Occupational safety and health training is a duty that cannot be outsourced casually: only an organisation holding a training activity eligibility certificate may train the mandatory groups, and an FDI factory using the wrong training provider is still treated as untrained. This article sets out the mandatory subjects, provider licensing conditions and the current sanction framework.
Legal basis
- Law on Occupational Safety and Health 84/2015/QH13, Article 14: the employer must organise occupational safety and health training for workers by subject groups 1 to 6, comprising managers, safety officers, workers in jobs with strict safety requirements, remaining workers and specialised groups.
- Decree 44/2016/ND-CP (amended by Decree 140/2018/ND-CP) guiding the Law on Occupational Safety and Health: an organisation providing occupational safety and health training must hold a training activity eligibility certificate with a 05-year term, on conditions of trainer staff, programs, materials and training facilities.
- Sanctions for safety training violations apply under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP on administrative sanctions in the labour field (effective 10 September 2026, replacing Decree 12/2022/ND-CP; transitional clause at Article 67; the fine for an organisation is twice the individual fine under clause 1 of Article 7).
Who must receive occupational safety training?
Under Article 14 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health, the training duty covers the entire workforce at the workplace in six subject groups: group 1, managers in charge of safety work; group 2, full-time or part-time safety and health officers and direct workplace supervisors; group 3, workers performing jobs with strict occupational safety and health requirements under the list of heavy, hazardous and dangerous jobs — the core factory worker group of an FDI plant with stages such as machine operation, welding, electrical work, chemicals and work at height; group 4, the remaining workers outside the above groups; group 5, medical staff; and group 6, safety and hygiene network members. Each group has its own initial and periodic training program and duration: workers in the groups must be trained before job assignment and periodically trained on the prescribed cycle (for groups 1, 2 and 3 at least once every two years), with retraining upon changes of job, equipment or technology or after an occupational accident or incident. Apprentices, interns and probationary workers are also subjects who must be trained by corresponding group before joining work.
Which providers may train, and is there a list?
Occupational safety and health training is a conditional service: an organisation supplying training externally must hold an occupational safety and health training activity eligibility certificate under Decree 44/2016 (amended by Decree 140/2018), issued by the competent authority with a 05-year term, on conditions of qualified trainers, training programs and materials under the prescribed framework, and facilities and practice equipment corresponding to the registered training groups. The list of eligible organisations is published through the State occupational safety authority system, and an FDI factory hiring a training provider must search and retain evidence of a valid certificate matching the exact subject groups to be trained; a training certificate issued by an ineligible unit is not recognised on inspection. A distinction must be drawn: an enterprise may self-organise internal training for certain subject groups (typically group 4 and workplace training contents) where internal trainer conditions under the rules are met, but training for group 3 — jobs with strict requirements — and the specialised groups must be performed by trainers and organisations meeting corresponding conditions, issuing certificates and safety cards in the prescribed form.
What is the fine for no training? How long is a certificate valid?
Failure to organise training, training with insufficient subject groups or wrong programs, or using an ineligible training provider are all administrative violations in the labour and occupational safety field. The current sanction framework applies under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP (replacing Decree 12/2022/ND-CP from 10 September 2026; conduct occurring before that time is handled under the transitional clause at Article 67 of the decree), under which the fine for an offending organisation is twice the fine for an individual under clause 1 of Article 7 — an FDI factory as an organisation therefore always bears the organisational fine frame, with possible suspension of the related work where the violation attaches to a strict-requirement job with accident risk. On certificate terms: the eligibility certificate of the training organisation has a 05-year term; on the worker side, training results are recorded by a training certificate or safety card by group, and the periodic training duty (at least once every two years for groups 1, 2 and 3) ties the compliance value of the certificate to the retraining cycle — a worker past the periodic cycle without retraining is treated as not meeting the training condition on inspection, regardless of when the first certificate was issued.
Safety training governance recommendations for factories
The factory should build a training matrix by job position mapped to the six subject groups, with an initial training schedule before job assignment and a periodic schedule with automatic pre-expiry reminders; contract only with training providers holding a valid eligibility certificate for the exact groups needed and retain verification files; and integrate training records into the human resources system so every position or equipment change triggers a retraining needs check. When an accident occurs, training records are the first documents the investigation team requests; good governance of these records is the first legal defence line of the enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
Who must receive occupational safety training?
All six subject groups at Article 14 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health: group 1 safety managers, group 2 safety officers and direct supervisors, group 3 workers in strict-requirement jobs, group 4 remaining workers, group 5 medical staff and group 6 safety and hygiene network members. Apprentices, interns and probationary workers must also be trained by group before working.
Which providers may train, and is there a list?
An external training organisation must hold an occupational safety and health training activity eligibility certificate under Decree 44/2016 (amended by 140/2018), with a 05-year term, on trainer, program and facility conditions; the list of eligible organisations is published through the occupational safety authority. An enterprise may self-train internally only for certain groups where internal trainer conditions are met; group 3 must be trained by eligible providers and trainers.
What is the fine for not training?
Safety training violations are sanctioned under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP (replacing Decree 12/2022 from 10 September 2026, transition at Article 67), under which an organisation bears twice the individual fine under clause 1 of Article 7 — an FDI factory is always in the organisational frame. Violations attached to strict-requirement jobs may also bring suspension of the related work; the concrete amount follows the conduct and the number of untrained workers at inspection time.
How many years is a training certificate valid?
The eligibility certificate of a training organisation is valid for 05 years. For workers, training certificates and safety cards attach to the periodic training cycle — at least once every two years for groups 1, 2 and 3; passing the cycle without retraining means the training condition is treated as unmet on inspection, so the practical compliance value of the certificate runs on this periodic cycle.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council