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The right health and safety course depends on your job, not your sector. Operatives need awareness, supervisors and managers need a course that matches their responsibility, and anyone whose job is health and safety needs a qualification such as the NEBOSH National General Certificate.
Start with three questions
- What is your role? Doing the work, supervising it, managing it, or owning health and safety.
- Where do you work? Construction sites usually ask for CITB courses; other sectors usually ask for IOSH or NEBOSH.
- Does someone need a card or certificate? Check what the site, client or tender actually asks for.
The course for each role
| Role | Course | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Site operative | CITB Health and Safety Awareness, the route to a green CSCS Labourer card | 1 day |
| Staff in any sector | IOSH Working Safely | 1 day |
| Site supervisor | CITB SSSTS | 2 days |
| Site manager | CITB SMSTS | 5 days |
| Manager or supervisor, other sectors | IOSH Managing Safely | 3 days |
| Health and safety role | NEBOSH National General Certificate | 80 to 130 guided learning hours |
| Directors and senior leaders | IOSH Leading Safely | About 5 hours |
Every course above, and the rest of what we run, is listed on our health and safety training courses page.
Courses most workplaces also need
- First aid: Emergency First Aid at Work is one day and First Aid at Work is three days. A first aid needs assessment tells you which, and how many.
- Manual handling: manual handling awareness is half a day.
- Martyn’s Law: the NEBOSH Standard Duty certificate is one day, for premises in scope.
Course or qualification?
Awareness courses such as Working Safely and Health and Safety Awareness give people what they need to work safely. Managing Safely, SSSTS and SMSTS give supervisors and managers what they need to run an area or a site. The NEBOSH General Certificate is a qualification for someone whose job is health and safety, and it is the one most health and safety job adverts ask for by name.
Refreshers
Some certificates need renewing and some do not. SMSTS and SSSTS have refresher courses, First Aid at Work has a requalification course, and IOSH recommend refreshing Managing Safely even though the certificate does not expire. Keep a simple list of who holds what and when it is due.
Training a whole team?
Most of these courses can run at your site, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people that is usually cheaper per head, and nobody loses a day travelling. We also run classroom courses at our Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Liverpool (Widnes) and Derby centres, and live online.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common health and safety course for managers?
Outside construction, IOSH Managing Safely. On construction sites, CITB SSSTS for supervisors and SMSTS for managers.
What qualification do I need to be a health and safety advisor?
The NEBOSH National General Certificate is the usual starting point, and the one most job adverts name.
Which course gets me a CSCS Labourer card?
CITB Health and Safety Awareness, plus the CITB HS&E test.
Can you train our whole team at our site?
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head.
Read the source
The Acadame course pages for Health and Safety Awareness, SSSTS, SMSTS, IOSH Working Safely, Managing Safely and Leading Safely, the NEBOSH General Certificate and Standard Duty, Emergency First Aid at Work, First Aid at Work and Manual Handling; HSE guidance L74 on first aid at work. Facts checked on 12 October 2026.
Find a date that works
Every course, every centre, with live availability and prices.
On your site or ours, and group rates on request.
