When every time that an applicant for Safety Officer reports to the recruitment agency, he is always asked by the recruiter if he is a NEBOSH Certified.
What is NEBOSH then?
The applicant is usually surprised if he is asked about NEBOSH Qualifications. Why? It is simply because the most noted qualification that the safety officer possesses before is the OSHA certificates.
OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration created by US Congress with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Thus, the recruitment agency is asked by their client to look for a safety officer who has OSHA Certificates. An OSHA 30-hour for Construction Safety and Heath will do as basic qualification. That was the trend a long time ago.
However, the clients of the recruitment agency nowadays are asking for an applicant who has NEBOSH Qualifications. They require their applicant to have a NEBOSH International General Certificate as a preferred qualification.
(But still, it is better if you have both OSHA and NEBOSH.)
Those who have this preferred qualification are in an advantage mode during their applications. And those who do not have it, they try to figure out what is NEBOSH and they even ask where they could avail it.
NEBOSH stands for “the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health”. It is a UK-based awarding body.
To clarify certain points, NEBOSH does not offer any occupational health and safety trainings but rather, it provides course materials, syllabus, assignments, assessments and examinations. But the trainings will be provided by the Accredited Course Providers who will prepare the candidates or the aspirants for NEBOSH Qualifications.
But wait, it is good to note that the Accredited Course Providers do not supervise examinations. It is NEBOSH itself who administers the assessments and examinations.
To cite a concrete example, I attended my NEBOSH trainings provided by DAMI Global in Yanbu Saudi Arabia, but those who administered our examinations came from the British Council in Jeddah.
My good instructor and any DAMI representative were not allowed to stay during the examination. So, in the examinations, NEBOSH aspirants were on their own while taking the tests.
Once an examinee passed all the exams, he will be awarded with NEBOSH International General Certificate. There are three parts for this level, the IGC 1, IGC 2, and the IGC 3 or the practical assessment. Each exam that an examinee passes, he will receive certificate. I‘ve got a total of four certificates after I passed the test.
Now, if you are aspiring to become a NEBOSH certified, don’t hesitate, just find a course provider nearest to you, attend the trainings and take the exams. And you will be happy and proud to receive your NEBOSH qualifications.
Take note, the qualifications are also recognized by professional membership bodies including the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). This means that successful candidates can apply to use letters such as TechIOSH, GradIOSH, CMIOSH, and MIIRSM after their name –all you have to do is to apply for the membership.
Remember, once you get it, there are lots of opportunities that will be coming along your way.
What is NEBOSH then? For now, that’s all I can say.
Over the next few months, I will be writing some lessons on NEBOSH International General Certificate and I will share some summaries that I have made during my trainings.
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