The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 turn the 1974 Act's general duty into specific duties. Those include risk assessment, as well as the rules on when an employer must give training and repeat it.
Courses that cover the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
These 2 ProCompliance courses name the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 as their governing framework. They are the training this law asks for. Each course page states its own accreditation.
Read our guides: Conducting a risk assessment, 10 workplace hazards and What a method statement is for.
What the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require
“Every employer shall, in entrusting tasks to his employees, take into account their capabilities as regards health and safety.”
Employees must receive adequate health and safety training on recruitment. They must receive it again when new or increased risks appear. That covers a transfer, a change of responsibility, new equipment, new technology or a new system of work.
That training must “be repeated periodically where appropriate”. Employers must also adapt it to any new or changed risks.
Read the official text on legislation.gov.uk
What the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 mean for training
This is the regulation that answers “how often do we need to refresh training?”. However, it sets no fixed interval. Employers must still repeat training from time to time, and each one decides the frequency from their own risk assessment. Annual refreshers are a common choice, although the law does not require them.
Common questions
How often does health and safety training legally need refreshing in the UK?
The regulations name no interval. Regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 asks for repetition periodically where appropriate. It also asks employers to adapt training to new or changed risks. The frequency therefore comes from your risk assessment. Many employers choose annually, but that is their choice, since the law sets no period.
When must training be given?
On recruitment, and again whenever new or increased risk appears. It can come from a transfer, a change of responsibility, new equipment, new technology or a new system of work.
This plain English summary is not legal advice. The wording above comes from the official text. This page links to that text, and you should rely on it instead. Some duties depend on your own risk assessment, so only that assessment can tell you what they mean.