NEBOSH Award, Certificate or Diploma?

It’s no mean feat, deciding which NEBOSH course is the right one for you! There are a wide range on offer, and they range across different levels, subjects and are classified as for professionals in the UK or overseas.Don’t panic though, read through our quick run through below to help you make your decision. 

Introductory NEBOSH Award Courses

Let’s take a look at the introductory level NEBOSH courses first. These are known as Award Courses and NEBOSH currently offer two.

The first is the National Occupational Health and Safety Award.This is a 3-day course that is well recognised in the health and safety industry and consists of two modules and a one-hour multiple choice exam. The first module contains 10 elements, which focus on specific hazards and health and safety policy, whilst the second module is a practical work-based assessment. 

This NEBOSH course is aimed at providing a good introduction to those unfamiliar with health and safety in the workplace. It is a relatively quick course and provides an excellent foundation for further learning in the NEBOSH program.

The other Award course that NEBOSH offer is the NEBOSH Environmental Award.This course is made up of a single unit known as HSEP1. It covers a range of topics including health and safety systems, work equipment, electrical safety,hazardous substances, fire, manual handling, emergency response, transport and contamination. The course is assessed by a 60-minute multiple choice exam. 

NEBOSH Certificate Training

NEBOSH Certificate courses represent the widest selection available at a single level. They are aimed at both specific or general needs and available for both professionals based in the UK or abroad.

NEBOSH National General Certificate

This NEBOSH certificate course lasts around 12 days and covers three modules in this time. NGC1 which focuses on management of health and safety

·        NGC2 which discusses controlling workplace hazards

·        NGC3 which, along with a written paper for the other two units, serves as a practical assessment, where candidates are asked to apply their learning in a practical situation

Also see: NEBOSH International General Certificate

The NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management

The NEBOSH Environmental Certificate comprises of two modules: EC1 and EC2.

·        EC1 is the Management and control of environmental hazards

·        EC2 is the practical assessment.

The aim of the course is to enable candidates to assess systems of environmental management in line with UK legislation and deal effectively with environmental risk. 

NEBOSH Fire Safety & Risk Management Certificate

The NEBOSH national fire certificate course is similar in structure to the General National course and shares the first module NGC1. It also includes:

·        FC1 – this concerns fire safety and risk management

·        FC2 - practical workplace assessment. There is also a written assessment with short and essay type questions. 

NEBOSH Construction Certificate

This course also contains the NGC1 module. All courses that contain this module can be taken as ‘conversions’, if the candidates already hold the module from completing the National General Certificate course. This means that it is cheaper and quicker and means you do not have to repeat a module that you have already done. 

In addition to NGC1, the National Construction Certificate course is made up of:

·        NCC1 - Control of hazards in construction work

·        NCC2 - The practical element which takes the form of a risk assessment. There is also a written exam. 

All three courses mentioned above can also be sat as International courses as well as National courses. You should consider doing an international course if you will spend the majority of your career outside the UK. The international courses omit all the UK relevant legislation. 

The International NEBOSH Oil and Gas Course

This is an International course only, as many oil and gas specialists work either abroad or offshore. There is one module of learning on this course, split into five elements:

·        Safety and Environmental management in the Oil and Gas Industry

·        Hydrocarbon process safety 1 and 2

·        Fire protection

·        Emergency response

·        Logistic and transport operations

There is no practical assessment for this course, only a written exam. 

NEBOSH Health and Well Being at Work Certificate

The aim of this NEBOSH course is to reduce absence, help employees’return back to work and deal with employee health issues. It comprises of two modules:

·        NHC1 - Managing Health and well being in the workplace

·        NHC2 – The exam and practical assessment.

NHC1 covers issues such as employee health and how it effects their work, employees work and how its effects their health, managing attendance,mental health, musculoskeletal disorders, and promoting health in the workplace.

NEBOSH Diploma Courses

The NEBOSH Diploma options take candidate learning to the highest level on the NEBOSH scheme. They build upon the knowledge gained through the relevant Award and Certificate courses. Holding a NEBOSH Diploma meets the academic requirements to apply for Graduate Membership (Grad IOSH) of IOSH and is a step to becoming a Chartered Member of IOSH (CMIOSH). The qualification is also accepted by the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) as meeting the academic requirements for full membership (MIIRSM).

