What You Learn on the SSSTS Course
If you’re looking to step into a supervisory role in the construction industry, or you’ve recently taken up such a role, you’re at some point going to need to take the SSSTS course, if you haven’t already.
A widely recognised qualification, the SSSTS (Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme) is designed to equip site supervisors and aspiring supervisors with all the necessary health and safety knowledge for their role. But what do you actually learn on the course?
An Overview of the SSSTS Course Structure
The SSSTS is meticulously structured to provide a comprehensive, yet concise, understanding of supervisory responsibilities on a construction site. It balances theoretical knowledge with practical application, and ensures learners can translate principles into action.
What is the SSSTS Course Designed For?
The course is for those with supervisory responsibilities within construction. It helps supervisors understand why they’re carrying out their duties, what is expected of them, and how they can effectively contribute to the overall safety of the workplace.
How Long is the SSSTS Course and What’s the Format?
It’s a two-day programme. It can be delivered in various formats:
Classroom-Based Learning: Traditional delivery at a training centre, with an instructor leading the sessions. This offers direct interaction and a dedicated learning environment.
Online Virtual Classroom: Live, tutor-led training delivered via an online platform. This format offers flexibility, allowing delegates to attend from any location with a stable internet connection.
Regardless of the format, candidates need to attend the full course to be eligible for certification. The course uses a combination of presentations, case studies, group work, and individual activities to ensure interactive and problem-solving training.
Health and Safety Legislation Explained
A significant portion of the course is dedicated to demystifying the complex world of health and safety law. As a supervisor, understanding these legal frameworks isn’t just about avoiding penalties; it's about proactively ensuring the well-being of your team and site.
Key Laws Covered in the SSSTS Course
The course provides an overview of the legal framework governing health and safety in construction. Key pieces of legislation typically covered include:
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974: This Act outlines the general duties of employers, employees, and others involved in work activities to ensure health, safety, and welfare.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015: These regulations are central to construction safety, defining duties for various duty holders (clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors, and workers). Supervisors learn how their role fits into the CDM framework, particularly regarding planning, managing, monitoring, and coordinating health and safety during the construction phase.
Other Relevant Regulations: Depending on the specific hazards, the course also touches on regulations related to working at height, manual handling, control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH), lifting operations and lifting equipment (LOLER), and provision and use of work equipment (PUWER).
Understanding these laws ensures supervisors can promote safety in line with legal requirements, protecting both their workforce and their company from potential legal issues.
Understanding the Health and Safety at Work Act
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the bedrock of UK health and safety law. The course helps supervisors grasp its core principles:
The general duty of employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of their employees and others who may be affected by their work activities.
The general duty of employees to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions, and to cooperate with their employer on health and safety matters.
Supervisors learn how to interpret and apply these overarching duties to specific site scenarios, ensuring that their actions and decisions contribute to legal compliance.
The Supervisor’s Role in Site Safety
The course clarifies, and strengthens, the supervisor's critical role in maintaining site safety. It moves beyond simply following instructions to actively leading and implementing safety measures.
The Legal Responsibilities of a Site Supervisor
Supervisors have crucial legal and moral responsibilities that are thoroughly explored in the course. These include:
Overseeing Day-to-Day Operations: Ensuring work is carried out according to project plans and within strict safety guidelines.
Implementing Health and Safety Procedures: Ensuring all site workers adhere to safety protocols, including the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Conducting Risk Assessments and Developing Method Statements: A core duty, ensuring that potential hazards are identified and effectively managed.
Delivering Site Inductions, Toolbox Talks, and Briefings: Effectively communicating safety information and instructions to teams.
Monitoring Site Activities: Continually checking that safe systems of work are being followed and intervening when bad practice is identified.
Incident Reporting and Investigation: Understanding procedures for reporting accidents, near misses, and ill health, and participating in investigations to prevent recurrence.
Worker Engagement: Fostering a culture where workers feel comfortable raising safety concerns and actively participate in safety initiatives.
Coordinating with Management: Liaising with site managers, health and safety officers, and contractors to ensure a cohesive approach to safety.
Risk Assessments and Method Statements
Risk assessments and method statements are cornerstones of proactive health and safety management on any construction site. The course provides in-depth training on both.
