SSSTS Training in Leicester – £199 Live Online

Course overview

Course overview

The day you go from being one of the crew to being the person the crew looks to is a genuine turning point in a construction career. One week you are on the tools; the next you are running the morning briefing, walking a new starter through their induction, checking a scaffold tag before anyone climbs it and being asked, on the spot, to talk through a method statement you did not write. The CITB Site Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme is built for exactly that step. Across two focused days it gives Leicester supervisors, gangers, chargehands and first-line managers the health and safety footing they need to lead a section of the works safely, lawfully and without second-guessing every decision.

We deliver the SSSTS as a live, tutor-led class over a video link, which means supervisors right across Leicester and the East Midlands can gain the qualification without surrendering two days to the ring road and the search for a parking space. You are in a real classroom with a real trainer, on screen and in real time. You ask questions as they occur to you, work through the exercises with the rest of the group and sit the assessment from wherever you have logged in. If you would still rather learn face to face, a classroom option is open to you as well.

What the SSSTS is, and what it is not

The SSSTS is the industry’s recognised first safety qualification for anyone who carries a supervisory role on a building or civil engineering site. It sits within the CITB Site Safety Plus family and is accepted right across the sector, which is why so many principal contractors and clients working in and around Leicester will not let a supervisor take charge of a section until they hold a current one. If your access card and your competence are being checked at the gate, this is the certificate that answers the safety half of that question.

It is worth pinning down the difference between the two Site Safety Plus courses people most often confuse, because booking the wrong one wastes time and money. The SSSTS runs for two days and is pitched at supervisors and team leaders who oversee part of a job. The SMSTS, the Site Management Safety Training Scheme, runs for five days and is aimed at the managers and agents who plan and control an entire site from the top down. A simple test settles it: if your responsibility is a squad, a trade or a defined section of the works rather than the whole project, the SSSTS is the course written for your role. Those who go on to run full sites can take the SMSTS course later.

Who should take this course in Leicester

This course is aimed squarely at the people who direct the work of others on site, whether you have carried that responsibility for years or picked it up only last month. You are likely to be a good fit if any of the following describe you:

• A site supervisor, ganger, chargehand or foreman working on a Leicester construction project
• A tradesperson who is about to take charge of a squad for the first time
• A first-line manager or team leader who has just come off the tools into a supervisory post
• The person responsible for running inductions, delivering toolbox talks and giving daily briefings
• Expected to read, monitor and act on risk assessments and method statements as part of your routine
• Based anywhere across Leicestershire and asked by a main contractor or client to hold a valid SSSTS
• An employer or supervisor who wants newly promoted staff brought up to a proper standard of safety competence before they take responsibility for others

You do not need a long track record to attend. A good number of the delegates we train book their SSSTS at the exact moment they are promoted, so the certificate and the new duties land together rather than months apart.

What the course covers

Over the two days your CITB-approved trainer works through the legal duties and the practical safety habits a supervisor is expected to put into action, day in and day out. The focus stays on what you actually do on the ground, planning a task, briefing the people carrying it out, spotting a hazard and dealing with it, rather than theory studied for its own sake. The main areas the course works through include:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act and where a supervisor’s own responsibilities sit within it
• An overview of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and how they shape duties on site
• Reading, monitoring and clearly communicating risk assessments to the people affected
• Turning method statements into safe systems of work that a squad can actually follow
• Running site inductions and toolbox talks that land rather than wash over people
• Behavioural safety and how a supervisor sets the tone for a positive safety culture
• Looking after occupational health, welfare and the everyday hazards a site throws up
• The supervisor’s part in monitoring, reporting and keeping honest records

Because the class is genuinely live rather than a recording, the sessions are built around conversation and worked scenarios instead of a one-way lecture. You will talk through the sort of situations that turn up on the jobs going on around Leicester, from city-centre redevelopment and student accommodation near the two universities to the housing schemes, distribution sheds and infrastructure work spread across the county. When something on the course reminds you of a problem on your own site, you can put it straight to the trainer and get a straight answer back.

