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Sign-in sheet template

A sign-in sheet is a page where people write their name and sign to show they were at a training session, a meeting or on site. This template has two sheets to print: one for training sessions and safety talks, with the trainer, topic, and each person's name, job title and signature, and one for visitors, with who they are visiting, a badge number, time in and time out, and a box to confirm the safety briefing. The Excel file adds an attendance register that shows each person's attendance against a roster and a visitor log that shows who is still on site. A signature shows someone was there. It does not show they understood, so use it with a check of what they can do.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the training sign-in sheetFields for title, date, time, place, trainer and topic, a table of twenty rows with number, printed name, job title, department and signature, and lines for the trainer's signature and date.
Session headerName, job title, department, signatureTrainer sign-offVisitor sheet with badge, time in and outAttendance registerVisitors on site nowSummary
Filled-in Sign-in sheet template: ten people, four toolbox talks and six visitors
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 3 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a sign-in sheet

  • At every toolbox talk, safety meeting and training session, so the record of who attended is made on the day.
  • At the front desk or gate, for every visitor and contractor, so you know who is on site if you have to account for people.
  • When a rule or a customer asks for proof of training. OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard, for example, lists the names and job titles of those attending as part of the training record, and says to keep the record 3 years (29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(2)).
  • When you want to see who keeps missing sessions, so you can arrange a make-up session.
  • Not as proof that someone can do the job. For that, use a sign-off sheet or a skills matrix.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Fill in the session header first

    Training or meeting title, date, start and end time, place, the trainer's name and qualifications, and a one-line summary of what was covered. Do this before anyone signs.
  2. 2

    Have people print their name, then sign

    A printed name next to each signature makes the page readable later. Add job title and department, since some rules ask for them.
  3. 3

    Close the sheet

    Draw a line under the last name, and have the trainer sign and date the bottom. Nobody signs in for someone else, and nobody adds a name afterwards.
  4. 4

    Enter it in the register the same day

    On the Excel register, put an X against each person who signed for that session. The register works out each person's attendance and shows who is below your cut-off.
  5. 5

    Book a make-up for anyone who missed it

    The register's flag lists people below the cut-off. Offer a short make-up session or a one-to-one and add it to the register as a new session.
  6. 6

    For visitors, sign out as well as in

    Time in when they arrive, time out when they leave. A blank time out means the person may still be in the building, and the visitor log shows how many.

Which sheet for which job

Two sign-in sheets, two questions

The training sheet answers who was trained. The visitor sheet answers who is here now. They have different columns, so keep them apart.

  • Training and meeting sign-in

    Question it answers
    Who attended this session, and who led it?
    Key columns
    Printed name, job title, department, signature, trainer, topic, date
    Keep it
    With the training record. Check how long your rules and customers require.
  • Visitor sign-in and out

    Question it answers
    Who is on site right now, and who are they visiting?
    Key columns
    Name, company, host, badge, time in, time out, briefing confirmed
    Keep it
    Long enough to answer a question about a past visit. Your security and insurance rules decide.
  • Attendance register (Excel)

    Question it answers
    Who has missed sessions this quarter?
    Key columns
    Roster, sessions, attendance %, flag
    Keep it
    With the sheets it was built from.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example (illustrative): ten people on a roster and four weekly toolbox talks in October 2026, plus six visitors on one day, 4 November 2026. Every name and company is made up.

  • The four talks were lockout tagout (6 October), forklifts and pedestrians (13 October), hand and finger safety (20 October) and housekeeping (27 October).
  • Signatures per session: 8, 8, 8 and 7. Across the quarter 31 of 40 possible signatures are there: 31 ÷ 40 = 77.5% attendance.
  • By person: four people attended all four talks (Ana, Carla, Fay and Ian), three attended three (Ben, Eli and Hana), and three attended two (Dev, Gus and Joy).
  • The flag is set at 75%. Dev, Gus and Joy are at 2 of 4 = 50%, so they are flagged for a make-up session. Ben, Eli and Hana are at exactly 75% and are not flagged.
  • Six visitors signed in on 4 November. Five have signed out. Their visits lasted 25, 165, 360, 75 and 30 minutes, 655 minutes in total, an average of 131 minutes (655 ÷ 5).
  • Lee W., an HVAC contractor, signed in at 14:20 and has no time out. The log shows 1 person still on site. Five of six visitors were briefed on safety; the sales rep was not.

The three people who missed half the talks are named, the make-up sessions can be booked this week, and anyone doing a headcount knows one visitor is still in the building.

Common mistakes

  • Signing for someone else

    A sheet that carries a name for a person who was not there is worse than none. Have people sign their own line, with the trainer watching.

  • Passing the sheet around during the talk

    It gets lost, or it ends up blank at the back. Hand it out at the start and collect it at the end.

  • Treating the signature as proof of competence

    A signature shows someone was in the room. For a task that matters, check they can do it, and record that on a sign-off sheet.

  • No sign-out for visitors

    Without a time out you do not know who is still in the building, which is the question you need answered in an emergency.

  • Leaving the visitor sheet open on a desk

    Every visitor can read the names above theirs. Use a sheet per day on a clipboard, or a form you can keep out of sight, and decide how long you keep the old ones.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite courses, SOP sign-offs, classroom attendance and external training sit in one audit-ready record per person; trainees enter an attendance code as their sign-off for in-class sessions, and on-the-job assessments are signed off by a trainer on a tablet.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Sign-in sheet template: common questions

  1. The title of the training, the date, the place, the trainer's name, a short summary of what was covered, and for each person a printed name, job title and signature. Some rules ask for specific items, so check yours.

  2. It depends on the rule or customer. OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(2), says to keep training records for 3 years from the date of training, and lists the dates, a summary of the content, the trainer's name and qualifications, and the names and job titles of those attending. Other standards differ, so check the one that applies to you and ask your customers.

  3. It is proof of attendance. Whether it is enough depends on the rule. Where you must show that a person can do a task, as with a forklift operator, the record needs more than a signature, such as an evaluation.

  4. So you know who is in the building. If you have to count people in an emergency, a sheet with times in and out lets you check against it. A visitor with no time out may still be on site.

  5. Often yes. Check that your rules and customers accept an electronic signature or attendance code, and that you can produce the record when asked. The Excel register here works from either source.

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