Choosing the Right NEBOSH Course to Further your Career

There are a wide range of health and safety courses available from the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH). These range from the more general health and safety options, through to the highly specialised construction, fire, and environmental courses; there are also different levels of expertise, depending on where you are at in your career.

Certificate Level Courses

The most popular level of NEBOSH course on offer has to be the certificate. Candidates wishing to take a certificate level qualification can choose from seven different courses. Each NEBOSH course uses a combination of taught study and practical application; this ensures that the courses are relevant to the employment as candidates can apply what they have learnt.

Outlined below are some of the most popular choices.

The National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety course is designed for those looking for a comprehensive course covering general health and safety issues.

It is split into three modules:

• NGC1 - Management of Health and Safety,
• NGC2 - Controlling Workplace Hazard
• NGC3 - Health and Safety practical application

NGC1 and NGC2 are assessed by exam, while the NGC3 module requires a practical application of the knowledge and skills learnt in the course. Candidates can expect to experience 80 hours of taught work and 49 hours of their own personal study to pass.

There is also an International version of this course; the International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety. This is based on the National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety outline, but does not centre itself on UK legislation which makes it more relevant to a worldwide audience.

The NEBOSH Fire Safety and Risk Management Certificate is also spilt between three modules. It is aimed at all candidates who are involved in minimising fire risks. This course includes the NGC1 module, in addition to FC1 and FC2 modules.

• FC1 deals with the knowledge and understanding elements of fire risk management
• FC2 is the practical report that applies this

Candidates can expect around 66 hours of taught time and 47 hours of personal study.

The National Certificate in Construction Health and Safety again covers three modules, two theory and one practical and also shares the NGC1 modules with the courses listed above.

It is the longest of the three, at around 105 hours of taught study and is aimed at those supervising and managing projects specifically within construction and facilities management.

NEBOSH National Certificate in Environmental Management is one of the shorter NEBOSH Courses, comprising of one theoretical and one practical module and exam.

It is aimed at anyone who has the responsibility for minimising environmental damage in their role.

NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Health and Safety Leadership Excellence focuses on the health and safety culture within the workplace, training senior management and leaders on effective management skills and promoting a positive health and safety culture.

Candidates do not have had to have any previous training before taking this course.

It is possible to take the majority of these certificate courses in a distance learning format as well as the conventional classroom based sessions.  

This means instead of attending face to face sessions, candidates receive the learning material and can study in their ow homes. Although it does take a lot of personal motivation to complete the course in this way, the advantages are that the learner can study at their own pace and dictate when they think they are ready for the exam.