Posted By lewes As the title says. Is it a worthy course or another good money earner for some ???

Posted By Glyn Atkinson I have been informed by two different sources that a higher current qualification and a current job in safety would render the General Certificate side of it redundant and the study would just be on the fire theory side. Why pay to study what has been learnt and used continuously at the lower level? Is this a correct statement?

Posted By gc I tried to enrol on the second half only and was told that I would have to do the first part as well as my General Cert was completed more than 5 years ago, regardless of the fact that I am MIOSH - go figure! Surely this can't be right.

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney 9-ship Have to disagree with your last comment, whilst IOSH may not be perfect I do not see any truth in a potential "money making scam" as this is being offered by Nebosh. Conditions on when you took the NGC have been displayed on plenty of occasions by IOSH and the 5 year rule is (in my opinion) a fair one. Yes, I think it is a shame that there is not a dedicated course based upon the Fire safety and RA's to do with fire safety, for previously qualified H&S personnel. CFT

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney gc You make an excellent point, and I can't argue it! Hats off to you. CFT

Posted By DANGER RANGER Yes but the protective meausures would have changed since 66 would they not

Posted By Andy Furness Hi All Some time ago I posted information on the new NEBOSH Fire Safety & Risk Management Certificate on this very chat room so for those who have already read it I apologise in advance. As the Chairman of the Working Party that was involved in developing the syllabus it is a little disheartening to read some of the comments, particularly as the objective for introducing such a Certificate was to raise the professional standard or assist in recognising competencies of individuals, (particularly health and safety professionals), in relation to fire. When IOSH’s Fire Risk Management Specialist Group discussed ‘training for competence’ we looked at a variety of mechanisms that will assist future ‘responsible persons’ to assess that the persons who may be involved in fire risk assessment were competent and we had to start somewhere so it was agreed it was best at an NVQ Level 3 standard – it was and still is, on our minds to develop a higher standard syllabus, which we hope will be forthcoming in the not too distant future. As many of you are aware there are very few formal qualifications in relation to fire, other than those for members of the Fire & Rescue Services, which was another reason why it was felt that such a qualification was needed, particularly as the legislation is set to change. First up, it may be prudent to mention that due to QCA guidelines, the new Fire Certificate programme has been broken down into Units so that the management module is not repeated (hopefully to save candidates / delegates time and money). A module(s) Certificate will be awarded on completion of the specific Fire Safety and Risk Management Units (FSC1&2) of the new Certificate regardless of the level of qualifications already held (if any at all). NEBOSH have taken the view that if the NEBOSH National General Certificate qualification has been successfully completed within the last five years than they will issue a full Certificate which covers all modules of the course. For those already holding Health and Safety qualifications/status at a higher level it was anticipated at the outset that attending delegates on the FC1&2 units would wish to claim CPD for their Chartered status, as well as the Module(s) Unit Certificate. With regard to the actual programme the NGC1 unit is the same as that which is delivered as part of the National General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health. I understand from NEBOSH that ultimately all Certificate level courses will comprise of the NGC1 unit together with any additional specific units that may be required – this is the case with the Fire Certificate. With the above in mind the course programme can be undertaken either as a full Fire Certificate programme, comprising of the NGC1 plus the FC1&2 (see below), or as a short programme comprising FC1&2 only. FYI: The Unit FC1 comprises six elements as follows:- Managing Fire Safety Principles of Fire & Explosion Causes and Prevention of Fires Fire Protection in Buildings Safety of People in the event of a fire Fire Risk Assessment The minimum face to face tuition time for FC1 is 29 hours in comparison to the fire element in NGC2 which has a recommended contact time of 6 hours. This enables a substantial amount of additional relevant information to be delivered to delegates. Whilst the level of the Certificate may not be the same as the Diploma the breadth of the information covered is wider and will form the foundation of a specific fire related Diploma level programme. As with all new qualifications there will undoubtedly be teething problems that will need to be addressed in the first year or so and I sincerely trust that those of you interested in gaining a formal Fire Safety qualification will bear with all of the training providers who are delivering the programme. You can be assured that as Vice Chairman of the IOSH Fire Risk Management Specialist Group I have a particular interest in the certificate and our group members will endeavour to provide assistance to NEBOSH to ensure that the qualification that we originally envisaged will meet safety practitioners and all those seeking a fire safety qualifications needs. If you have any further questions or queries in the light that it appears that NEBOSH are not currently responding please do not hesitate to contact me at:- andrewfurness@salvus-consulting.co.uk , 01494 716954 or via our website at www.salvus-consulting.co.uk Before I close this rather long winded note, for those of you not wishing to take the NEBOSH route but still wish to undertake a training course, IOSH’s CPD programme includes both Fire Risk Assessment (2 days) and Fire Safety Management (1 day) programmes, each of which can be certified by a return to work assignment. For more information take a look at the CPD programme on the web or speak to Zoe Whitehead, I am sure that she would be pleased to book you in. Hope this info helps to clarify Andy Furness Vice Chair FRMSG