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Infection Prevention and Control at Work

Everyone has a part to play when it comes to Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). Ensuring you know the most effective ways you can stop the spread of viruses and bacteria could help reduce the risk of infection in your workplace. Nobody wants to be ill and no business wants to lose time, money and productivity to illness, so the course helps protect everyone by teaching you how to prevent the spread of infection.

This course was reviewed and updated in February 2025

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Course Overview

Format

  • Introductory Course
  • 30 - 45 Minutes
  • Online Study
  • Self-Printed Certificate

Accreditation

  • 1 CPD Hour
  • CPD Certified
  • RoSPA Assured

Course description

Human history is full of harrowing periods when just one single illness became deadly and spread at epidemic or pandemic levels. Think about the Great Influenza pandemic (AKA Spanish Flu), The Plague and - more recently - Covid-19. There isn’t an industry or sector that hasn’t been affected. With the risk of another pandemic always looming, it’s more important than ever to understand the most effective ways you can help prevent the spread of infection in your workplace.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus it’s more important than ever to understand the most effective ways you can help prevent the spread of infection in your workplace.

This infection prevention and control training course will introduce you to the most effective methods to help prevent viruses spreading by teaching you how to effectively wash your hands and why this is so important in infection control. 

You’ll also learn to recognise if you're fit to work or if you could pose a risk of infection to others by going into work.

Learners will also be able to understand the importance of recognising if they're fit to work or if they could pose a risk of infection to others by going into work when they complete this infection control online training course.

Who is this infection prevention and control course for?

Everyone who doesn’t want to catch an illness or spread germs to others! For example:

  • Reception Staff
  • Office Workers
  • Teachers
  • Students
  • Business Owners
  • Customer-facing employees

If you are a healthcare worker looking for a more in-depth course focused on a healthcare environment take a look at our Infection Prevention in Social CareStatutory & Mandatory Training: Infection Prevention and Control Level 1 (suitable for non-clinical staff) and Statutory & Mandatory Training: Infection Prevention and Control Level 2 (suitable for clinical staff) courses.

Course accreditation

The content of this infection prevention training course has been independently assured by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). It is also approved by Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and completing the course earns you 1 CPD point.

Certification and test

On completion of the course you will receive a your online infection control certification. You will be able to download your infection prevention certification at the end of the training.

The end of course test consists of 20 multiple choice questions. Learners are required to achieve an 80% pass mark, and, if necessary, may attempt the test as many times as is needed.

Course duration

This infection prevention and control training course will take approximately 30 - 45 minutes to complete, depending on how quickly learners can study and absorb the material. Learners do not have to complete all the training in one session as progress is recorded throughout so it can be completed at your convenience.

Entry Requirements

There are no specific entry requirements for this course.

What other courses can I complete?

We offer a wide range of accredited online courses including Statutory and Mandatory: Clinical PackageStatutory and Mandatory: Non-Clinical Package and COSHH Training.

View our full range of online courses here.

You will learn

  • The collective responsibility of cleaning and how to overcome negative attitudes around cleanliness
  • Easy and practical hygiene tips for your hands
  • How respiratory illnesses can spread and what you can do to prevent it
  • The steps to take if you become unwell, from recognising the symptoms to communicating and managing health issues
  • Good workspace hygiene including practical tips for organisation, cleanliness and general housekeeping

Who is it for?

Roles including:

  • Everyone who doesn’t want to catch an illness or spread germs to others!
  • Reception Staff
  • Office Workers
  • Teachers
  • Students
  • Business Owners
  • Customer-facing employees
  • Retail Workers

Infection Prevention and Control FAQs

  • How long is the infection control training valid for?

    On completion of the course you will receive a your online infection control certification. This certificate does not expiry, however, based on industry best practice guidelines, the recommended renewal period for this training is 1 year.

    Learn more here.

  • How often should infection control training be updated?

    Current national guidelines recommend that training for Infection Prevention & Control – Level 2 is repeated a minimum of every three years.

    To see our full catalogue of infection prevention courses, including the area specific courses suited to your organisation, click here.

  • Why must staff receive appropriate infection control training?

    Everyone has a part to play when it comes to infection prevention and control. Ensuring you know the most effective ways you can stop the spread of viruses could help reduce the risk of infection in your workplace. There isn't an industry or sector that hasn't been affected by Covid-19. Time, money, and productivity lost from illness can have a drastic impact on any business. Therefore, making your workforce aware of the risks will help to protect them and the colleagues around them, which will reduce the risk of infection in your workplace.

    See all of our infection prevention courses and packages here.

How the online courses work

  • Find a course

    To begin searching for your online training you can click on the course category section on our website and browse through all of our training categories.

    Alternatively if you already know the title of the training you’re looking for you can use the search bar located in the centre of the homepage and go directly to the course you want.

  • Buy the course

    When buying one of our courses, you will need to enter a valid email address which will be used to create your account with our Learning Management System – Enable – where you will take the training. We will also send your purchase receipt to this email address, and any additional courses purchased in future using the same email address will be added to your system account.

    Once you have purchased a course, you will be able to send this course to other people using your system account with Enable by entering the new learner’s email address so that they may access the training and set up their own system account with our Learning Management System.

    If you are not 100% satisfied with your course then we offer a 30-day, no hassle money-back guarantee. To request a refund, you should email our learner support team with your receipt stating why you would like to be reimbursed. You, or your learners, must not have completed the training in order to make a valid refund claim. Any claim made after the training has been completed will be invalidated.

  • Take the course

    This online course consists of a series of pages in which an instructor will talk learners through the lesson material. Pages may include supporting pictures, graphs, animation or extra sounds to help with the learning where appropriate. Some lessons will include challenges/quizzes to help learners stay engaged and interested in the material. Lessons can be taken in any order and each lesson may be paused and resumed at any stage.

    The course is self-paced so learners decide how fast or slow the training goes. There is no deadline for completion but some of our courses have a test at the end to check that learners have understood the material. If the course has a test at the end then learners are required to achieve a 75% pass mark to successfully complete the course. Once learners have passed the test they are awarded a certificate, which can either be downloaded digitally or sent as a physical copy if this option was chosen when purchasing the course.

  • Your Certificate

    Upon completion of any of our courses, learners will be able to download a digital certificate from Virtual College which will include the accrediting bodies logo where applicable, the learner's name, the title of the course and the date of completion.

    If you have purchased the posted certificate option, available on selected courses, a high quality, seal embossed, certificate will be sent out the following working week after completion.