on Microsoft Teams or on-site at your premises: see our IOSH Managing Safely Refresher course for the details.
Photo: Adhitya Sibikumar on Unsplash
Refresher or the Full Course Again?
For most managers who hold Managing Safely, the one-day Refresher is the quicker route. There are times when the full course makes more sense, though: if the manager can’t show they completed the full course (the Refresher is only for people who did), or if it has been many years and their role has changed a lot since.
For Working Safely, IOSH doesn’t list a separate refresher. People usually retake the one-day course. And if someone with Working Safely has since been promoted to supervisor, the right next step is Managing Safely, not Working Safely again.
Why Do Employers and Clients Ask for a Recent Certificate?
A certificate that doesn’t expire can still be out of date in practice. Law and guidance change, workplaces change and people forget what they don’t use. A recent certificate is an easy way for a client, principal contractor or auditor to see that a manager’s knowledge has been kept current.
So even though IOSH certificates stay valid, check your contracts, site rules and tender documents. If they ask for training within a set number of years, that’s the rule that matters for that work.
How Do You Check an IOSH Certificate Is Genuine?
IOSH has an online training certificate verifier. You need the certificate number, first name and surname; date of birth is optional. It gives an instant result.
If no result is found, don’t assume the certificate is fake. IOSH says a valid certificate may not show if it was issued recently, the name has changed, it’s older than the system recognises, or the details were entered differently. Employers should accept the original certificate where available, and IOSH can help if you still can’t verify it.
For more on what IOSH is and how its courses fit together, see our guide to what IOSH is.
What to Do Next
Pull together a list of everyone who holds an IOSH certificate, with the course name and the date they got it. Check each one with IOSH’s verifier, then flag anyone certified more than three years ago, anyone whose role has changed and anyone your contracts say needs a recent certificate.
Managers with no certificate need the full course. Send us your list and we’ll come back within one working day with the quickest way to get everyone current, starting with IOSH Managing Safely. You can also compare both courses on our IOSH courses page.