NEBOSH Environmental Course Options

NEBOSH Environmental Qualifications are extremely well respected on an international level and holding one or more of these can greatly improve both your current work role and increase your chances of being appointed in a new role.

Each course option focuses primarily on UK law and legislation surrounding environmental issues. They are suitable for managers, supervisors or employees who have some degree of responsibility to manage environmental issues within their primary role and workplace. NEBOSH environmental courses are not aimed at a specific sector or industry, but instead are designed to be applicable across all sectors where environmental management is a concern.

There are three NEBOSH environmental courses available, all at different levels. 

NEBOSH Health, Safety and Environment in the Process Industries Qualification

This is a basic level course, lasting around 5 days. It has been designed to introduce candidates to environmental concerns, especially in the production industries such as mining, energy supply, quarrying and waste management. 

It is made up of three units of learning, which are then further broken down into individual elements. 

HSW1 Workplace Safety Foundations – 10 elements 

• The foundations of health and safety
• The responsibility for health and safety
• Health and safety risk assessment
• Control hazards
• Control associated with work equipment
• Transport safety
• Hazards and control associated with manual handling
• Fire safety
• Hazards and control associated with hazardous substances
• Hazards and controls associated with working environment

PS1 Process Safety – 5 elements

• The foundations of process safety
• Systems to prevent loss of containment
• Common hazards
• Risk and controls in the chemical process industry
• Plant integrity
• Energy response

PS2 Environmental Management – 3 elements

• Foundations in environmental management
• Control of emissions
• Environmental risk assessment

The assessment for this NEBOSH training course is by a multiple-choice exam that lasts for 90 minutes. 30 of the questions come from HSW1, 20 from PS1 and 10 from PS2. 

NEBOSH Environmental Certificate 

This NEBOSH environmental course is the next level up from the NEBOSH Health, Safety and Environment in the Process Industries Qualification. It runs over 5 – 7 days, depending on the provider. It is offered at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 3, which roughly equates to a full A- level or an NVQ level 3.

This qualification is recognised by IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) and passing the Certificate course will allow you to apply for IEMA affiliate status. It is also an excellent initial steppingstone towards the NEBOSH diploma level environmental course and further environmental qualifications. 

The Environmental Certificate provides both the necessary theoretical knowledge necessary to safeguard the environment and the opportunity to apply this knowledge to practical real-life situations. It covers a wide range of areas related to environmental management across all sectors.

Environmental Certificate Module 1 (EC1)

Module EC1 (also known as NEC1) is the theory aspect of the Environmental Certificate. It is concerned with imparting knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and how to minimise the impact of these from the business you are working with.

The specific topics that the course covers are:

• Which type of energy to use, the efficiency of your chosen source
• Assessing and managing the impact on the environment of your business
• Minimising pollution to air, noise and water
• How to put a plan in place for any emergencies that may arise

It is further broken up into nine different elements:

Foundations in Environmental Management – 6 hours

This covers what environmental management is and should address the reasons for managing environmental impact. This includes legal, ethical and financial aspects, defining and promoting sustainability and the role that governments and international bodies have in environmental management. 

Environmental Management Systems – 6 hours

This covers the reasons behind putting an EMS in place and the relevant standards such as ISO 14001: 2015

Environmental Impact Assessment – 7 hours

The reasons why we carry out environmental impact assessments, what environmental impact is, descriptions of the different types, how to identify information on environmental impact and how to assesses their impact. 

Control of Emissions to Air – 2 hours

What the air quality standards are, what emissions are hazardous to the atmosphere and how to control these. 

Control of Contamination of Water Sources – 3 hours

This covers why water quality is essential to life, what the sources of pollution to water are and how to control and reduce these.

Control of Waste and Land Use – 4 hours

This covers the risks of contaminated land, outlets that can be used to dispose of waste, how to manage waste, the reasons why minimising waste is crucial, how to categorise waste and which method of disposal to use for each type of waste.

Sources of energy and energy efficiency – 3 hours

This covers fossil fuels and alternative sources of energy. This module evaluates the benefits and problems which both types of energy, how to use energy efficiently and how to control energy usage. 

Control of Environmental Noise – 2 hours

This covers where noise pollution can come from, how to control it and the effect that it can have. 

Planning for and Dealing with Environmental Emergencies – 2 hours

This addresses how to deal with environmental emergencies. 

In total, candidates should expect to spend around 35 hours of contact time and a further 25 hours of personal study on EC1.

Assessment takes place through a two-hour written exam, performed in exam conditions. Each exam contains a single long answer or essay style questions and 10 short answer questions.  There are no optional questions on the exam and they all must be completed within the time limit to give you the best chance of passing.

Environmental Certificate Module 2 (EC2)

The second module in the NEBOSH Environmental Certificate is known as EC2 (also sometimes as NEC2 or the Environmental Practical Application).

This unit is an assessment in itself as it is the chance for candidates to put their knowledge and understanding into practice. Each individual will need to write a full report focusing on the environmental management within their company, with particular focus on the following elements:

• Identifying the type and whereabouts of each issue
• How much risk is associated with each issue?
• How to prevent or protect against this issue
• How to remedy it if it has already occurred.

This unit takes around 2/3 hours of contact time and a further 8 hours of personal study. It must be completed within 10 days of the EC1 examination to be valid. 

Diploma in Environmental Management

After completing the NEBOSH Environmental Certificate many people chose to progress to the NEBOSH Environmental Diploma. This is the most advanced of all the NEBOSH environmental courses and goes into greater depth on the issue of sustainability. It is offered at level 6 of the NQF which is on the same level as a Bachelors degree or graduate certificate.

Successful Diploma candidates are also eligible for associate membership of IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) and IIRSM (International Institute of Risk and Safety Management). This means they receive all the benefits of belonging to a professional environmental body such as up to date training, advice and publications. In addition to the AIEMA and AIIRSM post nominals, diploma graduates can also use EnvDipNEBOSH after their names.

If you are looking to advance your career in environmental management, holding a NEBOSH Diploma will provide an excellent and well-respected qualification route.

The Diploma is made up of two units:

• ED1 - Management of Environmental Risk
• ED2 - Application of Environmental Risk - Theory and Practice

Unit ED1 - Controlling Environmental Aspects

This is further split into 15 elements which address environment risks and systems for dealing with them including:

• Principle of environmental management
• Environmental risk evaluation
• Control strategies for environmental risk
• Monitoring, reviewing and audit
• Developments in environmental legislation
• Environmental legislative framework and methods of enforcement
• Public access to environmental information
• Civil liability in relation to environmental pollution
• Solid and liquids waste
• Gaseous and particulate releases to atmosphere
• Water resources management
• Control of environmental nuisance
• Hazardous substances
• Environmental implication of development and land use
• Energy use and efficiency

Unit ED2 – Application of Environmental Risk Theory and Practice

Unit two is the practical assessment unit which runs over a 3-week period plus additional private study time. However, it is possible to sit this as a week-long course, if you have sat and passed the 2-week IEMA Associate Certificate Course.

ED2 is a workplace-based project unit and requires the candidate to undertake a full audit of the environmental activities of their workplace or organisation using NEBOSH environmental audit proforma. They will need to produce a full report and written recommendations from this audit as to improve performance. this report will need to be at least 4000 words and include all 15 elements of the ED1 syllabus.

Assessment for the NEBOSH Environmental Diploma takes place over a 3-hour examination worth 75% of the total mark (based on learning from ED1) and a risk assessment worth 25% of the mark.