NEBOSH National/International General Diploma

This course builds on the knowledge gained through the National General Certificate course, although it is not essential for candidates to have gained this before sitting the Diploma course (although recommended).

It is also available at an International level; the course content and recommended study hours are very similar, the only difference being that all relevant UK legislation omitted. This tailors the course to those who work abroad or offshore the majority of the time. The International Diploma can also be known as the ‘NEBOSH International Occupational Health and Safety Diploma’.

The National Diploma saw a number of changes in 2016 to bring content inline with the ever-flexing needs of the health and safety sector. The course now consists of 4 units of learning with a recommended tuition time plus private study hours per module. Assessment of this NEBOSH course by a three-hour exam,assessment the candidate’s understanding of units A, B and C. Unit D is also an assessment and requires the composition of an 8000-word report based on workplace experience.

The units and expected time for tuition time are:

·        Unit A: Managing health and safety – 91 hours tuition time

This covers the principles of health and safety, incident investigation, reviewing health and safety performance, identifying hazards, risk control, factors that affect health and safety such as organizational and human, health and safety law,criminal law and civil law

·        Unit B: Hazardous agents in the workplace – 71 hours tuition time

This covers toxicology and epidemiology, assessment of risk for hazardous substances,controls and PPE, monitoring and measuring, biological agents, noise and vibration, radiation, psychosocial agents, musculoskeletal risks and controls and managing occupational health.

·        Unit C: Workplace and equipment safety hazards – 71 hours tuition time

This covers fireand explosion principles, fire risk assessment, handling of dangerous substances, work equipment, machinery, electrical safety, construction controls and hazards and pressure systems.

·        Unit D: Application of health and safety theory in the workplace – 10hours tuition time

This covers no newcontent, but is an assessment based on candidates putting the knowledge from units A, B and C into action.

These total 243 hours of tuition plus NEBOSH recommend 257 hours of private study time across all modules. Added together, you can expect to study for around 500 hours in total to successfully gain your NEBOSH national diploma.

Not a small investment for anyone, so why take the course? Well,managing health and safety is a legal and moral requirement. Also, your employer can be safe in the knowledge that on successful completion of the diploma you will have demonstrated advanced occupational safety skills evidenced throughout the NEBOSH course.

As these NEBOSH Diploma courses are such a large investment of money and time, some providers are now offering the course module by module. This means you can spread the cost and complete one module at a time. Other providers are helping delegates reduce the cost of the course, by offering them a distance learning option. This means that candidates do not have to attend a face toface course for the recommend tuition time, but take themselves through the material, only calling on tutors when they need additional help.

NEBOSHNational Diploma in Environmental Management 

This course differs from the national and international Diploma courses in several ways. It is a more specialised course, with focus on the main elements of UK and EC legislation for environmental protection, as well as general principles of the management of environmental and pollution control. It is also available at an International level.

It meets the requirements for non-chartered Membership of The Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management(CIWEM), entitling those who join to use the post-nominal designation MCIWEM. Successful candidates will receive the Diploma and may use the designatedletters EnvDipNEBOSH after their name.

It is also a shorter course than the other Diploma courses, as it contains only two modules – one for theory and one for practical assessment.

·        UnitED1: Controlling Environmental Aspects. Recommended tuition hours – 90, recommended private study hours – 40 – Total:130

·        Unit NDEM2: Environmental Regulation. Recommended tuition hours – 33, recommended private study hours – 72 – Total: 105

In total this comes to 235 hours of study, quite a bit less than the 500hours needed for the General Diploma courses. Assessment for this NEBOSH diploma includes a three-hour exam that is based on the theory module and a 4000-word report, which is the second practical application module. 

The course content covers issues that have an effect on the environment.These include:

·        Principles of risk management for environmental issues

·        Environmental risk evaluation

·        Control strategies

·        Auditing

·        Legislation

·        Enforcement of legislation

·        Public access to information

·        Civil liability

·        Solid and liquid wastes plus minimisation strategies

·        Gas

·        Water

·        Environmental nuisance

·        Hazardous substances

·        Implications of land development

·        Energy use