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rmlewis  
#1 Posted : 21 December 2017 10:44:37(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
rmlewis

Hello,​ I would like to pose a question about next steps and what, in your experience might be an ideal thing to consider.

I have completed the general national NEBOSH National General qualification as regards health and safety​ and also a NVQ diploma.

I am looking at the NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk  but am not sure if it is the right thing for me to undertake at this juncture.

I would like to know what other people have done or would choose to do if they were in my position of being in a predominantly office-based environment at a s medium sized charity, nominated as H&S lead in the organisation, and wanting to expand my knowledge in the field with a view to making practical applications of this knowledge.

I look forward to your response and I hope that it will be illuminating.

Thank you for your time.

Ryan

Ian Bell2  
#2 Posted : 21 December 2017 11:35:45(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ian Bell2

The world of safety is saturated with fire risk assessors since the RRFSO came into force. If you are dealing with low risk offices, the qualification is probably excessive. Are any of the offices/buildings 'complicated' e.g. multi story, shared with other businesses etc with higher fire risks., difficult escape routes, large numbers of people? Fire risk assessors can be hired in quite cheaply.
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rmlewis on 21/12/2017(UTC)
jodieclark1510  
#3 Posted : 21 December 2017 11:47:42(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
jodieclark1510

It depends on what you currently do, what you want to do and what gaps there are in your knowledge which you feel need to be filled. I did my fire cert after my gen cert because it was soething I was interested in. I would like to specialise in fire safety in the future, but due to the nature of my role I have filled in a gap through undertaking P405 and in February will be completing P901.

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rmlewis on 21/12/2017(UTC)
Woolf13  
#4 Posted : 21 December 2017 13:11:49(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Woolf13

Hi,

If you have the money and time to invest then it is a really good certificate to undertake, particularly if you are working in an office environment.

Whilst you are working in "lower" risk fire environment it is not a necessity. Also some of the course is more detailed than what you require. However, it will still provide you with an invaluable insight into basic requirements and where invariably you can make improvements to you current place of work.

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rmlewis on 21/12/2017(UTC)
rmlewis  
#5 Posted : 21 December 2017 13:22:07(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
rmlewis

I am currently working within an organisation that has a number of buildings within one site and consists of offices, a social club, sports hall, a residential care unit and a workshop with machinery. I have completed around 9 risk assessments already in relation to general health and safety and fire risk and one of these documents is aorund 18 pages in length but I feel that further knowledge and understanding in this area may enhance my practices in my currently position but also add further knowledge and experience for my future prospects. 

jwk  
#6 Posted : 21 December 2017 16:15:42(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
jwk

Residential care is automatically high-risk as there are people sleeping. This does need a rather higher level of skill/experience (not necessarily qualification) as you need to be sure, for example; that your wallpaper & paint in escape routes is type 0, that you have properly rated fire doors throughout, that you can accurately identify fire hazard rooms, that any staircases are fire protected and so on. I wouldn't undertake a FSRA of a residential unit without a lot of preparation, unless I had prior experience. I've done a few in my time, I used to use HTM84 (Scottish Edition) as my guide, but I still had to call on experienced help to deal with matters of fire retardancy and some of the elements of structure. I advise a great deal of caution,

John

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toe on 26/12/2017(UTC)
Matt J  
#7 Posted : 27 December 2017 11:12:44(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Matt J

rmlewis I started a new job a couple of years back which required completion of fire risk assessments. At the time I held the general certificate and knew fire was a gap in my knowledge. As I'm sure many of us do I automatically looked at the NEBOSH option, but as I was self funding decided to look around at alternatives. I decided to sit the Certificate in Applied Fire Risk Assessment, a five day course my the FPA. The course provided a good base knowledge with practical elements. As a nice bonus the course meets all NEBOSH criteria for the Fire Safety and Risk Management Certificate, allowing candidates to sit the NEBOSH exam. FPA are based at moreton-in-the-marsh so may not be entirely ideal geographically, but thought I'd put it out there. Matt
lisar  
#8 Posted : 02 January 2018 17:14:38(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
lisar

Does any of the work for the employees/volunteers consist of lone working? Maybe do a short course on that which the Suzy Lamplugh trust run from memory or conflict management.

Yes to the Nebosh fire risk assessment course, I did it a few years ago and its a great course and very insightful.

Also what about an ergonomics course, a nice little top up rather than a big beefy course.

Edited by user 02 January 2018 17:16:05(UTC)  | Reason: Cos I can

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