Online or in-person occupational health and safety training? When e-learning satisfies the labour inspectorate—and when it does not

An HR manager sends out a link, forty people click through the course, and the system displays forty green rows. Done. The question that decides whether it was truly sufficient will not come until eighteen months later—from an inspector or the lawyer representing an injured warehouse worker: what exactly did that person see, and how do you know it was really them who saw it?

Disputes about online occupational health and safety training are almost never about the delivery format. Zákoník práce (the Labour Code) does not prohibit distance learning, nor does it require a classroom or a signed attendance sheet. The issue is content and evidence—whether the course reflected the particular employee’s work and whether it left behind anything more than a stamped PDF.

We will examine what the law actually requires, where e-learning ends and the workplace takes over, what chain of evidence you should be able to assemble within a few minutes, and what to ask a provider before signing a licence agreement.

“Certificate validity” is not a legal category

The key provision is § 103 odst. 2 zákona č. 262/2006 Sb., zákoníku práce. It requires employers to provide employees with training on legal and other regulations governing occupational health and safety that supplements their professional qualifications and job requirements and relates to the work they perform and to the risks that employees may encounter at the workplace where that work is performed—and to continually require and monitor compliance with those regulations.

It says nothing about the delivery format. It does, however, contain three conditions on which a generic course may fall short: relevance to the specific work performed, relevance to the risks at the particular workplace, and ongoing enforcement and monitoring. The last of these is not training at all—it is part of managers’ day-to-day work.

The same section also specifies when training must take place: when an employee starts work, changes position or type of work, when new technology is introduced or work equipment or procedures change, and in circumstances that have or may have a significant impact on occupational health and safety. Under § 103 odst. 3, the employer determines the content and frequency of training, the method used to assess knowledge and the way documentation is kept; the same provision adds that training must be repeated regularly where required by the nature and severity of the risk.

This answers the most common question: the cited provisions do not establish a general period for which every “occupational health and safety certificate” remains valid. A two-year interval is common practice, not a statutory deadline—we discuss how frequency is determined and what triggers extraordinary retraining in a separate article on repeating training.

There is one more point that purchasing a course does not change: under § 101 odst. 1 zákoníku práce, the employer is responsible for ensuring employees’ occupational health and safety. A platform provider may bear contractual liability for its service, but an invoice cannot transfer the employer’s statutory duty towards its employees.

Where online training ends and the workplace takes over

A screen conveys theory well but does a poor job of conveying the realities of your operation. In practice, the division looks like this:

The right-hand column is not optional. Nařízení vlády č. 378/2001 Sb. refers in § 2 to two documents that no platform possesses: průvodní dokumentace—the manufacturer’s instructions for the particular equipment—and místní provozní bezpečnostní předpis, meaning the employer’s rules governing, in particular, the technological work procedures for using equipment and the movement of equipment and employees at workplaces. By definition, both describe your facility and your machine.

The dividing line is just as clear for chemicals. A general explanation of pictograms can be recorded once for everyone; no platform can create a link to the products physically stored in your cabinet. Their safety data sheets are issued by the supplier, and the employer must make them available at the workplace for the products in use. The company’s own documents cover rules for storage and transferring products to alternative containers, assigned personal protective equipment and spill procedures, all based on the assessed risks. For industrial trucks, the scope of operator training and examination depends on the risk assessment, the manufacturer’s instructions for the particular truck and the místní provozní bezpečnostní předpis under nařízení vlády č. 378/2001 Sb.—and practical training on the particular type of truck with the particular attachment cannot be completed through a screen. For occasional company drivers, nařízení vlády č. 168/2002 Sb. applies alongside zákoník práce—see our article on training for occasional company drivers for details.

Dividing job roles into what can be handled remotely and what belongs in the workplace is an afternoon’s work—but it requires knowledge of the actual operation. If you would rather not tackle it alone, our occupational health and safety and fire safety training starts with precisely this step: we review job roles, assessed risks and machinery before agreeing on the format and date.

The chain you should be able to assemble within minutes

Inspections are conducted by an oblastní inspektorát práce under zákon č. 251/2005 Sb., as in force from 12 June 2026. A list of names marked with a green “completed” status is only one link in this chain—and not the most interesting one. Be prepared to document the entire sequence:

1. why the employee was assigned to this particular training—the link to their job role and assessed risks;
2. which risks associated with their work the course covered;
3. which version of the content they completed and when;
4. which internal policies, machine instructions and safety data sheets were included;
5. how identity and participation were verified;
6. how knowledge was assessed and with what result;
7. who provided the on-site instruction and practical training, and when;
8. when the training is repeated and what triggers extraordinary retraining.

Point three is often the weakest. Providers update content continuously, and a link to the current course page does not prove what an employee saw two years ago. Save a dated syllabus or an export of the content as it stood on the completion date—one PDF for each course version can settle the entire discussion. We describe how an inspection proceeds and what an inspector examines first in our article on labour inspectorate inspections.

When e-learning alone will not be sufficient

The high-risk scenario always begins the same way: a company purchases a generic course and prepares nothing else to accompany it. The warning signs are specific:

• the accountant, warehouse worker and maintenance technician all receive the same course;
• the syllabus is a list of regulation numbers without a single work procedure;
• the course contains none of the company’s own policies;
• machine instructions, a safety data sheet or the místní provozní bezpečnostní předpis are missing;
• the course is launched through a shared link without the individual user signing in;
• the system retains the final certificate but not the course activity and test result;
• the test can be repeated indefinitely and previous attempts are not recorded;
• the employee does not understand the language in which the course is delivered—in that case, the record proves only that they clicked through it;
• practical training took place, but no one recorded it;
• training was not repeated after a machine was replaced or technology changed.

