coteca.co.uk > Blog > SSSTS vs SMSTS: Which Site Safety Course Do You Actually Need?
If you’re weighing up SSSTS vs SMSTS, the short answer is this: SSSTS is for supervisors and SMSTS is for site managers. Both are CITB Site Safety Plus courses, both are asked for on most UK sites, and both last five years. Where they differ is in how long they take, how deep they go and what your employer will expect you to be responsible for afterwards.
People often book the wrong one. Some pay for five days of training they don’t need yet. Others take the two-day course and then find the job advert wanted the manager’s certificate. This guide sets the two side by side so you can pick the right course the first time.
| SSSTS | SMSTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Site Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme | Site Management Safety Training Scheme |
| Who it’s for | Supervisors, foremen, gangers and team leaders | Site managers, agents and anyone running a site |
| Length | 2 days | 5 days |
| Certificate lasts | 5 years | 5 years |
| Refresher | 1 day | 2 days |
The SSSTS course is built for the person who looks after a gang or a small team day to day. Over two days you look at why supervisors carry legal duties, how to give a toolbox talk that people listen to, how to spot hazards before work starts and what to do when something goes wrong.
It stays close to the ground. You’ll work through risk assessments and method statements from the point of view of the person who has to brief them out, not the person who writes them. Topics include working at height, excavations, confined spaces, fire, manual handling and occupational health. If you’ve just been made up to supervisor, or you’re about to be, this is the course most employers and principal contractors will ask you for.
The SMSTS course runs for five days and assumes you are, or soon will be, responsible for the whole site. It goes much further into the law: the Health and Safety at Work Act, the CDM Regulations and what they mean for the person in charge.
You learn to plan and set up a site, write and review risk assessments and method statements, manage contractors, and run inductions and site meetings. There is more written work than on SSSTS, including a core exercise and group tasks that you present back. The same hazards come up, such as work at height, scaffolding, demolition, excavations and electricity, but you look at them as the person who has to organise and monitor the controls.
Start with the job you do now, or the one you’ve been offered, and ask who you answer for.
Check what the main contractor asks for as well. Many will only accept SMSTS for anyone named as site manager on their projects, whatever your experience.
No. There’s no rule that says you must hold SSSTS first, and plenty of people go straight to SMSTS. That said, SMSTS moves quickly and expects you to know how a site runs. If you’ve never supervised anyone, the two-day course first can make the five-day one far easier to pass.
Neither certificate is a CSCS card on its own. For a Gold Supervisor card or Black Manager card you still need the right NVQ. An NVQ course alongside your safety training is how most people move up.
Both certificates run for five years. To keep yours going you take a refresher before the expiry date: one day for SSSTS and two days for SMSTS. Leave it until after the date and you have to sit the full course again, so put a reminder in your phone for six months before.
Still not sure which one fits? Tell us your role and the site you’re going to and we’ll point you to the right course. When you’re ready, you can book the SSSTS or SMSTS course with Coteca online or by phone.
TC
Really feeling great to find such platform to get done my CSCS through Mr Akhil Anand will recommend to everyone.
AT
I was very pleased with the service. Ram Ghagat, was funny, encouraging and also made me feel very comfortable. He was very easy to communicate with, and very supportive. Experience was 10/10.
GS
Excellent service. Can’t fault them.
JB
Good service, always at the end of the phone, more than willing to help and friendly. Dexter wills was a great help.
MC
Called up for a new CSCS card application. Dexter helped me fantastically and professionally.
After a mix up with my email address on my part, Dexter spent several hours sorting this out for me, even calling me to nice he had gone home to continue helping sort the issue that honestly I had caused.
Thank you and I would recommend them.
SC
Amazing company Coteca are!!!
Ram and Dexter was Brilliant through the whole process helped me through it
When I needed help they rang me within minutes.
If you need to do your CITB test please book through these guys.
Thanks guys!!!
BC
I had a brilliant experience with Coteca and there employee ram was help full and brilliant with assistance through the company
I sincerely appreciate the help and support given to me by Mr. Ram he encouraged me to go for the ultimate one which I really give him the credit.
BD
Great experience with my agent throughout the process of applying for my card will definitely use again
JD
Kevin Wilson and staff at Coteca were very helpful and friendly in applying for my blue skilled worker CSCS card. Highly recommend.
We will give you best suited CSCS product. Apply Here
By filling this form, I agree to the terms and conditions
