IOSH Working Safely is the one-day employee-level health and safety course written by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. It covers the essentials — hazards, risks, responsibilities, how to report a problem — in plain English, with enough practical grounding that someone who has never been on a safety course before can walk back to their workstation the next day and actually use it.
The course has been delivered to more than 1.5 million workers globally. It’s applicable to any job role in any industry, so employers use it as their standard “every employee gets this” training: manufacturing operators, warehouse pickers, care assistants, retail teams, catering staff, cleaners, drivers, construction trades, office workers and everyone in between. On successful completion, IOSH issues a certificate of achievement.
Give every team member the knowledge to spot hazards, understand risk and act on it — no prior safety training required.
Learn the difference between a hazard and a risk — and how that difference shapes every control and safe system of work you see in your day.
Successful delegates leave with an IOSH certificate and pocket passport card — recognised by employers across the UK and worldwide.
Bring an entire shift, department or site up to the same safety baseline in a single day — in-company, at your location, around your shift pattern.
Understand how safe and sustainable work go hand in hand — waste, spills, emissions and environmental reporting are all covered.
Why safety matters to you, your colleagues, your family and your employer. The moral, legal and financial case for working safely — in plain English, with real examples. Keywords explained (hazard, risk, near-miss, accident, incident) so nothing feels jargon-heavy from this point on.
The difference between a hazard and a risk, why that difference matters, and how to spot both on a live workplace. How risk assessment works — not the paperwork side, but the thinking side — so you can look at an activity and instinctively ask the right questions.
A walk through the hazard categories that cover the overwhelming majority of UK workplace incidents: slips, trips and falls, manual handling, working at height, electricity, fire, hazardous substances, noise, vibration, stress, violence and more. For each one: what to look for, what good control looks like, and what to do if it’s missing.
What your employer’s safety management system looks like and how your daily behaviour feeds into it. How to report hazards and near-misses effectively, how to challenge unsafe practice without being “that person”, and the small habits that separate a safe worker from a compliant one.
Why workplace safety and environmental responsibility are inseparable. Delegates learn how their day-to-day actions affect waste, energy use, air and water quality, and how to reduce environmental impact through simple, practical workplace habits. The module covers common workplace environmental hazards, basic UK environmental legislation (the Environmental Protection Act and waste duty of care), and how employees can contribute to their employer’s sustainability goals — turning “working safely” into “working safely and responsibly”.
IOSH Working Safely is written for every employee, regardless of role or industry. It assumes no prior safety training, so it works equally well for:
If your team includes line managers, supervisors, or anyone who directs other people’s work, they typically need IOSH Managing Safely instead — the three-day supervisor-level course. For a side-by-side comparison of audience, duration, syllabus and cost, see our IOSH Working Safely vs Managing Safely guide.
The course is delivered across one working day, roughly six to seven hours of tutor-led content with breaks and lunch built in. Most deliveries run from 09:00 to around 16:15, finishing with the end-of-day assessment and certificate hand-out.
Delegates work through five modules covering:
The day ends with a 20-minute multiple-choice exam and a 10-minute hazard-spotting exercise. The pass mark is 80% on the written paper, and pass rates are consistently very high — most delegates pass first time.
For a full module-by-module walkthrough of what’s taught in each section, see our IOSH Working Safely syllabus explained article. For a deeper look at the assessment itself, see IOSH Working Safely exam format and pass rate.
On the final part of the course, delegates complete a short end-of-day assessment — a 20-minute multiple-choice exam covering the five modules, followed by a 10-minute hazard-spotting exercise on a realistic workplace scene. The overall pass mark is 80%, and the assessment sits inside the training day so there's no separate exam sitting. On successful completion, every delegate receives the official IOSH Working Safely certificate — digitally delivered within five working days (ideal for LinkedIn and compliance records) with the option of a hard copy on request. Recognised by UK principal contractors, procurement teams and international employers as the employee-level safety credential.
The IOSH Working Safely course provided by KeyOstas was an excellent investment for our team. The practical exercises and comprehensive workbook facilitated a deep understanding of our safety responsibilities. It's transformed our approach to workplace safety, making it a priority in our daily operations.
Carl Jones, HR Manager
Every employee, at every level, benefits from a shared safety baseline. Book IOSH Working Safely for your team and give each person the tools to recognise hazards, assess risks and make safer decisions from day one.
We come to you. Our IOSH-approved tutors adapt the hazard examples, case studies and group exercises to match your sector — whether that’s manufacturing, logistics, care, retail, construction or office-based work.
Successful delegates receive the IOSH Working Safely certificate and passport card — proof of competence that employers across the UK and worldwide recognise as the standard employee safety credential.
It’s designed for every employee at every level — from a new starter on their first day to a long-serving team member who’s never had formal safety training. If someone works for a living, they benefit from Working Safely. Employers typically use it as their standard “every-employee” safety training, so your cohort can mix warehouse staff, office workers, drivers, cleaners, engineers, and supervisors in the same room.
One full day (approximately 6-7 hours of content plus breaks). KeyOstas delivers IOSH Working Safely in two formats: in-company at your premises (most popular for teams of 6+) or as a live virtual classroom over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Both formats cover identical content and lead to the same IOSH certificate.
Yes. The course ends with a short end-of-day assessment made up of two parts: a 20-minute multiple-choice exam covering the five modules, followed by a 10-minute hazard-spotting exercise where delegates review a workplace scene and identify the hazards and the level of risk. The overall pass mark is 80%. The assessment sits inside the training day — there’s no separate exam sitting or travel. Pass rates are exceptionally high: delegates who attend the full day and engage with the exercises almost always pass first time, and the trainer stays with anyone who needs extra support.
The official IOSH Working Safely certificate, issued directly by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. It’s delivered digitally to each delegate’s email within 5 working days of course completion, and a hard copy is available on request. The certificate has no expiry date, though IOSH recommends refresher training every 3 years.
Pricing depends on your delivery format (in-company or virtual classroom), group size, and location. Rather than publish a list price that might not fit your situation, we provide a fixed all-inclusive quote for every enquiry — covering training, materials, IOSH registration and certification, with no hidden fees. Tell us the team size and delivery format you’re considering and we’ll come back to you within one working day with a firm quote.
The course is delivered in English by default, but KeyOstas can arrange other language support where demand justifies it. If you have a multilingual workforce, tell us at quote stage and we’ll confirm what’s possible for your cohort.
Working Safely is for every employee; Managing Safely is for anyone who supervises, manages or makes decisions that affect others’ safety. Working Safely is one day; Managing Safely is three to four days. Many KeyOstas clients put their whole workforce through Working Safely and then send their team leaders and managers on to Managing Safely as a natural progression.
We run multiple cohorts over successive days — or even weeks — to fit round shift patterns. For 24/7 operations we can deliver early morning, late afternoon, evening or weekend sessions at no extra cost. Tell us your constraint and we’ll build a delivery plan around it.
Use the enquiry form on this page or call 0330 056 9534. We’ll come back within one working day with available dates, a fixed quote, and a simple booking form. Most in-company courses can be confirmed within 48 hours of your initial enquiry. We work with clients UK-wide and across the Republic of Ireland.
