CITB SMSTS Refresher Course

Keeping an SMSTS qualification current matters just as much as earning it in the first place, and the CITB SMSTS Refresher Course exists to bring site managers up to speed with the latest legislation, guidance and best practice before their certificate lapses. Delivered over two days, it revisits and updates the core knowledge from the original CITB SMSTS Course, with a sharper focus on recent changes and emerging risks.

Since this course covers legislative updates rather than starting from scratch, it works best alongside a broader refresh of related qualifications. Site managers whose SSSTS-qualified supervisors are also due a refresh often book the two together, keeping every level of site management current at the same time. Anyone managing construction projects should also keep the Online CDM Regulation Awareness Course (Remote Learning) in mind, since CDM guidance is one of the areas most likely to have changed since original SMSTS certification.

For organisations wanting environmental compliance kept equally current, this course pairs well with the CITB SEATS Site Environmental Awareness Training Scheme Course, and directors overseeing site management standards from above may also want to revisit the CITB Health and Safety for Directors Course around the same time, ensuring boardroom expectations stay aligned with what's happening on site.

Only delegates who have passed the five-day SMSTS Course, or a previous SMSTS Refresher Course within the last five years, and can provide evidence of this, are eligible to attend, with attendance across both days required to meet the learning objectives and qualify for re-certification.

At the end of the CITB SMSTS Refresher Course, successful candidates will be able to:

• Manage health and safety on site in accordance with current legal provisions, and within the context of their management and supervisory role
• Understand their legal, moral and social obligations to maintain a healthy and safe site, as well as consider the benefits and costs of implementation to their organisation
• Identify and avoid potential hazards on site
• Prepare method statements, risk assessments and other statutory requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act

The CITB SMSTS Refresher Course will cover the following topics:

• Legislation and ACOP updates, with discussion on impact and practical aspects of compliance
• Overview of proposed and impending legislation
• RIDDOR: accident statistics, costs, causes, and management responsibilities and prevention methods
• HSE's current focus on construction activities
• Safety management systems, policies, plans and performance measuring
• Management of contractors
• Communication and consultation, including effective use of toolbox talks and site inductions
• Behavioural safety, including awareness of human error and stress prevention
• Syndicate exercises

Delegates sit an exam paper of 25 questions at the end of the CITB SMSTS Refresher Course, made up of 18 multiple-choice questions worth one mark each and seven multi-response or short written answer questions worth two marks each. The pass mark is 81% (26 out of 32). Attendance across both days is required to meet the learning objectives and qualify for re-certification, and successful candidates receive the CITB SMSTS Refresher certificate, valid for five years.

The CITB SMSTS Refresher Course is for anyone who has previously attended the five-day SMSTS Course or a two-day SMSTS Refresher Course and whose certificate is due to expire within five years of issue.

Only delegates who have passed the five-day SMSTS Course, or a previous SMSTS Refresher Course within the last five years, and can provide evidence of this, are eligible to attend the CITB SMSTS Refresher Course. A good understanding of spoken and written English is also necessary to attend and successfully complete the course.