That practical slant matters more than it might sound. A supervisor’s real test is rarely the tidy example in a textbook; it is the awkward morning when the weather has turned, two trades want the same bit of scaffold and a delivery has arrived early with nowhere to put it. The course spends its time on judgement calls of that kind, so that when you are the one being asked to make the decision on a Leicester site, you have already thought it through with a trainer and a room of other supervisors rather than working it out cold under pressure.

Structure and assessment

The SSSTS runs across two consecutive days, each one from 08:30 to 16:00, so both sessions are wrapped up comfortably by four o’clock. That earlier finish is deliberate. It gives supervisors the room to deal with a late handover on site or to sort out the school run and other commitments without the training bleeding into the evening.

The assessment is fair and free of tricks. To come away with the qualification you need to:

• Attend both days from start to finish and take a full part in the group exercises
• Complete the short knowledge checks and activities that run through the sessions
• Pass the multiple-choice examination held at the end of the second day

Our SSSTS courses carry a 98% pass rate, and that figure has a lot to do with the fact that the learning happens live with a trainer who keeps checking that the room is following along rather than leaving anyone to sink quietly. Engage with the two days and the exam rarely holds any surprises.

It helps to treat the two days as protected time. Supervisors are used to being pulled in ten directions at once, but the delegates who get the most from the course are the ones who arrange cover on site, put the phone down and give the sessions their full attention. Two focused days now is a small price against the years the certificate then covers, and against the confidence of knowing your safety knowledge is properly up to date next time a client’s health and safety adviser walks the job.

Entry requirements

There are no formal prerequisites, and you do not need to hold any existing safety qualification before you book. Every part of the course, including the materials and the examination paper, is delivered in English, so delegates do need a sound standard of spoken and written English to keep up with the sessions and complete the assessment. Some time spent on a construction site is helpful but it is not a condition of attending. For the live online class you will need a computer, laptop or tablet with a webcam and microphone, both of which are built into most devices these days, plus a reasonably steady internet connection. If you have ever taken part in a video call, you already have everything the course asks for, and we send plain, step-by-step joining instructions before the start date so nobody is left fiddling with the technology on the morning.

Why train online from Leicester

Leicester sits on one of the busiest construction corridors in the country. With the M1 and the M69 on the doorstep, the golden-triangle logistics parks stretching south towards Lutterworth and Magna Park, and steady demand for supervisors across housing, commercial fit-out, distribution and civils work throughout Leicestershire, getting people qualified quickly is not a nice-to-have. It is often the thing standing between a supervisor and the gate. Training by live video link takes out the two factors that usually drag that process out: travel and lost time on site.

Instead of writing off extra hours to a commute or, worse, an overnight stay near a distant training centre, your supervisors log in from home, from the site cabin or from anywhere with a signal, and learn in a proper classroom led by a proper trainer. It keeps people close to the jobs they are running, strips out the cost and the faff of getting there, and makes it far more realistic to release two or three supervisors from the same firm on the same days. For teams scattered across Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Coalville, Wigston, Melton Mowbray and the towns in between, everyone joins the identical course at the identical standard, and nobody has to work out where to leave the van.

None of that quality is traded away for the convenience. You see and hear the trainer live, you speak up the moment a question forms, and you sit precisely the same assessment a classroom delegate would sit. If you genuinely prefer to be in a room with other people, the classroom route stays open to you. But for the majority of Leicester supervisors the live online option is simply the more sensible way to get certified and get back to work.

Pricing

Our CITB SSSTS course is £199 for the live online video-link class and £279 for the classroom option. Either way, the price covers the full two days of tutor-led training, all of your course materials and the end-of-course examination, with nothing held back to catch you out later. On passing, you receive the CITB Site Safety Plus SSSTS certificate, which is valid for five years. Rather than repeating the whole two days when it runs out, you keep it current by taking the one-day SSSTS Refresher before the expiry date comes round. For firms putting several supervisors through at once, booking a group onto the same course is usually the most efficient way to bring a whole team up to standard together.

