Why Choose a Widely Recognised IOSH Certification for Your Staff

When in need of a certification for workplace health and safety, there are a variety of courses to choose from. A decision you will often face is whether to choose an approved or non-approved equivalent course for your staff.

Explore the reasons for choosing a widely recognised IOSH certification, the course options available and compare between all approved and non-approved courses.

Choosing a Widely Recognised Health and Safety Course: IOSH Managing Safely

The right course for your staff naturally depends on individual needs, circumstances and the kind of role that staff members have. Despite this, choosing a widely recognised certification body has significant benefits.

IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) is a world-renowned provider of health and safety courses.

IOSH courses are typically aimed at learners who are not specifically working in a health and safety role and require an entry level of knowledge on the subject.

IOSH qualified learners are able to better manage teams, environments and situations that may occur in the workplace.

The experience and reputation IOSH holds within the health and safety industry means your staff will benefit from high quality courses that are well recognised and studied by a significant number of businesses worldwide. This allows you to ensure that your staff's learning is consistent, high quality and compatible with the latest health and safety legislation.

Learn more about IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) here.

IOSH Course Options

IOSH is best known for two major certifications:

• IOSH Managing Safely and
• IOSH Working Safely.

Both IOSH courses are respected, entry level health and safety certificates. Let’s take a look at these in more detail.

IOSH Managing Safely: What is IOSH Managing Safely? 

The IOSH Managing Safely course is a basic risk management health and safety course specifically for those in management or supervisory positions. 

An internationally recognised certificate, IOSH Managing Safely does not require any previous experience or course within the sector making it ideal as a starting point for staff in any industry. This IOSH course covers subjects including:

• Assessing Risk
• Common Hazards
• Accident Investigation
• Measuring Performance.

The topics covered in IOSH Managing Safely provide managers with an understanding of their responsibilities as leaders within the workplace, arming them with the knowledge they need to ensure workplace hazards are kept to a minimum. In addition to keeping their team healthy and safe while also ensuring your business, is compliant with the most up to date legislation.

The IOSH Managing Safely, when offered as a training course for your staff at your company, can be delivered as an: Online, Virtual, and Classroom course. The IOSH Managing Safely online course requires 21 hours to be completed plus a 1 hour exam and the classroom and virtual course require 3 days.

The IOSH Managing Safely Course has many benefits to an organisation and its staff members.

Not sure if the IOSH Managing Safely course is right for you? Take a look at our blog, Why HSE Professionals Study the IOSH Managing Safely? 

IOSH Working Safely

The IOSH Working Safely is an international certificate, however, this basic awareness course is suitable for all staff in any role and at any level.

The IOSH Working Safely course provides:

• Awareness of common hazards in the workplace.
• Outlines the importance of health and safety and
• Highlights how vital the general wellbeing is for the team's productivity.

Not only will this course make staff more aware of how their actions may impact others’ health and safety, but it also makes them more aware of typical hazards and how risk can be prevented.

The topics covered in the IOSH Working Safely course include, but are not limited to:

• The differences between hazards and risks.
• Hazard and risk identification, impact and control.
• Why staff must work safely.
• How industries affect the environment.

IOSH Working Safely can be taken both online and in-company with the course only taking 4 – 8 hours online and 1 day in class-based training. An ideal set up for busy staff.

Explore the IOSH Working Safely course here.

IOSH vs Non-Approved Courses

There are, of course, similar non IOSH approved certifications available for your staff. However, the benefits of choosing an IOSH approved course over a non-approved alternative are significant.

A. Quality of the Course

The quality of approved courses like the IOSH Managing Safely and the IOSH Working Safely is almost guaranteed. With a set syllabus and a specific number of teaching hours required, you can be reassured that your staff will be covering everything they need to, in order to become properly certified.

Unlike non-approved equivalents which may not have a set syllabus, you can have faith that your staff will have a consistent knowledge of how to work and manage safely.

B. Wide Recognition of the Course

Non-approved courses are known as a form of non-formal learning which still have an element of structure and teacher lead learning, however in most cases, will not lead to formal certification. While in many cases this isn’t detrimental, having your staff certified with the biggest health and safety membership organisation in the world will have significant benefits.

IOSH is widely recognised all over the world. Having staff undertake an IOSH certification clearly demonstrates your business’ commitment to health and safety, an important brand asset to promote among your stakeholders and customers. It also means you are assured that your staff are equipped to comply with health and safety legislation.

In many cases, approved courses require staff to take an exam or assessment at the end of the course to ensure they have absorbed and understood the information. This ensures that your staff fully understand and can apply the information they have learned in a nationally recognised learning standard.

C. Quality of the Provider

Awarding bodies like IOSH have to undertake quality control checks on training providers offering their courses to ensure it is being delivered to an acceptable quality. In choosing an approved course you can have faith that your staff are receiving up to date, relevant and consistent information no matter which provider you choose.

Explore the top four benefits of studying the IOSH Managing Safely Online Course below: