Level 3 Health & Safety Group Course

Description

Who this is for

Supervisors and team leaders in any sector, and anyone who needs a broad understanding of health and safety because other people’s work is their responsibility. Production and warehouse supervisors, site managers, shift leaders, facilities managers, and owner-managers of smaller businesses who are effectively their own safety function.

The line between this and Level 2 is responsibility rather than seniority. Level 2 is for someone who needs to work safely and contribute sensibly. Level 3 is for someone who has to notice when other people are not, and do something about it.

What the course covers

• The main concepts of health and safety, and the framework they sit in
• Why health and safety should be promoted at work, beyond the legal minimum
• The roles and responsibilities of supervisors and managers specifically
• The control and improvement strategies a supervisor actually has available

Three days on four headings sounds thin written down. It is not, because the difficulty at this level is almost never knowing the rule. It is applying it when a job is running late, when an experienced worker has always done it the other way, or when the safe method costs a morning nobody has.

The duties that land on a supervisor

Worth being precise about, because supervisors are frequently given the responsibility without being told what it rests on.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, recorded in writing once you employ five or more people, and require that employees are given adequate health and safety training and that their capabilities are taken into account. Those two duties are where most supervisory decisions actually sit: is this person competent for this task, and does the assessment cover what they are about to do?

Alongside that, the general duty is to provide the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to keep people safe. The word supervision is in the law for a reason, and it is the part a certificate cannot deliver on its own.

What this course does not make you

It does not make someone your competent person for the purposes of the regulations, and it does not produce your risk assessments.

Competence is a combination of knowledge, experience, skill and personal qualities, judged against the work in question, not a certificate you can point at. A supervisor with Level 3 and ten years on the floor may well be competent for their own area and plainly not competent to assess a specialist process.

If the person’s job is specifically to write and review risk assessments, Level 3 Risk Assessment is the more directly useful course, and it is considerably shorter. We set out what an assessment has to contain in workplace risk assessment.

How the group course works

Delivered at your premises, up to 16 learners with a minimum of 12 places chargeable. Three days is a significant commitment, so scheduling is the first conversation: tell us whether the days can run consecutively or need splitting across weeks, and what shift patterns we are working around.

Most businesses put a handful of people through Level 3 rather than a room of 16. If that is you, tell us your numbers before assuming the group route prices well, and we will be straight about it.

Where it fits with the rest

Course	For	Length
Level 1	The whole workforce. Spot a hazard, tell someone	3 hours
Level 2	Employees who need more than awareness	6 hours
Level 3 Risk Assessment	The person who writes the assessments	7 hours plus an assignment
Level 3 Health and Safety	Supervisors and managers	3 days

Your certificate

Successful candidates receive a Supervising Health and Safety certificate. The awarding organisation is named on it, and it is worth asking us which body that is before booking, particularly at this level where a client or auditor is more likely to check. How to check a qualification is accredited explains what to look for.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the Level 3 Health and Safety course?

Three days, followed by a two-hour examination of 60 multiple choice questions.

Who needs Level 3 rather than Level 2?

Anyone responsible for other people’s safety: supervisors, team leaders and managers. Level 2 is for people who need to work safely themselves and contribute to the process.

Does this make someone our competent person?

No. Competence is judged against the work in question and combines knowledge, experience, skill and personal qualities. A qualification contributes to it but does not confer it.

Is this the same as IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH?

No. They are separate qualifications from different bodies aimed at a broadly similar audience. If a client or tender has asked for a specific one, check the exact wording before you book, and send it to us if you want a straight answer about whether this course meets it.

Do I need Level 2 first?

Not formally, but the course assumes workplace experience and a working understanding of health and safety.

Can the three days be split across weeks?

Usually, and on a group course that is often what makes it possible. Tell us your rota and we will confirm.

How many people can attend?

Up to 16, with a minimum of 12 places chargeable. If you only need two or three trained, say so and we will price the alternatives honestly.

Should our supervisor do this or the risk assessment course?

It depends what they actually do. If their job includes writing and reviewing assessments, the shorter Level 3 Risk Assessment course is more directly useful. If they are responsible for how a team works day to day, this one is.

Tell us what your supervisors are actually responsible for and we will tell you which course fits. Call 0845 838 4643 or use the enquiry form.