Training

Training is a fundamental part of workplace compliance. Whether it's fire safety, food hygiene, or safeguarding, making sure your team has the right training - and that it stays up to date - is both a legal responsibility and a practical necessity. Shinepoint helps you manage training requirements with pre-built checklists, recurring schedules, and clear visibility of who has completed what and who is overdue.

#Training Templates

Shinepoint includes a library of pre-built training checklists covering the most common requirements for UK businesses. These templates are organised by sector, so you'll see the ones most relevant to your industry highlighted as recommended.

Select Training Templates from the training page to browse what's available. Each template card shows the category, item count, and whether the training is recurring. Templates marked with a star are recommended for your business sector.

#Universal Templates

These apply to businesses in every sector:

• Fire Safety Awareness - covers fire prevention, evacuation procedures, and extinguisher use. Renews annually.
• First Aid at Work - CPR, AED use, treating wounds, and recognising emergencies. Renews every three years. Requires manager sign-off.
• Manual Handling - safe lifting techniques, the TILE assessment framework, and when to use mechanical aids. Renews every three years.
• Health and Safety Induction - a one-off checklist covering employer and employee responsibilities, hazard reporting, and your health and safety policy.
• GDPR and Data Protection Awareness - the key principles of data protection, data subject rights, and breach procedures. Renews annually.
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - the Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics, unconscious bias, and reporting discrimination. Renews every two years.
• Display Screen Equipment (DSE) - workstation setup, the importance of regular breaks, and eye test entitlements. Renews every two years.

#Construction

• Working at Height Safety - the Work at Height Regulations 2005, ladder safety, fall protection, and reporting unsafe conditions. Renews annually.
• CSCS Card Awareness - a one-off overview of card types, the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test, and site access requirements.
• PPE Usage and Inspection - selecting, fitting, inspecting, and maintaining personal protective equipment. Renews annually.
• Asbestos Awareness - identifying asbestos, understanding health risks, the duty to manage, and emergency procedures. Renews annually.

#Hospitality

• Food Hygiene Level 2 - food safety legislation, temperature controls, cross-contamination prevention, and HACCP principles. Renews every three years.
• Allergen Awareness - the 14 major food allergens, labelling requirements, preventing cross-contamination, and responding to allergic reactions. Renews annually.
• Alcohol Licensing Awareness - a one-off checklist covering the Licensing Act 2003, Challenge 25 age verification, and personal licence holder responsibilities.

#Care and Social Work

• Safeguarding Adults - types of abuse and neglect, recognising indicators, reporting procedures, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Renews annually.
• Safeguarding Children - recognising harm, referral and escalation procedures, and safer recruitment practices. Renews annually.
• Moving and Handling People - risk assessment, safe use of hoists and slide sheets, and handling techniques for different care situations. Renews annually.
• Medication Administration - the six rights of medication administration, safe storage, MAR chart completion, error reporting, and controlled drugs regulations. Renews annually.

#Retail

• Customer Service Excellence - first impressions, active listening, handling complaints, and escalation procedures. One-off training.
• Cash Handling and Till Operations - processing transactions, reconciling cash, recognising counterfeit currency, and banking procedures. One-off training.

#Estate Agency

• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) - money laundering stages, customer due diligence, suspicious activity reports, and record-keeping obligations. Renews annually.
• Property Viewing Safety - lone working procedures, check-in and check-out systems, hazard assessment, and emergency procedures. Renews annually.

#Creating Training Checklists

You can create training checklists in two ways: by adopting a template or by building one from scratch.

#Starting from a Template

From the Training Templates page, find the template you'd like to use and select Adopt Template. This pre-fills the checklist with the template's title, description, items, and recurrence settings. You can then adjust anything before saving - rename it, add or remove items, or change the renewal interval to suit your needs.

#Creating a Custom Checklist

If none of the templates fit, select New Checklist from the training page to start from scratch. Give your checklist a title and optionally a description, then build out the individual items.

