What this is
What is an On the Job Coaching Record?
What is an On the Job Coaching Record?
It is the record of one specific coaching session delivered at the workplace: a named coach, a named worker, a task, a trigger, and how the session went. It captures whether the coach demonstrated the task, whether the worker practised it and explained it back, and whether the worker is now confident, needs further coaching, or is ready for formal assessment.
How is this different from Coaching and Feedback Training?
Coaching and Feedback Training builds the skill of giving feedback well, delivered as a course to supervisors and team leads. This record is what a supervisor produces afterwards, each time they actually coach a specific worker on a specific task. One is a course completed once or on a refresh cycle; the other is a record created every time coaching happens on the floor.
Who completes it?
The coach, at the time of the session, rather than reconstructed afterwards from memory. The template is built for a two-minute entry immediately after a brief conversation at the machine or workstation, not a lengthy write-up done later at a desk.
Scope
When is an on the job coaching record required?
This record documents a specific, short coaching event. It is not where a training course is logged, not where training effectiveness is evaluated in aggregate, and not where course material itself is reviewed.
Use this template when
- A supervisor or coach has just delivered brief, task-specific coaching to a worker at the workplace
- The coaching was triggered by a new task, an observed deviation, a worker's own request, a refresher, or something learned from an incident
- A new record is needed; each one gets its own ID in the form OJC-2026-000
- The session's outcome should feed the competency matrix or flag readiness for a formal assessment
- A linked record needs this one to exist, such as task training or a competency assessment
Do not use it for
- Coaching and Feedback Training, which builds the supervisor's coaching skill through a course, rather than documenting a single delivered session
- E-Learning Completion Record, which records completion of an online module, with score, time taken and attempts
- Training Effectiveness Evaluation, which evaluates whether training changed anything across a group, using observation, knowledge checks and incident data rather than one conversation
- Training Material Review, which reviews course content for accuracy and currency, not a specific coaching interaction
- Anything outside KnowTrain, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.7.2 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 45001 requires competence to be based on training, instruction or experience and to be evidenced, but it leaves the method open. On the job coaching is one of the more common ways that requirement is actually met on the floor, provided the record shows more than attendance.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Ensure workers are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training or experience | The session |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Determine the necessary competence for the task being coached | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Evaluate the effectiveness of the action taken to achieve competence | Outcome |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 | Retain documented information as evidence of competence | Outcome |
| ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Take action following a deviation, including coaching or, where coaching is insufficient, escalation | The session |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.3 | Ensure awareness of why a procedure is followed, not only what it requires | The session |
What it does not cover
- Coaching and Feedback Training, which is the course that builds a supervisor's feedback and coaching skill, not the record of one session using it.
- E-Learning Completion Record, which documents completion of a structured online module rather than a floor conversation.
- Training Effectiveness Evaluation, which draws on observation, knowledge checks and incident data across a group to judge whether training changed anything.
- Formal skills assessment, which is what Ready for formal assessment should route to, rather than a further coaching entry standing in for it.
- Incident investigation, which is the right instrument when a deviation is serious enough that coaching is not the appropriate response.
Global
On the Job Coaching Record requirements by country
No jurisdiction specifies how coaching at the workplace should be recorded. What is common is a duty that competence be evidenced by training, instruction or experience, which is exactly what a well-completed coaching record demonstrates.
OSH Act General Duty Clause; standard-specific on-the-job training provisions
Several specific standards accept on-the-job training and instruction as satisfying a training duty, provided it is adequate for the hazard.
A coaching record that shows only attendance, with no evidence the worker demonstrated the task back, is weak evidence if the adequacy of training is later questioned.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg.13
Employers must ensure employees have adequate health and safety training, taking into account their capabilities, which on-the-job coaching can satisfy for task-specific competence.
HSE guidance treats supervised, hands-on instruction as a legitimate training method, but expects it to be recorded well enough to show what was covered and confirmed.
ISO 45001 cl.7.2
Competence must be based on education, training or experience and evidenced through documented information.
An auditor will accept coaching as a training method but will look for a record showing the worker demonstrated the task, not only that a coach was present.
How to complete it
How to complete an on the job coaching record, step by step
The template is designed for a fast entry at the point of coaching. The parts that make it defensible later are the same ones that are easiest to skip when the session felt routine.
An observed deviation, a worker's request, and a routine refresher deserve different follow-up. Recording every session as a refresher because it is the easiest option loses the signal that a deviation actually prompted the coaching.
Watching a demonstration and repeating the motion is not understanding why the task is done that way. Asking the worker to explain it back, and recording honestly whether that happened fully, partly, or not at all, turns the record into evidence of learning rather than of a conversation.
The barrier field is optional, but it is where the record captures why a worker was not previously doing the task the specified way: a workaround, a missing tool, or a step that does not fit the line's pace. Leaving it blank discards the most useful thing a session can surface.
Worker confident, further coaching needed and ready for formal assessment should drive what happens next. A positive outcome with no matrix update, or a negative one with no follow-up date, has recorded a judgement and let it go nowhere.
