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Plan, Do, Check, Act is a simple cycle for managing anything well, and HSE uses it as the basis of its guidance HSG65, Managing for health and safety. It replaces the idea of health and safety as a set of documents with a continuous loop: decide what you want, do it, check it worked, and learn from the results.
The four stages at a glance
| Stage | What HSG65 says you should do | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Determine your policy and plan for implementation | Write a health and safety policy, set objectives, decide how you will measure performance and plan for change and emergencies. |
| Do | Profile your health and safety risks, organise for health and safety, and implement your plan | Assess risks, involve workers, provide training and resources, put controls in place. |
| Check | Measure performance, both active and reactive, and investigate accidents and incidents | Inspections, audits, monitoring, accident and near miss investigation. |
| Act | Review performance and act on lessons learned | Management reviews, updating the plan and acting on what monitoring showed. |
Organising: the four Cs
In the Do stage, HSG65 describes good organisation in terms of four Cs:
- Competence: recruitment, training and advice so people can do their jobs safely
- Control: clear responsibilities, leadership and supervision
- Cooperation: involving workers and their representatives
- Communication: visible behaviour, written material and face-to-face discussion
Active and reactive monitoring
| Type | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Active monitoring | Checking that controls are in place before something goes wrong | Site inspections, audits, scaffold inspections, checking RAMS are followed, health surveillance |
| Reactive monitoring | Learning from things that have gone wrong | Accident and near miss reports, ill health records, RIDDOR reports, complaints |
Good monitoring uses both. A site that only measures accidents finds out about problems after people are hurt.
A construction site example
| Stage | Example: managing work at height on a housing site |
|---|---|
| Plan | The construction phase plan sets rules for work at height, the programme allows time for edge protection, and the target is zero falls. |
| Do | Scaffolds are designed and erected by competent scaffolders, operatives are trained, and supervisors brief teams in toolbox talks. |
| Check | Weekly scaffold inspections, daily supervisor checks and a monthly audit. A near miss with a missing guard rail is investigated. |
| Act | The review finds guard rails are removed for deliveries. The delivery procedure is changed and loading bays are added. |
PDCA, POPMAR and ISO 45001
Older editions of HSG65 used the POPMAR model: policy, organising, planning, measuring performance, audit and review. The 2013 edition moved to Plan, Do, Check, Act, which says much the same in a simpler way. The international standard for health and safety management systems, ISO 45001, is also built on Plan, Do, Check, Act, so a business following HSG65 is well placed to work towards certification.
Where the law fits in
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to have arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of preventive measures. Plan, Do, Check, Act is a practical way to meet that duty. Our guide to the Management Regulations explains the duties, and our guide on how to write a health and safety policy covers the Plan stage.
Training that helps
Managing health and safety with Plan, Do, Check, Act is at the heart of IOSH Managing Safely and the NEBOSH National General Certificate. Our health and safety for managers eLearning is a quick online introduction.
Where this fits in SMSTS and SSSTS
The SSSTS paper asks you to name the missing stages of the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle, and management systems are tested on SMSTS too. Our free SMSTS mock test and SSSTS mock test let you check your knowledge before the course or a refresher, and you can email yourself the results sheet at the end.
When you are ready, the five day SMSTS course is for site managers and the two day SSSTS course is for supervisors. If your certificate is due, the SMSTS refresher and SSSTS refresher keep it current.
Frequently asked questions
What is Plan, Do, Check, Act in health and safety?
A four-stage cycle for managing health and safety, used in HSE’s guidance HSG65: plan what you will do, do it, check it worked and act on what you learn.
What is HSG65?
HSE’s guidance Managing for health and safety, which sets out how organisations should manage health and safety using Plan, Do, Check, Act.
What is the difference between active and reactive monitoring?
Active monitoring checks controls are working before anything goes wrong. Reactive monitoring learns from accidents, incidents and ill health after they happen.
What does POPMAR stand for?
Policy, organising, planning, measuring performance, audit and review. It was the model used in earlier editions of HSG65.
Read the source
HSE guidance HSG65, Managing for health and safety (third edition, 2013); the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 5; and ISO 45001:2018, Occupational health and safety management systems. Facts checked on 6 October 2026.
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