Safety Training

All staff need to attend training as identified at safety induction and on review of risk assessments relevant to your work and your role with your line manager, a plan to attend training on a prioritised basis should also be made at this time.

Safety legislation requires employers to provide instruction, training and supervision and equally employees are required to attend such training and undergo assessment as required.

Safety induction and fire safety training are mandatory.  Safety induction is mandatory on the commencement of employment, or a new role, within University of Galway to advise staff of local safety arrangements and procedures within their Unit, identify safety training needs and clarify the requirement for active involvement and participation in the safety of the Unit.  Manual Handling training is mandatory if your duties include the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving a load.

The Semester Schedule, Course Information and Registration Form are available on the Safety Training SharePoint site.  Safety Training Courses and Events are listed on  An Dialann and in our monthly All Staff Health and Safety Training Opportunities email.

By completing the Registration Form available on the Safety Training SharePoint Site.

Typically safety training is required every three years however a number of accredited courses have their own specific reaccreditation requirements, please see Safety Training Prospectus 2024/2025 for full course details.  

Safety training attendance records are provided to the Head of Unit and Unit Safety Co-Ordinator annually; individual attendance records are available in your Core Portal at Corehr in  My Profile/Learning and Development.

Units are required to organise local specialised training events as identified by risk assessments, to address specific requirements, not covered by the Central Safety Training Programme organised by the Health and Safety Office.  This type of training can be tailored to a Unit’s specific requirements and is arranged by the Unit directly.  The Health and Safety Training Co-Ordinator can assist in the course planning, advise on specialised experts, and help to devise training to meet your needs.

Each Head of Unit is responsible for: 
Annual review of risk assessments, new activities and staff: collating annual training needs assessment and submitting via Unit Safety Statement; planning and communicating the Units’ annual training requirements; organising specialist training courses; ensuring local training attendance records are maintained and monitoring training participation.

The Unit Safety Co-Ordinator assists the Head of Unit in their safety management role.  The role is set out in your Unit Safety Statement Policy and is likely to include the distribution of safety training information, co-operation with training needs assessments, arrangements to ensure staff attend training and maintenance of local training records.

The Health and Safety Office offer a Central Safety Training Programme consisting of a wide range of training, workshops and briefings delivered mainly within the academic year; the programme covers the common safety needs of the main Units and is developed based on Unit’s safety Training Needs Assessments provided annually to the Health and Safety Office.  A certain number of courses will be scheduled both in and out of term to accommodate the academic calendar and the availability of staff.   The programme includes various Unit Safety Briefings for Heads of Units and Managers to provide essential information and practical actions on priority safety topics.