Posted By Paul Leadbetter Wes NEBOSH qualifications seem to be the most widely recognised but, as you will see if you check other threads on this forum, they are no guarantee of progression in the field. Paul

Posted By John Johnston Hey Wes, I think there are many arguments for and against the NEBOSH "way". I have taken the time to do the NEBOSH Certificate as with many others in this forum, but as yet, nearly 8 months later I am still looking for a job. That is not to say you would be the same of course. Each person comes from a different background, different experience, locations, attitudes, right place at the right time, not what you know.....blah blah. Looking back on my last year or so, I am so glad to have studied the Certificate. It was crammed full of UK law and very interesting to me, but it seems that's not what employers want. The law has made employers seek "competent" persons for their health and safety roles, and some feel the Certificate holders are not quite there. I am being forced to find money to tackle the Diploma in Health and Safety Management at Glasgow's Caledonian Uni' this year, as a cheaper alternative to the NEBOSH. This will put me in the "competent" bracket. This is a small price to pay for the career I have chosen though. I have asked a similar question to yourself, and one of the most memorable pieces of advice I received was "there is more to health and safety than NEBOSH". There are many ways to go, this very IOSH site has links on the left you should view before making any decisions. I am not downing NEBOSH, if I had the money I would pursue the NEBOSH Diploma at my local College. Sorry if I have rambled again, but I'm sure you will find other good advice in this forum post soon. Good luck whichever way to decide to go. John

Posted By John Johnston Chris, Thank you, I should have mentioned that the Certificate has given me essential knowledge to take on this Diploma in the first place. I did not mean to make my post appear to be against sitting the NEBOSH Certificate, apologies if it did appear this way. Best regards, John

Posted By Wes Smith Thanks for your responses, i think i will go for the nebosh general certificate and take it from there. Hopefully an opportunity with my current employer will arise. wes

Posted By Homer Employers are not really that interested in NEBOSH as such, most ae looking for corporate membership of IOSH (MIOSH), and as such there is a more simplistic route to achieve this thro NVQ.

Posted By Paul Costelloe I'm not sure how Homer comes to the conclusion that most employers "are not that interested in NEBOSH". Look in the SHP magazine vacancies section and they nearly ALL appear to be "interested in NEBOSH" qualifications of one level or another. NEBOSH qualifications, while not the be all and end all of H & S qualifications - are highly respected and universally known. I think Wes is probably doing the right thing on Chris's advice, in doing the Certificate - he could go straight into the NEBOSH Diploma Part 1 but he doesn't mention if he (or his employer) has got 4 grand knocking around which is spare, and an employer who is willing to give him 5 or 6 weeks off in order to do it ! However, if Wes sees his future in H & S he might want to consider investing the cost of the Certificate course in the Dip 1 course instead - in other words "in for a penny in for a pound" so to speak.