OHS Training for Foremen and Managers

Why should OHS training for managers be planned separately?

A new operator learns on day one from the foreman that working with the machine guard open is quicker, not from what was explained in the two-hour induction training. Which rule really applies on site is determined by what the person running that shift does and what they turn a blind eye to. OHS training for managers is therefore not a repeat of worker training but separate competence training.

From the legislative point of view, the picture is as follows:

Under Art. 3 of Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety, a worker is any natural person employed at the workplace, regardless of status. Foremen, shift supervisors and managers are workers too; basic training and refresher training are mandatory for them as well.
The Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of OHS Training for Workers published on 2 April 2026 does not define a separate training programme or duration for managers.

The programme in this article is therefore not a legal requirement but a structure we recommend in addition to basic training. It does not replace basic training.

The foreman's safety role: five daily tasks

Turn the foreman's safety responsibility from abstract statements into tasks repeated every shift:

Start-of-shift check: Are guards in place, does the emergency stop work, are escape routes clear, is any PPE missing? A five-minute walk round.
Toolbox talk: Discussing in 5–10 minutes one risk specific to that day's work and its control measure. We explained the method in our article on the toolbox talk.
Responding to deviations: When they see unsafe behaviour, stopping it, asking why and showing the correct method; stopping the work if necessary.
Incident and near miss reporting: Recording accidents, near misses and dangerous situations in the same shift and showing that the person who reported them is not penalised.
Helping new workers settle in on site: Giving or reinforcing induction training and monitoring the new worker closely in the first weeks.

These five tasks should be written into the manager's job description, and whether they are carried out should be monitored. A task that is not written down is the first to be dropped when production pressure rises.

Shift supervisor OHS responsibility: authority and responsibility together

Shift supervisor OHS responsibility cannot be discussed without giving the supervisor the authority to stop work. Three powers should be clear in the job description:

To stop the operation of equipment that is unguarded or faulty.
Not to allow work to start without the necessary permit to work, lockout or PPE.
When a worker exercises the right to refuse to work in the face of serious and imminent danger, to respond not with pressure but by eliminating the danger.

We covered the legal position of those acting on behalf of the employer and taking part in managing the work in our article on the employer's representative's OHS responsibility. In training, this topic should be explained not to create fear but to show that a manager's instructions have consequences.

Recommended programme: modules and durations

The programme below lasts about 8 hours; splitting it into two half days with the week in between devoted to practice on site gives better results than squeezing it into one day. The durations are suggestions and are adapted to the business's hazard class and processes.

Module	Duration (suggested)	Content	Expected output on site
1. Role and legal framework	1 hour	Worker and manager obligations, stopping work, the right to refuse to work	Powers written into the job description
2. Daily site check	1.5 hours (half on site)	Start-of-shift walk, check card, recording non-conformities	Card completed every shift
3. Toolbox talk	1 hour	Choosing topics, a 5–10-minute flow, encouraging participation	Weekly talk plan
4. Permits to work, lockout and shift handover	1.5 hours	Not leaving work before a permit is closed, handing over open permits	Permit row in the shift handover form
5. Incidents, near misses and first response	1.5 hours	The first 15 minutes at the scene, the reporting chain, witness statements	Record opened in the same shift
6. Feedback and new workers	1.5 hours	Approaching unsafe behaviour, recognition, giving induction training	First-week follow-up list

For how to hand over open permits to work at shift change see our article on permits to work and shift handover, and for near miss records see our article on the near miss reporting system.

How is OHS leadership training delivered?

OHS leadership training is not delivered by reading slides in a classroom. The following methods work on site:

Work with your own incidents. From the business's near miss and accident records for the past year, choose two or three cases, anonymised so that individuals cannot be identified, and discuss the question "as a foreman, what would you have done that day?".
Use role play. How do you approach an experienced operator working with the guard open, and what do you say when the production manager says "this order must go out"? Rehearsing these conversations makes it easier to find the right words in the real moment.
Show it on site. Filling in the check card once together with the trainer is more effective than ten pages of explanation. For method suggestions, see our article on hands-on OHS training methods.
Involve senior management. Having the general manager or plant manager open the first session of the programme prevents the message being seen as "the OHS department's job".

A daily check card for site manager training

At the end of site manager training, give each participant a card adapted to their own area. Sample items:

Are guards and interlocks in place and working?
Are emergency stop buttons accessible?
Are escape routes, fire hose cabinets and the space in front of extinguishers clear?
Is there an open permit to work today; are its scope and duration appropriate?
Are there any new, temporary or subcontractor workers; have they received induction training?
Is there any non-conformity or fault carried over from the previous shift?

Common mistakes in manager programmes

The same content can produce very different results in two businesses. The difference usually comes from these mistakes:

Giving the programme only to newly appointed managers. A foreman with twenty years' experience knows the rules best but has the habits that are hardest to change. Leaving experienced managers out of the programme leaves the new manager defending alone on site what they have learned.
Assigning responsibility without authority. A supervisor whose authority to stop work is not written down cannot make the decision to stop under order pressure. Update the job description before the training.
Meeting reports with punishment. If a worker who reports a near miss is told off in the first week, the flow of reports stops. Teach managers separately how to respond to reports.
Turning the check card into paperwork. If the card is completed and filed away, the purpose is lost. Every gap ticked on the card should become an action with an owner and a date; the foreman should also see that the action has been closed.
Sending messages that conflict with production targets. If meetings say "safety first" but bonuses are measured only by output, the foreman soon understands which message is real.

How do you measure effectiveness?

You can hold a written exam at the end of the programme, but the real measure is on site. Compare the following indicators before and after the training:

The number of toolbox talks held and participation in them,
The number of near miss reports (an initial increase can show that reporting has gained trust),
The proportion of non-conformities found on site walks and closed in the same week,
PPE and guarding compliance in random site observations.

We explained how to set up these indicators in our article on measuring the effectiveness of OHS training. The programme is added as a row in the annual training programme; you can plan refresher sessions with the OHS calendar.

Preparing the manager programme around the business's processes and its own incident records is work we carry out with businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces as part of our OHS training service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is separate OHS training for managers a legal requirement?

No. The 2026 training regulation does not define a separate programme for managers. Since managers are also workers, they must receive basic and refresher training; the programme in this article is recommended in addition to these.

Can a foreman give induction training?

Yes. Art. 7 of the 2026 regulation allows induction training to be given by knowledgeable and experienced workers appointed by the employer. The training is face-to-face and hands-on, lasts at least 2 hours and is documented with a signed record.

Does this programme replace basic training?

No. The duration, topic groups and exam for basic training are set out in the regulation. The manager programme is additional competence training and should be recorded separately.

How often should manager training be repeated?

There is no legal frequency. We recommend a short refresher session once a year and giving the programme to every newly appointed foreman within their first month. After a serious accident or a change in process, the relevant module should also be repeated.