How to book

Booking your SSSTS in Leicester is quick. Decide whether the live online or the classroom option suits you better, choose a date from the calendar and reserve your place at booking.skillstg.co.uk/course/SSSTS. If you are booking for a group of supervisors, or you want the training to line up neatly with a project start on site, call our team on 0808 164 2780. We will help you settle on dates that work around your programme and talk you through anything you are unsure about, whether that is the technology, the assessment or how to arrange places for a whole squad.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the SSSTS course and what time does each day finish?

The SSSTS is a two-day course. Both days run from 08:30 to 16:00, so you are finished by four o’clock on each. You need to attend both days in full to gain the qualification, so it is worth clearing the diary for the whole of both dates before you book.

What is the difference between the SSSTS and the SMSTS?

The SSSTS is a two-day course for supervisors, gangers and first-line managers who look after a section of the work. The SMSTS is a five-day course for site managers and agents who plan and control a whole site. If you supervise a squad or a trade rather than run the entire project, the SSSTS is the one you want.

Do I have to travel to a training venue in Leicester?

No. We run the SSSTS as a live online class over a video link, so supervisors across Leicester and the wider East Midlands can qualify from home or the site cabin without going anywhere. If you would rather learn in person, a classroom option is available as an alternative.

Will contractors in Leicester accept an SSSTS gained online?

Yes. The certificate is the same qualification however you attend, and it makes no difference to a contractor whether you sat the course online or in a room. It is part of the CITB Site Safety Plus scheme and is accepted by principal contractors and clients across Leicester, Leicestershire and the construction industry as a whole.

What does the SSSTS course cost?

The live online video-link class is £199 and the in-person classroom option is £279. Both prices include the two days of tutor-led training, your course materials and the final examination, with no extras added on afterwards.

How long does the SSSTS certificate last and how do I renew it?

Your CITB SSSTS certificate is valid for five years. To keep it live you take the one-day SSSTS Refresher course before the certificate expires, which saves you sitting the full two-day course again from scratch.

Do I need any experience or prior qualifications to book?

No. There are no formal entry requirements and you do not need an existing safety qualification. You do need a good standard of spoken and written English, since the materials and the exam are in English. Some site experience helps but it is not essential, which is why plenty of delegates take the SSSTS at the very point they move into a supervisory role.

Modules breakdown

Our comprehensive SSSTS training covers the following key areas:

Health and Safety Law

• Current legislation affecting construction supervision
• Legal responsibilities of supervisors on site
• Understanding Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) requirements
• Health and safety regulations specific to construction activities
• Consequences of non-compliance for individuals and companies

Risk Management

• Principles of risk assessment
• Understanding and implementing method statements
• Delivering method statement briefings for workers
• Managing common site hazards effectively
• Control measures for various construction activities
• Managing hazardous substances

Supervisory Responsibilities

• The supervisor’s role in safety management
• Building and maintaining a positive safety culture
• Identifying and addressing bad practice
• Effective communication techniques
• Managing subcontractors and visitors
• Conducting site inductions and safety briefings

Practical Safety Management

• Planning for site safety
• Conducting effective toolbox talks
• Safety inspection procedures
• Accident reporting and investigation
• Record-keeping requirements
• Promoting safety awareness among workers

Health and Wellbeing

• Occupational health concerns in construction
• Behavioural safety approaches
• Managing workplace stress
• Noise, vibration and dust exposure
• Manual handling best practices
• Worker welfare requirements

Environmental Issues

• Environmental responsibilities on site
• Waste management and reduction
• Energy efficiency considerations
• Pollution prevention
• Sustainable construction practices
• Regulatory compliance

Course Structure

The CITB SSSTS course is delivered over two consecutive days through our professional remote learning platform:

• Led by experienced instructors with extensive construction backgrounds
• Interactive sessions with fellow construction professionals
• Comprehensive digital training materials provided
• Practical scenarios and case studies
• Group discussions and knowledge-sharing opportunities

Full attendance across both days is required to qualify for the examination. The course combines theoretical knowledge with practical application to ensure relevance to daily supervisory duties.