A free toolbox talk record in Excel: an attendance sheet to print and sign at each talk, a log of every talk on every job, and links to the free toolbox talk material HSE publishes. No sign-up and no email address.
Download the record (Excel, 12 KB)
What is in it
- Attendance sheet. One A4 page per talk: site, topic, date, who gave it, what was covered, and 25 lines for names, companies and signatures.
- Talks. A log with one row for each talk, so you can see what has been covered on each job and when, and where the signed sheet is kept.
- Material. HSE's free toolbox talk material, with a link to each: the induction pack for smaller construction companies, and talks on falls from vehicles, welfare, roofs, manual handling, running a small site and ladders.
Is a toolbox talk record a legal requirement?
No law names toolbox talks or asks for a record of them. The law asks for the briefing itself: employers must give workers the information, instruction, training and supervision they need (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2), and under CDM 2015, regulation 15 a contractor must give each worker "appropriate supervision, instructions and information" for the work.
The record is how you show it happened. HSE's induction pack for smaller construction companies says to keep a record of content and attendees, and HSE's guidance on training notes that records help manage training, even when it is in-house.
What a good talk looks like
HSE describes a toolbox talk as "a short presentation to the workforce on a single aspect of health and safety". One topic, the people doing the work, a few minutes before they start, about the job in front of them. The record then says what was covered and who heard it.
Questions
Is the record free?
Yes. Download it, change it and share it. There is no sign-up and no email address to give.
Where do the talks themselves come from?
The Material sheet links to HSE's free talks. CITB also sells a book of toolbox talks. Write your own for anything specific to the job, such as a new method statement or a near miss on site.
How long should a signed sheet be kept?
The law sets no period for briefing records. Keep them at least as long as the job's other health and safety records, and longer if a claim or an investigation is possible.