Such training may look complete while failing to provide convincing evidence that the particular person knew the safe procedure for their workplace.

Records: what makes an electronic record reliable

Zákoník práce does not prescribe the form of documentation—§ 103 odst. 3 leaves it to the employer. A signed attendance sheet is one option, but it is not the only one. The difference between a reliable and an unreliable electronic record lies in the details:

• an individual user account instead of a link sent to a shared address;
• timestamps for the start and end, not merely the certificate issue date;
• a history of attempts, questions and answers, not merely a “passed” result;
• identification of the syllabus version in every record;
• export to a format that remains readable after the subscription ends;
• the ability to record on-site instruction and practical training in the same system, including who provided it.

The last point is the one most often overlooked. The platform handles the course, but the local component is delivered verbally in the workshop and leaves no record. Yet this is precisely the component covering what a screen cannot.

Be careful not to mix separate areas of compliance: employee fire safety training is governed by § 16 zákona č. 133/1985 Sb., with its documentation governed by vyhláška č. 246/2001 Sb. This is a separate regime with different content—if you keep it in the same folder, keep the records separate. Under § 36 odst. 3 vyhlášky č. 246/2001 Sb., as amended by vyhláška č. 467/2025 Sb. and in force from 1 January 2026, a fire safety training record may be kept electronically without signatures if the system ensures systematic and sequential record-keeping, protection against alterations and reliable proof of participation by both the trainer and the people trained.

Questions to ask a provider before ordering

• Can the content be adapted to our job roles and assessed risks?
• Can we add our own policies, machine instructions and safety data sheets to the course?
• Will we receive a dated syllabus and a copy of the version completed by employees?
• Does the system record identity, start and end times, individual attempts, questions and results?
• Can on-site instruction and practical training, including the trainer’s identity, be recorded in the same system?
• Will we retain an export of the records after the subscription ends, and in what format?
• How does the provider notify us about regulatory changes and content updates?
• Is the course available in a language the employee actually understands?

The platform’s name and the number of videos say nothing about its quality. For an inspection, a precise syllabus, a clear link to the job role, an audit trail and the ability to add company documents are more valuable.

Cost: what to compare besides the licence fee

Online quotations focus on the per-user price, but you will also pay for adapting the content to job roles, user administration, archiving, on-site instruction and the practical component. For in-person training, add the trainer’s travel expenses, employees’ working time and any operational downtime. Ask for the quotation to separate theory, documentation adjustments, the practical component and record-keeping—otherwise, you are comparing two different things. We examine pricing models in greater detail in the article How much occupational health and safety and fire safety training costs a company.

A practical decision for a small business

For a purely administrative company, online theory supplemented by brief instruction about the particular workplace—evacuation routes, the first-aid kit, the main power switch and whom to call—and a record of that instruction will usually be sufficient. For a company with both an office and a warehouse, a shared e-learning foundation with different on-site components for each job role makes sense. Where employees operate machines and industrial trucks, work at height or handle hazardous substances, a screen can cover the theory, but practical skills and local rules must be verified and recorded in the workplace.

The final test is simple. Choose one particular employee and try to find, within a few minutes, their name, the date, the syllabus version, their knowledge assessment result, who provided the on-site instruction and when their next training is due. If you can, the delivery format matters very little. If you cannot, a new platform will not solve the problem on its own—the record-keeping process also needs to be fixed.

Sources for this article

• Occupational health and safety and fire safety training – a service provided by SOHE.
• Occupational health and safety training for employees: when to repeat it – how frequency is determined and what triggers extraordinary retraining.
• Labour inspectorate inspection – what an inspector examines and in what order.
• How much occupational health and safety and fire safety training costs a company – pricing models and items that are often hidden in quotations.
• Zákon č. 262/2006 Sb. – zákoník práce; § 101 odst. 1 on the employer’s responsibility and § 103 odst. 2 and 3 on training content, timing, frequency, knowledge assessment and documentation.
• Nařízení vlády č. 378/2001 Sb. – requirements for the safe operation and use of machines, technical equipment, devices and tools; § 2 defines průvodní dokumentace and místní provozní bezpečnostní předpis.
• Nařízení vlády č. 168/2002 Sb. – organisation of work and work procedures when operating means of transport.
• Zákon č. 258/2000 Sb. – on the protection of public health; § 44a governs the handling of hazardous chemical substances and mixtures, while the stricter duties under paragraphs 6 to 8 apply only to substances and mixtures with acute toxicity in category 1 or 2.
• Zákon č. 133/1985 Sb. – on fire safety; § 16 on employee fire safety training.
• Vyhláška č. 246/2001 Sb. – on fire prevention; § 36 odst. 3, as amended by vyhláška č. 467/2025 Sb. and in force from 1 January 2026, governs electronic records of fire safety training.
• Zákon č. 251/2005 Sb. – on labour inspection, as in force from 12 June 2026; the powers of Státní úřad inspekce práce and oblastní inspektoráty práce.
• ČSN 26 8805:2000 Manipulační vozíky s vlastním pohonem – Provoz, údržba, opravy a technické kontroly, including Oprava 1; the standard is not freely available.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The specific occupational health and safety training arrangements must reflect the actual operation, the manufacturer’s documentation, the environment in which equipment is used and the risk assessment.

Not sure how much of your training can be completed online and what needs to take place in the workplace? We will review your job roles, assessed risks and machinery and propose a division into online theory, on-site instruction and practical training—including records that document the entire chain of evidence. Email info@sohe.cz or send us a non-binding enquiry; details of what our occupational health and safety and fire safety training includes are available on the service page.