Which NEBOSH certificate is for me?

NEBOSH’s widest selection of courses is available at the certificate level. The options range from national to international, general to specific, but which one is going to help your career the most? 

Fire 

The National Fire NEBOSH certificate is one of the more specialised certificates on offer. It is designed around three units of learning, lasting around 10 – 13 days. The first unit is know as NGC1 – Management of Health and Safety and is common to all the NEBOSH national certificates, except environmental management. It contains five elements relating to general health and safety practice, which include foundations in health and safety, policy, orgnaisiation, planning, measuring audit and review. This unit is assessed by exam. 

The second modules in the National Fire NEBOSH certificate Is known as FC1 – Fire Safety and Risk Management. It contains six elements of learning all relating specifically to fire safety. It is also assessed via a written exam. 

The third module is a FC2 - practical assessment, the idea being that delegates apply the knowledge that the gain in modules one and two to a real world example, showing that they can put what they have learnt into practice. There is also a fire conversion course available, which is a shortened, cheaper option to the full course. Those that have previous completed a NGC1 module, are eligible to take this as it contains only modules FC1 and FC2. 

Construction 

Like the fire NEBOSH certificate, the national construction certificate also contains three modules. Two of which are theory based and one being a pratical assessment. The first of these modules is also the NGC1 as described above. The second module is known as NCC1: Managing and controlling hazards in construction activities. It is made up of 12 construction related elements and covers legal aspects of health and safety in construction, as well as how to deal with practical hazards. The third module NCC2 is once again, a chance to put the theory into practice by completing a risk assessment. As this course also includes the NGC1 module, a shorter conversion is available. 

General 

The other NEBOSH certificate option is the general certificate. Again made up of three units, this time the units are not focuses on a specific industry or issue and relate more to a broad-spectrum of health and safety issues in the workplace. The first module is NGC1 as described above. The second is NGC2 Controlling Workplace Hazards. This is split into eight elements which address specific issues of health and safety in the workplace. The last module is, once again a practical risk assessment. 

National or international 

So far we have discussed the NEBOSH certificate as a national course. However they are also available as international courses. Based around the format of the national courses, the content has been modified to remove all reference to specific UK legislation, that would not be relevant to delegates hoping to work overseas. The fire, construction and general certificates are all available as both national and international options.