This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.
Public and personal safety training policy
Senior leaders should appoint a minimum rank of assistant chief constable (ACC) or assistant chief officer (ACO), or equivalent, to hold the public and personal safety training (PPST) portfolio in their organisation.
Senior leaders should develop and maintain a PPST policy to ensure that all relevant staff receive appropriate training and that national standards – as referenced in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn) – are adhered to, in accordance with recommendations laid out in the officer and staff safety review.
The policy should include:
- the roles – as opposed to rank or grade – that have been assessed as requiring PPST, including the roles that require officers and staff to use personal protective equipment (PPE), and those roles that do not require the use of PPE
- what arrangements and support mechanisms are in place for staff who are unable to undertake PPST training for reasons such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, medical condition or injury
- an equality impact assessment that informs and supports the PPST policy in line with the public sector equality duty (PSED) and the Equality Act 2010
- requirements for staff to comply with the Police (Health and Safety Act) 1997 or equivalent in the respective jurisdiction
- an internal quality assurance process
Quality assurance
Senior leaders should include an internal quality assurance process in their policy to ensure they are delivering PPST in line with national standards and licence requirements, as referred to in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn). The policy should include information about who will facilitate internal quality assurance, and when and how they will do so. This process allows managers to:
- maintain an appropriate level of staffing to perform the quality assurance function
- monitor the performance and development needs of staff responsible for delivering PPST
- ensure that training staff are delivering PPST content to national standards and licence requirements
College of Policing moderation
The College will conduct licence moderation visits on a rolling programme every four years, along with an electronic review each year, as detailed in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).
Senior leaders should ensure that recommendations provided by the College as a result of licence moderation are implemented.
Training implementation
There is a clear difference between the role profile of instructors and trainers, as set out in the instructors and trainers section of this APP. Senior leaders should ensure that the qualification requirements, as defined by the police sector standards, are met.
Senior leaders should maintain auditable records that both instructors and trainers are qualified in line with these standards. Senior leaders must provide an appropriate level of staffing for both instructors and trainers in the delivery of PPST, in line with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Senior leaders should ensure that trainers and instructors have access to relevant continuing professional development to maintain the quality of the PPST programme. This should include welfare considerations for instructors, trainers and those participating in training, as referred to in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).
Senior leaders should ensure that only techniques contained in our personal safety manual (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn) are taught. The manual is available to forces and other organisations that hold the relevant PPST licence.
Appropriate and regular training should incorporate realistic scenario-based delivery that is relevant to the operational environment, the role and force policy, in line with recommendations in the officer and staff safety review.
Training should also include:
- an identified local training needs analysis
- use of force and other relevant legislation (for example, the Human Rights Act 1998)
- tactical communication skills, including methods of de-escalation and self-regulation techniques
- potential medical implications of using the techniques in practice
Senior leaders should adhere to our recommended instructor-to-student ratio of 1:6 which can rise to a maximum of 1:8. Senior leaders should record their rationale for increasing the number of students per instructor when this occurs.
Initial training
Senior leaders should ensure that officers and staff undertaking PPST have passed the national standard job-related fitness test (JRFT). Senior leaders should ensure there is an appropriate venue and that sufficient time has been allocated prior to PPST to complete the JRFT. Senior leaders must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and must ensure that reasonable adjustments are facilitated.
In line with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the chief constable or chief executive is accountable for any police officer or staff member who is deployed without the requisite training.
Senior leaders must ensure that staff whose roles require them to have direct contact with the public, and who may need to protect themselves or another:
- receive appropriate PPST as part of their initial training if they use PPE
- receive appropriate non-PPE PPST if they are not required by local force policy to use PPE
Staff required to complete initial training include:
- new police officer recruits who are not new transferees and have never completed initial PPST
- police officers and staff in roles requiring direct contact with the public who have not completed any PPST in the last three years (pre-April 2024, this applies to officer safety training or PPST) – the training should be role-specific and relevant to whether the role requires PPE or non-PPE
- new police staff whose role requires them to complete PPST, who have not moved from another force and have never completed PPST
Refresher training
For roles that have been identified by local force policy as requiring PPST, senior leaders should ensure that those staff receive assessed refresher training every 365 days as a minimum. Refresher training should be role-specific and should include appropriate training in line with the College curriculum and licence schedule, as referred to in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).
Senior leaders should ensure that refresher training is specifically tailored to both those roles that require officers and staff to use PPE, and those roles where officers and staff are not required to use PPE. This training must comply with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.
The training time for refresher PPST should be a minimum of 12 hours and should not include any training from other disciplines.
Senior leaders should ensure that staff receive the appropriate level of training according to the time they last received PPST, as referred to in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).
Monitoring training
Senior leaders should ensure that robust systems are in place to record, monitor and review the scheduling of PPST and those taking part, and should comply with national standards, as set out in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).
Management and analysis of PPST data
Police forces collect data on use of force that is made publicly available, as detailed in the user guide to police use of force statistics, England and Wales. The minimum standard for collection and reporting of PPST data is set out in the Home Office Annual Data Requirement 148: Police use of force (this is circulated to forces annually).
Senior leaders should ensure that PPST data is made available to PPST trainers and instructors, health and safety coordinators, occupational health departments (internal and external), staff associations and the PPST national tactical advisory group.
In addition, the following data – and body-worn video footage where applicable – should also be shared with trainers and instructors:
- incidents in which staff were assaulted in the course of their duty
- the nature of injuries sustained as a result of staff assaults
- complaints and litigation relating to use of force and managing conflict
- sickness absence in relation to both assaults and PPST-related injuries
- failure rates and retake data
- reasonable adjustments provided for those undertaking PPST
- training evaluation and feedback
All such data should include information broken down by protected characteristics.
The data should be used to identify the effectiveness of training and equipment, to understand and address any disproportionality identified through the data, and to inform actions to improve the health and safety of police personnel and members of the public.
The data can also be used by senior leaders to benchmark themselves against a regional or national position, to monitor any use of force trends, to maintain accountability and to ensure compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010.
Risk assessment
There are three risk assessments that are relevant to the delivery of PPST training. Senior leaders must ensure the relevant departments complete and maintain these risk assessments under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Training risk assessment
To maintain the effective and safe delivery of PPST, senior leaders must create, maintain and review a training risk assessment. This should include guidance on:
- the training venue
- training equipment
- trainer staffing levels
- instructor-to-student ratios
- injury reporting protocols
- near-miss reporting protocols
- accessing welfare facilities
The risk assessment applies to all training events and venues where physical PPST is being delivered by instructors and trainers.
Venue-specific risk assessments
Where forces have one or more training venues, a separate risk assessment is needed for each venue. Senior leaders should also ensure that the manager responsible for learning and development in their force adheres to requirements, as set out in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn), which details the minimum standards required to deliver the PPST programme.
Role-specific risk assessments
Senior leaders must ensure that the relevant health and safety representatives create and maintain risk assessments for specific roles in relation to their operational duty.
Venue and equipment
The equipment used in the training environment should correspond with the equipment available in the operational environment. This should include appropriate training props to replicate items that staff may encounter as part of their regular duties, as set out in the PPST guidance (this link is available to authorised users who are logged on to College Learn).