The Site Safety Supervisor Training Scheme (SSSTS) is one of our most popular courses and is a huge part of becoming a certified site supervisor. However, the certificate doesn’t last forever. Like many skills, it’s important to keep your skills sharp and your knowledge up to date—and for SSSTS, this means retraining at least once every five years.
So how can you do this, why is it necessary, and what do you get from completing SSSTS refresher training? We’re here to answer all these questions and more in our quick summary of how (and why) to refresh your SSSTS training.
What is an SSSTS refresher?
An SSSTS refresher is recurrent training used to keep your SSSTS certificate up to date. By taking an SSSTS refresher course, you’re proving that you still remember and understand the skills taught in an SSSTS course, and how to implement them properly.
The SSSTS refresher course helps to fill in any gaps that have occurred in your knowledge but also allows for extra training on any new developments that have popped up since your last SSSTS training, such as changes in best practices or laws affecting site safety.
When you should take the SSSTS refresher course
The SSSTS refresher course should be taken in the lead up to your current Site Safety Plus certificate expiring. This ensures that there is no ‘downtime’ in your certification, and that you can continue to work with no lapse in your Site Safety Supervisor qualification.
While there isn’t a strict limit on when you need to take the SSSTS refresher course, we recommend completing it a minimum of one month before your certificate is due to expire, as this allows for enough time to resit the exam if needed. Resits must be completed within 90 days of the original course completion date.
Can I take an SSSTS refresher course after my certificate has expired?
No. There used to be a grace period for SSSTS refresher training, but this has now ended.
If you fail to complete refresher training before your SSSTS certificate expires, you will need to retake the full SSSTS course. At the time of writing this will cost you an additional £80 + VAT, putting you needlessly out of pocket.
What are the requirements for the SSSTS refresher?
SSSTS refresher candidates need to have a good level of written English, although this requirement is the same as for the regular SSSTS course. As an SSSTS certificate lasts for five years, you must also have a valid SSSTS certificate from the last five years at the point of taking the course. As previously mentioned, resits must also be completed within 90 days of the course completion date.
Candidates must also have a valid form of ID when starting the course to cross reference with your SSSTS certificate. Examples of accepted ID include a copy of your passport or driving licence, or combination of two other forms of ID, such as a bank card and work ID. To see a full list of acceptable forms of ID, visit the CITB website here.
What does the SSSTS refresher involve?
The SSSTS refresher course is designed to both refresh your knowledge of your SSSTS training and provide ‘difference training’ to bring your knowledge up to date. As well as ensuring that you remember all aspects of site safety supervision, you will also learn about changes to the law which will influence your work, as well as any new best practices.
As these laws often touch on many different areas of site safety, it’s important to study the differences between the old laws and new ones, and how these might change the way you conduct things like method statements and risk management. Our understanding of things like behavioural safety, communication, and mental health also continue to improve, and may be topics that are explored by SSSTS refresher training.
At the end of the SSSTS Refresher course, you’ll be able to enforce all the health, safety, welfare and environmental laws that affect your ability to supervise a worksite, informed by the latest developments in safety law. This can help to correct any major or minor ways in which you may have deviated from best practices and help to build a greater understanding of new and emerging issues in site safety.
Do you also offer SMSTS refresher courses?
Yes! We run these courses slightly less often, at around once every three months, while the price is also higher in proportion to the cost of the full SMSTS course. You can read more about the SMSTS refresher course and book a place here.
The principle of SMSTS refresher training is like SSSTS refresher training, with the refresher course bringing learners up to date on changes to legislation and best practices, as well as fundamental aspects of the scheme.
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Retraining is never the most fun process to go through, but we try to make it enjoyable, and it’s always worth booking your refresher in early. Leave it too late and you’re at risk of places running out and your certificate lapsing, which could leave you out of work or at risk of working illegally.
We offer SSSTS refresher courses throughout the year, with four courses currently scheduled through to September. To see our current availability, book your place or enquire about our training, visit our SSSTS Refresher Zoom course page.