Each checklist item represents a specific task, topic, or competency that employees need to complete. For each item you can set a title, an optional description with further detail, and whether the item is required or optional. You can reorder items using the up and down arrows to arrange them in a logical sequence.

#Recurring Training

If the training needs to be repeated on a regular cycle, tick Recurring training and set the renewal interval in months. When an employee completes recurring training, Shinepoint automatically calculates the next due date and notifies you when a refresher is needed.

#Manager Sign-off

For training where you want an extra layer of verification, enable Require manager sign-off. When this is turned on, employees can work through the checklist items themselves, but completion isn't recorded until a manager reviews and formally signs off the training. This is particularly useful for safety-critical training such as first aid.

#Assigning Training to Employees

Once you've created a checklist, you need to assign it to the employees who should complete it.

Open the checklist and select Assign Employees. You'll see a list of your employees and can select individuals or multiple people at once. You can also set an optional due date for when the training should be completed.

When you confirm the assignment, employees are notified and the training appears in their Employee Portal with the status Not Started. You can return to the checklist at any time to assign additional employees or review who has already been assigned.

#Training Progress and Completion

The training detail page gives you a complete picture of progress across all assigned employees. An overall progress bar shows the aggregate completion percentage, and a status breakdown shows how many employees are in each state.

#Training Statuses

Each employee's training assignment carries one of the following statuses:

• Not Started - the employee has been assigned the training but hasn't begun any items yet
• In Progress - the employee has started working through the checklist but hasn't finished all required items
• Completed - all required items have been ticked off (and signed off by a manager, if required)
• Awaiting Sign-off - the employee has completed all items, but the training requires manager sign-off before it's finalised
• Overdue - the due date has passed and the training hasn't been completed
• Expired - a previously completed recurring training has passed its renewal date and needs to be retaken
• Cancelled - the training assignment was cancelled before completion

#Tracking Individual Progress

For each assigned employee, you can see their current status, completion percentage, due date, and whether they've uploaded a certificate. Select an employee's row to expand it and see exactly which items they've completed and which are outstanding.

As a manager, you can also complete or uncomplete individual items on behalf of an employee. If a training checklist requires manager sign-off, you'll see Sign Off and Return options once the employee has finished all items. Signing off marks the training as complete. Returning it sends it back to the employee with an optional reason, so they know what needs attention.

#Training Certificates

Some training - particularly external courses like first aid or food hygiene - results in a formal certificate. Employees can upload their certificate directly against the training assignment as proof of completion. Accepted formats include PDF, JPG, and PNG. Having certificates stored against the relevant training record means everything is in one place when you need to demonstrate compliance during an audit or inspection.

#Recurring Training and Expiry

When an employee completes recurring training, Shinepoint calculates the next due date based on the recurrence interval you set. As that date passes, the training status automatically moves to Expired, and you'll see it flagged on the training page and your Dashboard. You don't need to manually track renewal dates - Shinepoint handles the scheduling and alerts you when action is needed.

#In the Employee Portal

Employees can view and manage their assigned training directly from the Employee Portal. From their portal, they can:

• See all training assigned to them with current statuses and due dates
• Work through checklist items at their own pace, ticking off each one as they go
• Upload training certificates where required
• Track which items are still outstanding

This self-service approach means employees take ownership of their own development, whilst you maintain oversight of progress across the team.

#Training Compliance

Training completion plays a direct role in your overall compliance score. The training component is one of four weighted areas that make up your score, alongside policies, risk assessments, and employee compliance.

On your Dashboard, you'll see a clear breakdown of how many training assignments are completed, in progress, and overdue across your business. This gives you an immediate sense of whether training is on track or needs attention.

If you notice a cluster of overdue training, it's worth investigating the cause. Common reasons include employees not being given time to complete their training, checklists that are too long, or a backlog from onboarding several new starters at once.

For businesses in regulated sectors, maintaining a strong training record isn't just good practice - it's often a legal requirement. Sectors such as care, construction, and hospitality have specific training obligations, and being able to demonstrate that your team is trained and up to date is essential during inspections or audits.