Staff Training Record and Training Matrix template

2. Employee details

• Name: [full name]
• Job title: [job title] | Role in the role requirements grid: [role]
• Site or team: [site/team] | Start date: [date] | Line manager: [name]
• Previous training or certificates checked at induction: [what was seen, by whom, on what date — or none]
• Particular training needs to plan for: [new recruit / changing jobs / extra responsibilities / young worker / health and safety representative — or none]
• How training needs to be delivered for this person: [language, literacy or access arrangements — or none]. Keep any health information in a separate, restricted file, not on this sheet.
• Record held at: [system/location] | Record owner: [name/role]

3. Individual training record

One row for each training item this person has completed. When a refresher is done, add a new row rather than overwriting the old one: the history is what shows the training kept up with the work.

The "How competence was checked" column is what turns attendance into evidence. Write what actually happened (an observed task, a knowledge check and its score, test pieces, a supervised shift), not just "course attended".

4. Role requirements: which training each role needs

This grid is the rulebook for the training matrix. List every training item down the left (safety topics, the procedures each role works to, equipment and systems) and the roles across the top. Mark R where a role needs the item before working unsupervised, P where it is needed within a set period of starting ([period]), and a dash where the role does not need it.

Build the list from your risk assessments and procedures, not from a catalogue of courses. HSE's leaflet on training says: "Your risk assessment should identify any further training needs associated with specific risks."

You set the refresher interval for each item, unless a regulation, a certificate, an insurer or an awarding body sets one for that item. Note the reason beside any interval you did not choose yourself.

5. Team training matrix

One row per person, one column per training item from the role requirements grid. Each cell holds three facts: the date the item was completed, the date it is next due (the refresher date, or the expiry date on a certificate if that comes first), and the initials of the person who signed it off. Write them in that order so anyone can read the grid.

Five training items fit across one printed sheet. For more, continue on a second sheet with the same names in the same order, or keep the full matrix electronically and print it by team.

• Done [date] · Due [date] · [initials]: completed, next due, and signed off by.
• Booked [date]: in the training plan, not done yet.
• Overdue since [date]: the due date has passed. The person does not do that task unsupervised until the item is refreshed and signed off.
• Not needed: the role does not need this item (a dash in the role requirements grid).

6. Signing off training

1. 1Name in advance who may sign off each item: usually the trainer, or a manager or supervisor who is signed off on it themselves. Keep the list at [system/location].
2. 2Check competence before signing. HSE describes competence as "the combination of training, skills, experience and knowledge that a person has and their ability to apply them to perform a task safely". A signature should mean the person can do the task, not that they sat through the session.
3. 3If the check is not passed, retrain and check again. Do not sign off an item that was not understood, and do not let the person work unsupervised on it in the meantime.
4. 4The trainer and the employee both initial the record on the day. The employee's initials confirm the training took place; they do not mark their own work.
5. 5Copy the dates into the team matrix the same day, and close the item on the training plan.

7. Refresher and expiry dates

• Every item in the role requirements grid has a refresher interval, or a note that it is refreshed only when its content changes.
• Where a certificate carries an expiry date, the due date is whichever comes first: the certificate's expiry or the date the grid's refresher interval gives.
• Bring a refresher forward when the work changes. HSE says: "Staff will need extra training if you get new equipment or your working practices change." Bring it forward too after an incident or near miss that shows a gap, and when someone returns from a long absence.
• Check the matrix every [month] for items due in the next [30] days, and add them to the training plan with a trainer and a target date.
• Treat an overdue item like an item never done: the person does not do that task unsupervised until it is refreshed and signed off.
• Add a new row to the individual record for each refresher. Never change the old date to the new one.

8. What people look for in a training record

Inspectors, insurers, auditors and new managers tend to ask the same questions, and a certificate in a drawer answers none of them.

• A record for each person that matches the team matrix, so the summary and the evidence agree.
• Dates and sign-offs by a named person, written at the time.
• The version or date of the procedure each item was trained against, so a changed SOP shows who still needs retraining.
• A competence check recorded for each item, not attendance alone.
• Refresher and expiry dates that have not passed, or, where one has, a booked date and a restriction in place until then.
• The people HSE singles out for particular training needs: "new recruits, people changing jobs or taking on extra responsibilities, young employees and health and safety representatives".
• Part-time, agency, seasonal and contract staff on the matrix wherever they do the work, not only permanent employees.

9. Records, data protection and review

Keep the individual records, the role requirements grid and the team matrix together at [system/location], with copies of any certificates. Keep one master copy: a second spreadsheet on someone's laptop is how two versions of the truth begin.

Training records name individuals, so they are personal data. GOV.UK's summary of the data protection principles says information must be "accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date" and "kept for no longer than is necessary". Set the retention period for training records in your data retention policy ([retention period]) and limit access to the people who need it.

Owner of this record and matrix: [name/role]. The role requirements grid is reviewed every [twelve months], and whenever a role, a procedure or a piece of equipment changes. Next review due: [date].