Today was my first day of the NEBOSH National Diploma. I was apprehensive but also excited when I turned up at the training venue in Cardiff.
At the beginning of the day I was provided with a range of course materials. These resources looked just like a text book you would buy in a high street bookshop or see as research material in a library. I was informed that these were the notes for Unit A of the course and would cover the first two weeks.
Accompanying the course notes, I also received a workbook for the first week which contained the learning outcomes of all the elements we were going to study, sample exam questions for each element and homework questions. No one said taking a degree equivalent qualification was going to be simple but I know that as long as I put in the work it will all be worthwhile.
After having a morning cup of tea I settled in my seat and was introduced to the week 1 tutor, Peter Edwards.
Peter talked about his experience in the health and safety industry, he had been working for Santia for nearly 12 years and has been successfully delivering the Diploma in the UK and internationally for over 10 years with Santia. He has experience across a number of industries including petrochemical, food, manufacturing and public sector. I was really impressed by his extensive knowledge and this made me feel at ease.
We then introduced ourselves to the group. There were nine other people on the course and many of them were in a similar position to me; looking to improve their skills and work up the career ladder.
Peter explained how the NEBOSH National Diploma was separated into different modules; each unit covered a variety of topics and we would be taught the required material through lectures, group work and video clips/DVDs.
In the morning of day 1 Peter also described the method of assessment for the course, both formative and summative assignments. It was great that we were given a course overview on day 1 as this answered some of the questions I had after reading the NEBOSH National Diploma syllabus.
At 10am we began covering the elements of the NEBOSH National Diploma unit A. Beginning at A1 we looked at the reasons for effective management of health and safety. Then we covered the societal factors which influence health and safety standards and priorities. After lunch we explored the principles and content of health and safety, quality and environmental management systems and outlined the roles and responsibilities of health and safety practitioners.
I found the element A1 really interesting. I particularly enjoyed the discussion about dealing with conflicts of interest in reference to RR366 ‘Making an impact on SME compliance behaviour’.
Throughout the week Peter took us through elements A1 to A6 highlighting the learning outcomes of each element and teaching us what we needed to know in order to complete these sections of the NEBOSH National Diploma. We also completed workbook exercises which tested us on what we had learnt from the previous days. This was invaluable as the vast majority of these exercises were based upon actual past Diploma questions.
We were also given a detailed description of what is required with regards to the Unit D Practical Assignment and how we are expected to work on this as the course progresses. I realised there is a fair amount of work in the Unit D assignment but was reassured by Peter that he, and the other tutors were there to support us. We would meet with the tutors throughout the course and they would be able to steer us in the right direction and give us advice.
The key things I learnt
In week 1 I realised that I already had a working knowledge of many of the areas but my knowledge was very broad. The key thing I learnt was more about managing and assessing risk, which I found really interesting. I also increased my depth of knowledge particularly in the area of advanced risk assessment techniques such as HAZOP, Fault Trees and Event Trees.
Homework
We were all given homework questions to complete before week 2 based on each of the elements that were covered in the training. This also included a list of recommended reading NEBOSH National Diploma study books.
Peter reminded us that Santia tutors are available between the study weeks should we have any queries. They are also able to mark and comment on any questions we attempt which was very reassuring.
Check back for the next instalment of Jo’s journey through the NEBOSH National Diploma.