iHASCO Alternative: iHASCO vs Featherstone Safety Hub
- thomasfeatherstone
- 15 hours ago
- 5 min read
If you are comparing iHASCO with Featherstone Safety Hub, the essential point is that they do different jobs. iHASCO is an e learning platform that delivers health and safety and HR training courses. Featherstone Safety Hub is a complete health and safety management system that handles risk assessments, incidents, evidence and compliance records, and also includes awareness training as one part of the platform. This guide explains where they overlap, where they do not, and which you actually need.
What is iHASCO?
iHASCO is a UK provider of online health and safety, HR and compliance e learning. It offers a large library of video based courses, with certificates on completion and a learning management system to assign and track training. Pricing is generally per learner or per course bundle, quoted based on the number of users and courses required.
iHASCO does training delivery well. The courses are professionally produced, the platform makes it straightforward to assign and monitor training, and certificates provide evidence of completion. For an organisation whose specific gap is delivering e learning at scale, it is a capable tool.
What iHASCO is not designed to do is manage the rest of your health and safety obligations. It does not produce risk assessments, log accidents and near misses, screen incidents for RIDDOR, store compliance evidence with expiry tracking, or run structured monthly safety reviews. Training is essential, but it is only one part of an employer's legal duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
What is Featherstone Safety Hub?
Featherstone Safety Hub is a complete health and safety management platform for UK SMEs, built by NEBOSH qualified practitioners. It covers the full range of day to day compliance: risk assessments and COSHH, a training matrix, an incident register with RIDDOR screening, an evidence library with expiry tracking, monthly safety reviews, fire checks, contractor management, a document register, DSE assessments and toolbox talks.
Training is included too. The platform offers an optional set of 23 awareness courses covering subjects such as fire safety, manual handling, COSHH, DSE, asbestos awareness and more, with results feeding directly into the training matrix. This means training and the records that prove compliance live in the same system, rather than being split across separate tools.
The result is a single place to manage everything an SME needs to stay compliant, designed so that a non specialist can use it confidently. Rather than buying training in one place and trying to manage everything else in spreadsheets, you have one connected system.
E learning versus a management system
The two products overlap only on training. Everything else is different. iHASCO is an e learning library. Featherstone Safety Hub is a full health and safety management system that happens to include training. Understanding this distinction is the key to choosing correctly, because the two are often compared as if they are the same kind of product when they are not.
Put simply, training proves your people know what to do. A management system proves your organisation is actually doing it: that risks are assessed, incidents are recorded and investigated, evidence is current, and reviews are happening. The HSE, insurers and clients expect to see all of that, not training certificates alone.
Features compared
Where the two products sit relative to each other:
Core purpose: iHASCO is an e learning library. Featherstone Safety Hub is a full health and safety management system with training included.
Risk assessments: Not provided by iHASCO. Built into Featherstone Safety Hub, including COSHH.
Incident and RIDDOR: Not provided by iHASCO. Featherstone Safety Hub has an incident register with built in RIDDOR screening.
Evidence and documents: Not provided by iHASCO. Featherstone Safety Hub stores evidence and documents with expiry tracking.
Training: iHASCO's core strength, with a large catalogue. Featherstone Safety Hub includes 23 awareness courses that update the training matrix automatically.
Pricing: iHASCO is typically priced per learner. Featherstone Safety Hub is a flat monthly fee from £29, with training as an optional add on.
How pricing works for each
iHASCO pricing is usually based on the number of learners and the courses selected, and is quoted on enquiry. For training alone this can be effective, but costs scale with headcount, so a growing team means a growing bill, and it does not cover wider compliance management.
Featherstone Safety Hub charges a flat monthly fee: £29 for Starter and £79 for Professional, with the 23 course awareness training available as a £29 per month add on regardless of how many employees you have. For a business that needs both training and the records to prove broader compliance, a single flat fee covering everything is simpler to budget and does not penalise you for adding staff.
Can Featherstone Safety Hub replace iHASCO?
For most SMEs, yes, if the goal is to combine compliance management and core awareness training in one platform. The 23 included courses cover the subjects most UK businesses need, and because results flow into the training matrix automatically, you get training delivery and training records in one place. If you currently use iHASCO only for training and manage everything else separately, consolidating into one system usually saves money and admin.
If you have a very specific need for a large specialist course catalogue beyond the core 23 subjects, a dedicated e learning library may still have a place. But for the typical SME, the combination of management plus awareness training in a single tool is both simpler and more complete.
Who iHASCO is best for
iHASCO suits organisations whose specific need is online training delivery at scale, particularly those that already have their wider health and safety management handled elsewhere and simply want a strong course library with tracking and certificates. If training is the only gap you are filling, a dedicated e learning platform is a reasonable choice.
Who Featherstone Safety Hub is best for
Featherstone Safety Hub suits SMEs that need to manage the whole of their health and safety in one place, not just training. With around 40.1 million working days lost to work related ill health and injury in Great Britain in 2023/24 according to HSE figures, employers are expected to demonstrate active management across risk, incidents and competence, not training certificates alone. Featherstone Safety Hub brings those obligations together, and includes awareness training so it does not need to be bought separately.
Bottom line
iHASCO and Featherstone Safety Hub are not direct substitutes. iHASCO is e learning. Featherstone Safety Hub is a complete health and safety management system that also includes training. If all you need is courses, iHASCO will do that. If you need risk assessments, incident records, evidence and compliance management with training included, Featherstone Safety Hub covers all of it in one place from £29 per month.
Frequently asked questions
Is iHASCO a full health and safety system: No. iHASCO is an e learning platform for training delivery. It does not provide risk assessments, incident logging or compliance record management.
Does Featherstone Safety Hub include training: Yes. An optional add on provides 23 awareness courses that feed results into the training matrix automatically.
Can Featherstone Safety Hub replace iHASCO: For most SMEs, yes, if the goal is to combine compliance management and core awareness training in one platform.
How is training priced in Featherstone Safety Hub: The 23 course awareness training is a £29 per month add on, not charged per learner.
Does training update my records automatically: Yes. Course results feed directly into the training matrix, so completion and refresher dates are tracked for you.
Is there a free trial: Yes. You can trial Featherstone Safety Hub free for 14 days before paying.
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