Posted By S Rooney Evening. The NEBOSH certificate (either general or construction depending on your industry) is a good next step and will give you a good insight and foundation. After that you could always go no to do the NVQ4 or the diploma.

Posted By Adam P Is the general certificate needed or shall I just take on the NVQ 4 or diploma?

Posted By Adam P If I was to do the general certificate how long is it likely to take? How long does the NVQ4 / NEBOSH diploma take on average? I can get sponsored from work to do the qualifications but I'd just like to have some timescale in my head. Any opinions wouls be much appreciated

Posted By Andrew Rushton Whoops! whiskey talking. that word is experience.

Posted By S Rooney You have to have a NEBOSH certificate in order to register for the NVQ4. You can do the NESBOSH in either a fortnight block excluding exams or over a three month period which ever suits you best. My assessor said the norm for completion of NVQ4 is two years. I've been doing mine 11 months and am around two thirds of the way there. Completion time really depends on how much time you can dedicate to the qualification. Good luck!

Posted By Hazel Harvey You don't have to have a NEBOSH Certificate to enrol for an NVQ. However, you do need to be able to demonstrate that you have knowledge of health and safety issues during the NVQ assessment and if you haven't got this then you would find it very difficult to complete the NVQ. There are other level 3 qualifications available as well as the NEBOSH certificate to get your grounding. However, it is worth remembering that the knowledge requirement for the NVQ level 4 is at degree level and the NEBOSH level 3 certificate is at approximately 'A' level, so you will need to develop your knowledge well beyond the certificate during your NVQ assessment and this is not easy if you are not working in a full time role in an organisation with fairly complex risks. It may well be easier to undertake a taught programme such as those listed in the GradIOSH section of the 'about membership' section of this website. The Managing Safely course scratches the surface of health and safety knowledge and is designed to give managers sufficient awareness of where to ask questions about the conditions that their staff working. To become a safety professional you need to develop 'all the answers' (or at least most of them and know where to find the rest of the information!). Hazel Harvey Director of Professional Affairs