What auditors find
Most common on the job coaching record findings
The record is usually created when coaching happens; the coaching itself is rarely the problem. The findings concern whether the record shows learning or only attendance, and whether the outcome was acted on.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Worker explained it back left unrecorded or recorded as yes without the coach actually checking. | ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Make explaining it back a genuine check in the conversation, and record partly or no honestly when understanding was incomplete. |
| Trigger consistently recorded as refresher regardless of what actually prompted the session. | ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Select the trigger that matches the conversation; an observed deviation should be recorded as one, not softened to a refresher. |
| Further coaching needed marked yes with no follow-up date set. | ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Require a follow-up date whenever further coaching is indicated, so the next session is scheduled rather than assumed. |
| Ready for formal assessment marked yes with no assessment ever raised. | ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Link the record to a skills assessment when readiness is confirmed, using the assessment ID field provided for that purpose. |
| Competency matrix not updated despite the session counting towards competency. | ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 | Update the matrix at the point Counts towards competency is marked yes, rather than leaving it as a separate task. |
| Record completed well after the session, reconstructing what was covered from memory. | ISO 45001 cl.7.2 | Complete the record at the time; a session reconstructed days later loses the barrier and the worker's actual response. |
Case in point
Case in point: the coaching record nobody followed up
A warehouse coach delivered on the job coaching to a picker after an observed deviation in how a pallet was being wrapped. The record showed the coach demonstrated the correct method, the worker practised it, and explained it back only partly. The coach marked further coaching needed as yes, left the follow-up date blank because the shift was busy, and moved on.
No second session was ever recorded. Three months later the same deviation was observed again by a different supervisor, who ran a fresh session with no visibility of the first one, because the follow-up date had never been set. The worker had been left at partly understood for a quarter, and the only reason it surfaced was a second observer catching the same thing independently.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
4 sections
- Reference
- TRN-085
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- OJC-2026-000
- Scoring
- Sessions delivered
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.7.2
- Links
- Links Task training, Competency
- Tags
- Training, Coaching
- Sections
- 4
- Fields
- 31
- Follow up fields
- 0
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 3
Header
12 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format OJC-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Worker*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Where Most Learning Actually Happens
Two minutes at the machine beats an hour in a room. Recording it means the coaching counts towards competence rather than disappearing.
Task Coached*
Coach*
Duration Minutes*
The session
8 fieldsTrigger*
New task, observed difficulty, after an error, refresher, or the worker asked.
What Was Covered*
Demonstrated By Coach*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Practised By Worker*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Worker Explained It Back*
Explaining it back is the only quick way to know it landed.
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Reason Explained Not Just Method*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Worker Questions Answered*
- Yes3 pts
- None asked2 pts
- No0 pts
Barrier Identified
Related records
1 fieldSkills Assessment ID
Where coaching led to a formal assessment.
Links to TRN-021 Assessment ID
Outcome
10 fieldsWorker Confident*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Further Coaching Needed*
- No3 pts
- Yes1 pt
Ready For Formal Assessment*
- Yes3 pts
- Not yet1 pt
Counts Towards Competency*
- Yes3 pts
- No1 pt
Matrix Updated
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Follow Up Date
Coach*
Signature*
Worker*
Second Signature*
TRN-085 · record IDs look like OJC-2026-000 · Links Task training, Competency
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The coaching itself is usually fine. What slips is the follow-up: the second session that never gets scheduled, the readiness flag that never becomes an assessment, and the matrix that falls out of date with what was actually coached.
Holds the coaching record library against task training and the competency matrix, and flags a further coaching needed entry with no follow-up date before it is forgotten.
Cross-checks a ready for formal assessment flag against whether the assessment was actually raised, so a confirmed judgement does not sit unconverted.
Coordinates the crew, rolls completion and exceptions into one view, and holds every write for your approval before it touches a record.
This template lives in KnowTrain — training and credentials. Induction, competency, toolbox talks, refreshers and expiry tracking.
Meet KnowTrain→Glossary
On the Job Coaching Record definitions and key terms
- Trigger
- What prompted the coaching session: a new task, an observed deviation, a refresher, an incident, or the worker's own request, recorded so the follow-up matches the reason.
- Worker explained it back
- The check that the worker can restate the task and its reasoning in their own words, which is the strongest available signal that a demonstration actually landed.
- Barrier
- A workaround, missing tool, or practical obstacle that explains why the worker was not previously doing the task the specified way.
- Ready for formal assessment
- The outcome flag indicating the worker's demonstrated competence should now be confirmed through a structured skills assessment rather than further informal coaching.
- Counts towards competency
- Whether this specific coaching session should be reflected in the worker's competency matrix entry, distinct from whether the session simply took place.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about on the job coaching record
Is this the same as Coaching and Feedback Training?+
No. Coaching and Feedback Training is a course delivered to supervisors and team leads that builds the skill of giving feedback well. This record documents one actual coaching session, delivered by a coach to a specific worker on a specific task, and is created every time that happens rather than once per person.
When should this record be completed?+
At the time the coaching happens, by the coach, rather than reconstructed afterwards. Detail such as the barrier raised or how fully the worker explained the task back is lost quickly if completed later from memory.
What is the difference between demonstrated and practised?+
Demonstrated by coach records that the coach showed the task. Practised by worker records that the worker then did it. Worker explained it back goes further, checking the reasoning transferred, not only the motion.
What happens if further coaching is needed?+
Marking further coaching needed without setting a follow-up date leaves the gap unscheduled, which is how the same deviation ends up being coached again from scratch by someone else later.
Does this record feed the competency matrix?+
It can, through the counts towards competency and matrix updated fields. A session that counts towards competency should be reflected in the matrix at the time, rather than left for a separate administrative step that may not happen.
How does this connect to a formal skills assessment?+
When a worker is judged ready for formal assessment, the record links forward to a skills assessment through the assessment ID field. Marking readiness without raising the assessment leaves the judgement recorded but not acted on.
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Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 45001:2018 clauses 7.2, 7.3, 7.5.3 and 10.2
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 13 (GB)
- OSH Act Section 5(a)(1), General Duty Clause (US)
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.