Free Training Record Matrix Template (UK): PDF & Excel
One sheet showing who is trained, in what, and what expires next month.
Most organisations can tell you that their staff are trained. Far fewer can tell you, without a scramble, which certificates expire in the next 60 days. That gap is where lapsed first aiders, out-of-date fire marshals and expired tickets come from. Sort this matrix by the refresher due column and the answer takes a second.
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What's in the template
- Name and role, so gaps by team are visible
- Course or competency, provider, date completed and valid until
- Refresher due and status, which together drive your training plan
- Evidence reference, linking each row to the filed certificate
How to use it
Enter the expiry date from the certificate itself rather than calculating it, because renewal periods vary more than people expect between providers and schemes. Set the refresher due date earlier than the expiry, typically by 4 to 8 weeks, so there is time to book a course before the qualification lapses rather than after.
Review it monthly and sort by refresher due. Keep the certificates filed against the evidence reference so an auditor can move from the matrix to the proof in one step. Related guides: mandatory training records and the CSTF for healthcare settings, and fire marshal training records.
Who must keep this record
Every employer. Section 2(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to provide the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure employees' health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. Individual regulations add their own training duties on top, covering manual handling, COSHH, work at height, first aid, fire and much else.
No statute prescribes a format for the record. What matters is that you can show who was trained, in what, when, by whom, and when it next falls due. Regulated sectors go further: care providers, healthcare organisations and construction principal contractors are all routinely asked to produce exactly this evidence, and being unable to is itself the finding.
How long to keep it
Keep training records for the duration of employment and for a period afterwards. Six years after a person leaves is the common benchmark, matching the limitation period for a civil claim. Health surveillance and certain exposure records run far longer, up to 40 years for some COSHH and asbestos-related records, so keep those separately rather than deleting them with the rest.