What is a Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment is a systematic process of identifying workplace hazards, evaluating the risks associated with those hazards, and then implementing suitable control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks to an acceptable level. The SSSTS teaches the five key steps:
Identify the hazards: Anything with the potential to cause harm.
Decide who could be harmed and how: Consider all people who might be affected (workers, visitors, public).
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions: Assess the likelihood and severity of harm, and determine what controls are needed.
Record your findings and implement them: Document the assessment and put the controls into action.
Review and update: Periodically check if the assessment is still valid and effective.
How to Write and Interpret Method Statements
A method statement is a crucial document that details a safe system of work for a specific task, especially high-risk activities. The course teaches supervisors how to:
Understand the purpose: Method statements explain how a job will be done safely, outlining sequential steps and control measures.
Interpret existing statements: Read and understand method statements provided by management or principal contractors, ensuring their team adheres to them.
Contribute to writing: Provide input based on their practical experience when method statements are being developed.
Brief their team: Effectively communicate the contents of a method statement to the workers carrying out the task.
Identifying and Controlling Common Hazards
The course dedicates significant time to familiarising supervisors with the most prevalent hazards encountered on construction sites and effective strategies to control them.
Common Construction Site Hazards You’ll Learn About
You will gain knowledge about various hazards, including:
Working at Height: Falls from ladders, scaffolding, roofs, fragile surfaces.
Moving Vehicles and Plant: Collisions, striking pedestrians, overturning.
Excavations: Trench collapse, buried services.
Manual Handling: Musculoskeletal injuries from lifting and carrying.
Electricity: Contact with live cables, faulty equipment.
Hazardous Substances (COSHH): Exposure to dust, fumes, chemicals, asbestos.
Noise and Vibration: Long-term health effects.
Fire: Sources of ignition, flammable materials, emergency procedures.
Confined Spaces: Lack of oxygen, toxic fumes.
Slips, Trips, and Falls: Uneven surfaces, debris, poor housekeeping.
Demolition: Uncontrolled collapse, falling debris.
How to Prevent Accidents on Site
SSSTS equips supervisors with practical strategies to prevent accidents:
Implementing Control Measures: Applying the hierarchy of control (eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, PPE).
Site Inductions: Ensuring all new arrivals understand site-specific hazards and rules.
Toolbox Talks: Delivering short, focused safety briefings to teams before tasks begin.
Daily Briefings: Communicating daily tasks, specific hazards, and control measures.
Regular Inspections: Monitoring the site for unsafe conditions or practices.
Promoting a Safety Culture: Encouraging workers to report hazards and near misses.
Effective Communication: Ensuring clear instructions and warnings are given.
Emergency Preparedness: Understanding first aid and evacuation procedures.
Effective Toolbox Talks and Site Communication
Communication is fundamental to site safety. This course provides specific training on delivering effective toolbox talks and generally improving site communication. Supervisors learn how to:
Plan and prepare a toolbox talk.
Deliver key safety messages clearly and concisely.
Engage their team in discussions about hazards and controls.
Use visual aids and real-life examples to make talks more impactful.
Receive feedback and ensure understanding. Beyond toolbox talks, the course also covers the importance of clear verbal instructions, written communications (e.g., permits to work), and fostering an open environment where workers feel comfortable raising safety concerns.
Preparing for the SSSTS Course Assessment
The course concludes with an assessment designed to confirm your understanding of the material, and your ability to apply it. Preparation is key.
What the Final Test Looks Like
The final assessment for the course typically comprises two main parts:
A Multiple-Choice Examination: This is usually a written test consisting of a set number of questions.
Trainer Review and Practical Exercises: Throughout the two days, the trainer will assess your engagement, and participation in group work.
Many training providers offer mock tests to help you prepare for the exam format and identify areas for revision.
Conclusion: What You Learn on the SSSTS Course
The course provides supervisors with an invaluable understanding of health and safety legislation, their critical responsibilities on site, and practical techniques for risk management. You learn how to identify and control common construction hazards, prepare and interpret essential safety documentation like risk assessments and method statements, and deliver effective safety briefings to your team.