Training, induction and supervision: what does the law expect?

What the law says

• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2(2)(c): employers must provide the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees.
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 13: employers must take account of people's capabilities, and train them when they are recruited and when they face new or increased risks. Training must take place in working hours.
• The same Regulations, regulations 3 and 19: before employing anyone under 18, employers must assess the risks to young people, and protect them from risks that come from inexperience, lack of awareness or immaturity.
• CDM 2015, regulations 13 and 15: the principal contractor must make sure a suitable site induction is provided. Contractors must provide one where the principal contractor has not, and give workers appropriate supervision, instructions and information.

What a good site induction covers

HSE guidance (L153) says inductions should be site specific and consider:

• Senior management commitment to health and safety.
• The project and how it is managed.
• The particular risks on this site and how they are controlled.
• First aid arrangements, and how to report accidents and incidents.
• Ongoing briefings such as toolbox talks, and how workers are consulted.
• Each worker's own responsibility for health and safety.

Supervision and toolbox talks

• Match supervision to the risk and the person. HSE says young, inexperienced and newly trained workers, and anyone starting a new activity, need closer supervision.
• Make sure workers always know how to get help from a supervisor, even when one is not on site.
• Give people promoted to supervisor recognised site supervisor training that covers leadership and communication, such as CITB's Site Supervision Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS).
• Use short toolbox talks to brief the work ahead, ask questions and get feedback, and record who attended.

Keep simple records

• Who was trained, in what, when and by whom.
• Inductions and toolbox talks, and who attended.
• Cards and certificates, with expiry and refresher dates.

Note: HSE says training records help you decide when refresher training is needed.

What the courts have said

• R v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd [1981] ICR 831

  The Court of Appeal upheld a shipbuilder's conviction for failing to warn a subcontractor's workers about a fire risk. On a shared site, the information and instruction that keep people safe may need to reach other firms' workers too.