Anyone done NEBOSH?

[odd_bird]

Looks like I've landed myself with an intensive NEBOSH course for next month.

 

Are there any of you, brainy fellas, who've done this? What are your experiences? Just wanna know how detailed the course is..

 

cheers!

[amfell]

I have got the National Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety, fortunately work paid for it (£1600), last year we studied over a 10 week course for 1 day per week , which seemed better than doing 2 blocks of 5 days (which is the method some of our other staff had studied by)

there is a lot of extra reading that can be done beforehand as if it's done intensively you might not have time to do it of an evening , its fairly detailed covers about 15 sections

 

the exams at the end, are a pain , 2 full blown written exams but only 10 questions in each , around 1 1/2 to 2 pages are expected per question, all questions must be attempted as marks are given for correct application of knowledge in relevant sections even if not completed , 2 hours per paper, no multi choice

there is also a practical assignment (management report of a safety inspection) that must be completed 1 week after exam date

 

there are previous exam papers available online for download ( you can find free ones if you know where to look) and the examiners reports from previous years that show what topics should have been covered for each question and where the marks were lost , they have a habit of repeating questions over the years but just tweaking them slightly

 

there is a good coursebook that should be provided with your course it might be worth finding out which one is being used and getting one beforehand and covering the first couple of sections which cover the health and safety laws and the management principles of H&S

 

was it worth all the effort and hard work ? Yes it's a recognised course & it makes you think about different aspects of H&S

Edited September 5, 2013 by amfell
missing words

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Looks like I've landed myself with an intensive NEBOSH course for next month.

 

Are there any of you, brainy fellas, who've done this? What are your experiences? Just wanna know how detailed the course is..

 

cheers!

 

Hi there,

 

Relatively speaking, the course is quite detailed with much emphasis on the construction industry, hence its level 3/4, i.e. AA Tech Cert (as was) level.

 

It is quite general, as the name implies, in nature and you won't cover anything specific to arb / treework although there are a couple of questions in the exams 'bank of' relating to chainsaws / vibration (I got the latter.)

 

I found the course very useful to get a wider understanding of H&S, outside of making sure you hold the saw he right way round , and the networking opportunities and insights into other industries was useful.

 

Finally, make absolutely sure you spend time prior to the exam going though 'old' papers as they, apparently, have a limited question bank and they do repeat them...at least that used to be the case.

 

Good luck..n enjoy

 

Cheers..

Paul

[gensetsteve]

My brother has nebosh I dont understand why he did it and I dont think he does either. Do people who get these qualifications actually do the physical work or just over see people doing it ? I am not anti health and safety as its in my interest to stay alive. But often I find its an arse covering exercise set up to pass the buck if something does go wrong.

[DrewP]

Looks like I've landed myself with an intensive NEBOSH course for next month.

 

Are there any of you, brainy fellas, who've done this? What are your experiences? Just wanna know how detailed the course is..

 

cheers!

 

Others have put across well what is involved which concurs with my experience. In terms of was it worth it? well for me yes, my climbing days are over and now only do consultancy but part of that involved dealing with trades and industries outside of arb. It does arguably depend on your long term goals.

 

In short, the NEBOSH Cert teaches you H&S principles but also language & jargon which enables you to communicate to H&S professionals employed by (client) companies. From my experience of dealing with these people (often referred to as jobsworths/clipboards etc.) you tell them what you are going to do but in their language and they are much easier to deal with. They don't necessarily lie down and let you tickle their tummy but equally they tend to work with you.

 

The more arbs that have NEBOSH the better, particularly if they are engaging with H&S professionals as this will help industry recognition.

[odd_bird]

Thank you for your replies everyone.

 

Only a very small part of my work involves trees and chainsaws ,and although tree work is my favourite, it is often a mixture of construction/maintenance works for me. I also get to play with risk assessments when cloudy skies above. That is why I'm being sent on this course. There is a lot of pressure for me to pass but we won't be going into that...

 

I received PM from one of you extending a helping had with pre-course preparation. Good stuff

 

It makes you think what is there ahead when climbing (other hardcore work) days are over just like DrewP said. Its all fun and games when joints aren't cracking yet!