How to Identify Training Needs

Educational guides for employers on organising workplace training — identifying needs, planning, delivering, recording and reviewing. Connected to workplace training, training records and workplace safety. Informational only — not legal advice, not certified training and not a substitute for legally required instruction; employers remain responsible for compliance.

What this guide covers

This guide explains how employers usually identify training needs: defining what each role requires, checking what people already have and listing the gaps to address.

It is an educational outline, not certified training and not legal advice. It does not make your workplace compliant or decide what training your roles legally require.

Why identifying needs matters

• You cannot plan training sensibly until you know what is actually needed.
• Clear needs help you prioritise spending and effort on what matters.
• It reduces the chance that someone does a task without the instruction it requires.
• It gives the rest of the training cycle a solid starting point.

Before you start: what you need

• A list of roles and the key tasks within each.
• Your risk assessments, which point to hazards needing instruction.
• Records of training people have already received.
• Input from supervisors who know the work day to day.

Step 1: Define what each role requires

• List the tasks, equipment and hazards each role involves.
• Note where instruction, training or authorisation is needed before a task.
• Separate what comes from law or risk from what is your own standard.
• Keep the requirements specific to the actual work, not generic.

Step 2: Check what people already have

• Review training records, induction records and any matrix you keep.
• Note recent starters, role changes and people new to a task.
• Watch for training that may have lapsed and needs refreshing.
• Ask supervisors where they see uncertainty or hesitation in practice.

Step 3: List the gaps and prioritise

• Compare what is required against what is in place, person by person.
• Record each gap clearly so it can be planned and tracked.
• Prioritise by risk — higher-hazard tasks usually come first.
• Carry the gaps forward into a training plan.

Recognising what triggers a new need

• A new starter, transfer or change of role.
• New equipment, processes, substances or ways of working.
• An incident, near miss or pattern of errors.
• A change in the work or the applicable law.

Involving supervisors and competent persons

Supervisors see the work as it happens and can flag where people struggle or where a task changed. Their input often surfaces needs a desk review would miss.

For specialist or higher-risk tasks, a competent person can help judge what instruction is genuinely needed. Deciding who is competent to make that call is the employer’s judgement.

Documentation and records

• A simple list or matrix of needs by person and topic.
• Notes of how each need was identified, for later reference.
• A link to the risk assessment that points to the need.
• These document your analysis; they do not by themselves prove competence or compliance.

How to review and improve

• Revisit needs whenever roles, equipment or processes change.
• Re-check after incidents to see whether a need was missed.
• Update the list as training is completed so it stays current.
• Use what you find to sharpen how you spot needs next time.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Listing generic topics instead of the actual tasks and hazards.
• Relying only on records and ignoring what supervisors observe.
• Treating identification as a one-off rather than ongoing.
• Confusing "course completed" with "competent for the task".

Who is responsible and your legal duties

The employer decides what each role requires, identifies the gaps and decides which training is necessary. This guide is an educational outline to help structure that.

It does not make your workplace compliant, does not satisfy any legal requirement and is not legal advice. Confirm what your roles require against the applicable law.