What Is IOSH?
IOSH is the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. It’s the chartered professional body for people who work in health and safety. Founded in 1945 and granted a Royal Charter in 2002, it’s based in the UK and has around 50,000 members in more than 130 countries.
Most people meet IOSH through its courses rather than its membership. When a job advert asks for “IOSH” or a tender wants “IOSH-trained managers”, they almost always mean one of two short courses: IOSH Managing Safely for managers and supervisors, or IOSH Working Safely for everyone else.
IOSH designs and quality-assures those courses, and approves the training providers who deliver them. Approved providers deliver them in classrooms, on-site and online, and delegates who pass get an IOSH certificate.
That split is worth knowing. IOSH sets the standard; your provider sets the experience. Two Managing Safely courses can lead to the same certificate and feel completely different on the day.
What Does IOSH Do?
IOSH has three main roles.
- A membership body. It sets professional standards, runs a code of conduct and supports continuing professional development for safety practitioners.
- A course developer. It creates awareness courses such as Working Safely, Managing Safely and Leading Safely, and approves the providers and trainers who deliver them.
- A voice for the profession. It campaigns and publishes guidance on workplace safety and health, from risk assessment to occupational disease.
It isn’t a regulator. In Great Britain, the law on workplace safety comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and it’s enforced by HSE and local authorities. IOSH courses help managers and staff meet those legal duties; holding a certificate isn’t itself a legal requirement.
Why Do Employers Ask for IOSH Training?
Under the 1974 Act, employers must provide the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to keep people safe at work. IOSH courses are a recognised, consistent way to show that duty has been taken seriously.
There are practical reasons too. Clients, principal contractors and public sector tenders often ask for IOSH-trained managers as evidence of a sound safety system. Insurers and auditors look for training records. And a manager who understands risk assessment and incident investigation can prevent the accidents that cost time, money and goodwill.
What an IOSH certificate can’t do is replace the work itself. The risk assessments, safe systems of work and supervision still have to happen on the shop floor. The best IOSH training is the kind that changes what managers do on Monday morning, not just what’s on their CV.
What Is an IOSH Approved Training Provider?
IOSH doesn’t deliver most of its courses itself. Instead, it approves training providers to run them, sets requirements for their trainers, standardises the course content and issues IOSH certificates to delegates who pass. Every genuine certificate can be checked with IOSH’s online certificate verifier.
We’re IOSH Approved Training Provider 4301, which means our Managing Safely and Working Safely delegates receive genuine IOSH certificates. If you’re comparing providers, check them on IOSH’s training provider finder. Then compare the things IOSH doesn’t fix: the quality of the trainer, the format, how well the examples fit your industry and the support delegates get with the assessment.
What Are the IOSH Membership Grades?
You don’t need to be a member to take an IOSH course, and most people who hold an IOSH certificate aren’t members. Membership is for people who want to build a career in health and safety.
IOSH’s current grades run from Student and Affiliate through to Technical (TechIOSH), Certified (CertIOSH), Chartered (CMIOSH) and Chartered Fellow (CFIOSH). The professional and Chartered grades need a mix of qualifications and experience, and IOSH is the only organisation offering Chartered membership to health and safety practitioners. The current requirements and fees are on IOSH’s membership levels page.
Photo: Mario Spencer on Unsplash
What Are the Main IOSH Courses?
IOSH groups most of its training as awareness courses: short, practical courses for people whose main job isn’t health and safety. These are the ones employers book most.
IOSH Working Safely
Working Safely is for employees at any level, in any sector, with no previous safety knowledge needed. It explains why safety and health matter, what hazards and risks are, the common hazards at work, how each person can help improve safety performance and how everyone can help protect the environment.
IOSH sets it as a one-day course. We run it live online or on-site, ending with a short multiple-choice test. See IOSH Working Safely for dates and details.
IOSH Managing Safely
Managing Safely is IOSH’s best-known course and the one most UK employers mean when they say “IOSH”. It’s for managers and supervisors in any sector who are responsible for other people’s safety, without needing a specialist background.
The course covers seven areas: introducing managing safely, assessing risks, controlling risks, understanding responsibilities, understanding hazards, investigating incidents and measuring performance. IOSH sets it as a three-day course, and we run it live online in a virtual classroom or on-site. Full details are on our IOSH Managing Safely page.
IOSH Managing Safely Refresher
The Refresher is for people who already hold Managing Safely and want to bring their knowledge up to date. It’s a one-day course that revisits the key parts of Managing Safely through a plan, do, check, act safety and health management system, with leadership at its heart, and includes a risk assessment exercise. Those who succeed receive an IOSH Managing Safely Refresher certificate.
IOSH Leading Safely
Leading Safely is for senior leaders and decision-makers: directors, owners and heads of department. It’s less about hazards and more about leadership: how what senior people say and do shapes safety culture, and why safety and health matter to business performance. IOSH gives it as about five hours.
You may still see IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors in older guides. It isn’t in IOSH’s current course range: for this audience IOSH now offers Leading Safely, plus masterclasses in corporate governance and corporate risk.
Specialist IOSH Courses
IOSH’s awareness range also includes courses for particular roles and topics. Current examples on iosh.com include Safety, Health and Environment for Construction Workers and for Construction Site Managers, Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Fire Safety Awareness, Fire Safety for Managers, and courses on managing and leading sustainably. Check IOSH’s course list for the full, current range.
Who Is Each IOSH Course For?
