PPE training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online PPE certificate

Your employer decides what PPE training you need, based on its risk assessment. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 require employers to give adequate information, instruction and training to anyone who has to use PPE, and HSE guidance L25 explains how. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows the law and HSE guidance. The PPE at Work Regulations 1992 as amended in 2022 in England, Wales and Scotland, the Northern Ireland regulations of 1993, HSE guidance L25 and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
• A clear record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date.
• The essentials every wearer needs. Where PPE sits in the hierarchy of controls, assessing the need, choosing protection for the head, eyes, ears, lungs, hands, feet and body, fit and compatibility, putting PPE on and taking it off, storage, checks and replacement, and the duty to report loss or defects.
• A refresh date. Equipment, tasks and risks change, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate records PPE Training, 1 hour of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 3 years on. Some PPE needs more than knowledge: each wearer of a tight fitting respirator must have a face fit test, harnesses and fall arrest equipment need task specific training, and the manufacturer's instructions for each item still apply. Your employer decides what else is needed for the PPE you use.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 4 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. PPE and the law. What personal protective equipment is and what it is not. The hierarchy of controls and why PPE comes last. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, the 2022 amendment that extended the duties to limb (b) workers, the rule that PPE must be provided free of charge, and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
2. Assessing the need and choosing PPE. Assessing the risks a task presents and whether PPE is needed. Types of protection for the head, eyes and face, hearing, breathing, hands and arms, feet and legs, the body and against falls. Conformity marking, standards and manufacturer information, and checking that items are compatible when worn together.
3. Fit, use and inclusive PPE. Why fit decides whether PPE protects, including face fit testing for tight fitting respiratory protection. Putting PPE on and taking it off correctly. Equipment for women, smaller and larger body sizes, religious dress, facial hair, pregnancy and disability. Training and information for the people who wear it.
4. Storage, maintenance and the duties of users. Storing PPE so it stays clean and undamaged, pre-use checks, cleaning, maintenance, replacement and shelf life. Keeping records of issue and training. The duty of employees to use PPE as trained, return it to storage and report loss or defects.

By the end you can explain where PPE sits in the hierarchy of controls, describe what the regulations require and who they protect since 2022, identify the hazards in a task that call for PPE, choose equipment that suits the hazard, the task and the person, recognise why fit and compatibility decide whether it protects, put on, remove, store and clean common items correctly, and spot when PPE is damaged or no longer suitable.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (England, Wales and Scotland). Where a risk cannot be adequately controlled in other ways, employers must provide suitable PPE, assess it, keep it maintained and stored properly, give information, instruction and training on its use, and make sure it is used. Employees must use PPE as trained and report loss or defects. Northern Ireland has equivalent rules in the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993.
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (Great Britain). From 6 April 2022 the duties were extended from employees to limb (b) workers: people who do casual or irregular work for an organisation under a contract but are not self employed in business on their own account. Employers must assess, provide and maintain PPE for them in the same way, free of charge.
• HSE L25: Personal protective equipment at work, guidance on the regulations (Great Britain). The HSE's guidance on each regulation: assessing the need for PPE, choosing suitable equipment that fits, making sure items are compatible, maintaining and replacing them and training the people who use them. The course is structured around it.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 (England, Wales and Scotland). Employers must provide safe systems of work and the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to keep employees safe, so far as is reasonably practicable. Northern Ireland has the same duty in the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 9 (England, Wales and Scotland). An employer cannot charge an employee for anything done or provided to meet a specific health and safety requirement, so PPE required by the regulations must be provided free.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 27 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College, £19.99 is the full price for one learner, pay once with no subscription, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

PPE Training is for anyone who wears, issues or manages personal protective equipment in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you wear PPE at work and want to understand how to use it properly
• you issue PPE to staff or decide what equipment a task needs
• you supervise or manage people on sites, in factories, warehouses, kitchens, care settings or cleaning teams
• you are responsible for buying PPE and want to get fit, compatibility and standards right
• you are writing or reviewing risk assessments that rely on PPE as a control

For chemicals, dusts and other hazardous substances, see our COSHH guide. For deciding when PPE is the right control, see our risk assessment guide, and for the wider duties at work our health and safety guide. See every course on the health and safety courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Open a free organisation account: every course is £16.99, and you can pay by card or invoice with your PO.

Enrol on PPE Training for £19.99 and start the moment you pay, on any device. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.