Online Tool Safety Training
for Volunteers Working with Children
Wildlife Trusts & Conservation Organisations
A short online course that keeps your volunteers - and the children they work with - safe when using tools outdoors.
Bulk licences for your whole team - see below
Trusted by Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT)
Now a mandatory requirement for all BBOWT volunteers using tools with childrenLifetime accessCertificate on completion
Why Wildlife Trusts Need This Training
When volunteers lead or support sessions involving tools — saws, knives, secateurs, drills — with children and young people, there is a legal and safeguarding duty to ensure they are properly trained. Most wildlife trust safeguarding policies now explicitly require this.
Rather than sending volunteers on costly, time-consuming face-to-face courses, BBOWT purchased a bank of licences for Module 6: Using Tools from The Outdoor Teacher. Volunteers complete it in their own time, in their own home, and receive a certificate they keep for life.
BBOWT's own Safeguarding Code of Practice makes it a formal prerequisite:
"All employees and volunteers using tools with children as part of these specified activities should also complete specific training before they will be able to lead or support a group."
Lynn Hughes, Learning Manager (East), Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust
Sample Lesson: Using a Bow Saw
What Volunteers Learn
The course is a focused, video-based module covering safe use of all the tools volunteers typically encounter in conservation and outdoor learning settings:
- Bows saw and pruning saw
- Secateurs
- Loppers
- Hammers
Volunteers also learn age-appropriate supervision ratios, how to set up a safe tool-use area, and how to conduct risk and benefit assessments - all through clear instructional video, designed by Marina Robb, who has 30 years of Forest School and outdoor learning experience.
How Bulk Licences Work For Your Organisation
Buying licences in bulk is straightforward, flexible, and far more cost-effective than sending volunteers on day courses.
Here is exactly what happens:
Choose your licence bundle
Select the quantity that suits your volunteer base. Single licences can be purchased by card. For multiple licences, contact us and we'll raise an invoice for payment by bank transfer.
Receive your coupon codes
You are sent a list of individual coupon codes - one per volunteer - which never expire.
Share with volunteers
Give a code to each volunteer. They enrol, complete the module, and download their certificate.
Use codes as needed
New volunteers joining? Use a remaining code. The coupon doesn't expire, so it works for your whole season and beyond.
BBOWT purchased 40 licences and has been distributing codes to new volunteers as they join - no repeat purchasing, no admin headaches.
Licence Pricing
All prices are per licence, excluding VAT.
The more licences you buy, the less each one costs - and the codes never expire, so you can give them to new volunteers whenever you need to.
2-5 Licences (20%)
£
37.60
Per licence
6-10 Licences (30%)
£
32.90
Per licence
11-30 Licences (40%)
£
28.20
Per licence
31-50 Licences (50%)
£
23.50
Per licence
Is this course right for your organisation?
This training is designed for any conservation or environmental charity that works with children and young people in outdoor settings — particularly where volunteers may use hand tools as part of habitat management, nature education, or Forest School-style sessions.
It is especially well suited to:
- Wildlife trusts with volunteer-led activities for children on nature reserves
- Conservation charities running school engagement programmes
- Organisations offering youth volunteer programmes or Duke of Edinburgh placements
- Environmental education teams where staff and volunteers use tools with groups
- Any organisation that needs documented, certifiable tool safety training for safeguarding compliance
The course is not a formal Forest School qualification — it is a focused, practical training module that meets the specific safeguarding and health and safety requirements around tool use with children, as referenced in wildlife trust codes of practice.
Ready to get your volunteers trained?
Buy a single licence to try the course yourself, or get in touch to discuss a bulk licence package for your whole volunteer team.
FAQ
Yes - on completing the module, volunteers receive a certificate of completion from The Outdoor Teacher. This is not a formal accreditation or qualification, but it provides documented evidence of training that satisfies the tool safety requirements in wildlife trust safeguarding policies, including BBOWT's.
Yes, Marina Robb is an author and UK Forest School Association Endorsed Trainer and has been training Forest School Leaders since 2011. She has been working with groups in nature since 1995 and you can read more here.
No. When you purchase bulk licences, you receive a list of coupon codes that do not expire. You can distribute them to volunteers as they join your organisation, over many months or years.
Yes, the course can be accessed on all devices. You can also download the free ‘Teachable’ app for iOS or Android and complete the course using the app, downloading any videos you like onto your device.
A general safeguarding policy covers child protection awareness, but it does not substitute for specific tool safety competence. Wildlife trust safeguarding codes of practice, including BBOWT's, specifically require additional tool safety training for anyone leading or supporting activities involving tools with children. This module fills that gap.
Volunteers receive a certificate from The Outdoor Teacher confirming they have completed the Using Tools training. They also retain lifetime access to all course videos, so they can return for refresher viewing at any point.
Yes. The Outdoor Teacher can issue an invoice for payment by bank transfer in UK Sterling or Euros. Contact us to arrange this for your bulk licence purchase.
No - the license is granted for 1 user to view the contents of the course. This access must not be shared with any other person and only the named user will receive the certificate.
See next question for bulk licencing queries.
Yes, all our courses come with a ‘Certificate of Completion’ from The Outdoor Teacher Ltd.
The Outdoor Teacher, alongside its sister organization Circle of Life Rediscovery CIC aim to transform health, education and family through nature.
We are whole-heartedly concerned about the safeguarding of future generations, human and non-human alike, and the growing understanding of reciprocity between humans and nature. Whilst we are advocates for all people accessing nature and its benefits, we know that this is only healthy if we prioritise the care for the natural world and address issues of equality.
The Outdoor Teacher is working towards becoming a certified B-Corp. Certified B Corps are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. We aim to be part of this community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using businesses as a force for good.
We are using Monzo Business Banking which is listed as an ethical bank: https://monzo.com/ethics.