SPA The SPA Food Sector Specific Safety Passport Course England, United Kingdom

Course details

At the heart of the SPA Safety Passport scheme is the core day, which involves training in seven key areas, to a level which everyone will understand. A delegate’s understanding is assessed by multiple-choice questions and achievement is rewarded by the issue of a credit card sized “Safety Passport”.

Through liaison with employer associations, trade unions, National Training Organisations (NTOs) and other relevant bodies, IOSH/SPA has designed and developed additional training modules tailored to different work sectors. These additional modules enhance the awareness of workers to their own related industries.

People who are in possession of a Client Contractor National Safety Group (ECITB/SCATS) safety passport gained within two years from the date of the IOSH/SPA examination will not be required to attend day one (core day).

They will still be required to successfully complete day two. In such circumstances the CCNSG passport details must be enclosed with the candidate registration form and the passport itself brought in on day two of the SPA passport course for inspection and photocopying.

Course Content

The minimum course content is contained within the course training specification. The course takes two days to deliver, and includes a test at the end of each module. The course covers eleven modules: 

Day One

• Introduction to health and safety law, including safe systems of work 
• Workplace safety including access/egress, emergencies, vehicles and equipment 
• Fire Precautions and Procedures 
• Accidents –prevention and reporting and First Aid Procedures 
• Hazardous substances -COSHH and PPE 
• Manual Handling 
• Noise

Day Two

• Scope of the Food Industry 
• Food Protection 
• Environmental Protection 
• Specific Food Sector health and safety problems

A full colour course delegate handout is included in the price.

Retraining is required every three years. Places on the one-day refresher course, for candidates with either a current passport about to expire or one which expired no more than three months before the refresher date, cost £60.00.

Testing

At the end of each module, candidates must sit a 10 question multi-choice examination paper. Over the entire course they must achieve a minimum 80% in order to pass. In addition in each core module there are “key” questions which the candidate must answer correctly, failure to answer a key question will result in module failure. The papers are marked and the candidates informed of the result. Incorrect answers will be discussed with the candidate.

Should a candidate fail a module they may re-sit the module exam (maximum 4 attempts).

Candidates with dyslexia or any similar learning disability can be accommodated so long as the employer notifies BSS of any such problem at least two weeks prior to course commencement.

Subject to successfully passing this test, British Safety Services (BSS) will issue a temporary credit card sized certificate (passport) upon course completion, and IOSH will issue a permanent passport within 15 days. The certificate is the property of the employee - not the contractor. The certificate contains the delegate’s name, expiry date of the passport (which is 3 years from the date of passing the test), and a card number.