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Choosing the Right IOSH Course
IOSH courses sit at different levels, and the right one depends on what the person is responsible for:
- IOSH Working Safely — one day, for employees at any level. Covers personal responsibility, not managing others.
- IOSH Managing Safely — three days, for anyone who supervises or manages a team or a work area.
- IOSH Leading Safely — for directors and senior leaders, focused on strategy and governance rather than day-to-day control.
- IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing — for managers with specific health and wellbeing responsibilities.
Moving into health and safety as a career rather than as part of a management role? The NEBOSH General Certificate is the natural next step and is considerably more technical. Browse all IOSH courses to compare.
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
About IOSH
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health is the world's largest professional body for health and safety practitioners, founded in 1945 and a registered charity. It sets the syllabus and accredits the training providers who deliver it, rather than delivering courses itself.
That accreditation is what makes the certificate portable — it means the same thing to an employer or an auditor regardless of which provider issued it.
What it does and does not do
Managing Safely demonstrates that a manager understands risk and their legal duties. It is widely accepted as evidence of management competence in tender documents and pre-qualification questionnaires, and it is often the qualification named when a client asks for "IOSH trained" supervision.
It is not a technical health and safety qualification and does not make someone a competent person for the purposes of appointing safety advice. Where a business needs that, the NEBOSH General Certificate is the usual benchmark.
IOSH Alongside Construction Schemes
IOSH Managing Safely and the CITB Site Safety Plus schemes are often confused, but they answer to different audiences and neither substitutes for the other.
- IOSH Managing Safely is cross-sector and is what most non-construction clients name in tenders and PQQs. The certificate does not expire.
- CITB SMSTS is construction-specific, five days, and what principal contractors require of site managers. It expires after five years with no grace period.
- CITB SSSTS is the two-day construction equivalent for supervisors, on the same five-year expiry.
Managers working across both worlds frequently hold IOSH and a CITB certificate together. If you are unsure which your role calls for, our free Site Safety Plus course finder maps duties to the right construction course, and the Certificate Expiry Checker tracks what you already hold.
Further Reading
The law behind the course
Background on the duties Managing Safely explains: the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which places responsibilities on employers and on individual managers alike.
Putting it into practice
The practical project is the part delegates find hardest. This guide on writing risk assessments that meet your legal duty is worth reading before the course rather than after it.