The simplest way to choose is by role. Ask what the person is responsible for, not how senior their job title sounds.
| If the person… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Works in any role and needs the safety basics | IOSH Working Safely |
| Manages or supervises other people | IOSH Managing Safely |
| Already holds Managing Safely and wants to update it | IOSH Managing Safely Refresher |
| Sets strategy, budgets or culture at board or senior level | IOSH Leading Safely |
| Works in construction, or has a specific topic to cover | The relevant specialist IOSH course |
Many organisations use them together. Managers do Managing Safely, the wider team does Working Safely, and the leadership team does Leading Safely, so everyone speaks the same language about risk.
How Is IOSH Managing Safely Assessed?
Managing Safely has two assessments, and delegates must pass both to receive the certificate:
- A multiple-choice assessment at the end of the course, on what’s been covered.
- A practical risk assessment project, completed afterwards, in which each delegate assesses a real task or area in their own workplace.
The project follows the same logic as HSE’s 5 steps to risk assessment: spot the hazards, decide who might be harmed, evaluate the risk, decide on controls and record what you find.
Managers often find the project the most useful part, because they finish the course with a real risk assessment they can put to work straight away. If you want to prepare, read up on risk assessment and the basics of UK health and safety law before day one.
Working Safely is assessed more simply, with a short test at the end of the day. To confirm: Working Safely assessment format is not on iosh.com; Zita to confirm from our ATP course materials.
Is an IOSH Certificate a Qualification?
Strictly speaking, IOSH Working Safely and Managing Safely are IOSH-certificated awareness courses, not regulated qualifications at a fixed level on the national framework. That doesn’t make them less useful. They’re among the most widely recognised health and safety certificates in the UK, and employers, clients and tender documents ask for them by name.
IOSH is also an Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation and offers separate qualifications, such as the IOSH Level 3 Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health Principles and Practice, aimed at people building a career in the field. If someone tells you they “have IOSH”, it’s worth asking which course or qualification they mean.
What Does an IOSH Certificate Show on a CV?
An IOSH Working Safely certificate shows that someone understands the basics of hazards, risk and their own part in workplace safety. It’s useful for almost any role, and it’s often asked for on construction, facilities and manufacturing sites.
An IOSH Managing Safely certificate tells an employer that a manager can assess and control risks, understands their legal responsibilities and knows how to investigate an incident. Employers often list it as a requirement for supervisor and manager roles.
Neither makes someone a health and safety professional. For that, employers look for professional qualifications and IOSH membership grades such as TechIOSH or CMIOSH.
Do IOSH Certificates Expire?
IOSH says its course certificates don’t expire. A Managing Safely certificate from several years ago is still a valid certificate.
IOSH does recommend refresher training every three to five years, because law, guidance and workplaces change. In practice, many employers, clients and principal contractors ask for a certificate gained within the last few years, so check what your contracts or customers expect.
For managers, the Managing Safely Refresher is the quickest route back up to date. For anyone whose role has changed, for example a team member promoted to supervisor, the answer is usually the next course up rather than a refresher.
What Is the Difference Between IOSH and NEBOSH?
Both names come up constantly, and they’re often confused.
- IOSH is a chartered membership body. Its best-known courses, Working Safely and Managing Safely, are short and practical, for people who manage safety alongside their main job.
- NEBOSH (the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) is an awarding body. Its certificates, such as the National General Certificate, are longer, more in-depth qualifications for people moving into a health and safety role.
A useful rule of thumb: a line manager or supervisor needs IOSH Managing Safely; a person whose job title includes “health and safety” probably needs NEBOSH. Our IOSH courses page compares them in more detail.
How Do You Choose the Right IOSH Course?
Work through these questions in order.
- What is the person responsible for? If they manage people or areas, start with Managing Safely. If not, Working Safely.
- Do they already hold an IOSH certificate? If they hold Managing Safely and it’s been a while, consider the Refresher.
- Is safety their main job? If yes, IOSH awareness courses are a good start, but look at NEBOSH or IOSH’s regulated qualifications and membership too.
- What do your clients or tenders ask for? Some name a specific IOSH course. Check before you book.
- What’s the real risk in your workplace? IOSH courses are general. Specific hazards, such as hazardous substances or heavy lifting, may need extra training, like COSHH or manual handling.
If you’re still not sure, the IOSH courses page sets out our two courses side by side.
Should You Do IOSH Online or in a Classroom?
IOSH lists in-person, online and hybrid delivery for its main courses. In practice that means face-to-face in a classroom, live online in a virtual classroom, or self-paced e-learning from providers who offer it. All lead to an IOSH certificate when the delegate passes.
Virtual (live on Microsoft Teams) suits teams spread across sites, or employers who only need a few places. Delegates join from home or the office, but there’s still a trainer, real discussion and the chance to ask questions. That’s how we run both of our IOSH courses.
On-site at your premises usually works out best value for a group, and the examples, discussions and risk assessment projects can all be based on your own workplace.
Self-paced e-learning gives the most flexibility, but delegates miss the discussion with a trainer and other managers, which is often where the learning sticks. For Managing Safely in particular, where the aim is to change how managers run their teams, a live trainer makes a real difference.
Whichever format you choose, check that the provider is IOSH-approved using IOSH’s training provider finder. The certificate comes from IOSH and can be checked with its online certificate verifier.
What to Do Next
Make a list of everyone who manages or supervises others, and note who already holds an IOSH certificate and when they got it. Anyone with no certificate who manages people is a candidate for Managing Safely; anyone else who needs the basics can do Working Safely. Then get a quote for IOSH Managing Safely, live online or at your premises, and we’ll reply within one working day.