A Marker’s View of NEBOSH Construction Practical Assessment (Old Specification) -

Please note this advice is for the practical assessment from the old syllabus qualifications – National/International Certificate Certificate in Construction Health and Safety.

To maximise your marks, check this list of Do’s and Dont’s.

Observation sheets – Worth 30 marks.

Do’s	Don’ts
1) Observe 25 – 30 hazards and write them down giving some explanation of the hazard. To maximise your marks find 30 hazards.	1) Don’t make these up, write down the hazards you see. A common mistake is to only give 15 – 20 hazards. Don’t include mention of legal breaches in the observation sheets.
2) Ensure every hazard has a consequence that is properly explained – explain the consequence usually in terms of an injury or ill health.	2) For the consequence don’t just say fire risk or electrical risk. Explain the consequence – usually this refers to injuries or ill-health.
3) Every hazard must have an immediate action and a longer term action.	3) Don’t just give one action – this will decimate the mark awarded.
4) Give suitable timescales for the actions – an immediate action should have a timescale of 2 days or less. Longer term actions could be a number of months.	4) Don’t make the immediate timescale greater than 2 days (or this isn’t immediate).

Introduction:

This should be an easy 5 marks but some students squander the marks by not writing enough.

Do’s	Don’ts
1) State where and when the inspection took place.	1) Don’t give a date that is outside the dates supplied to you by RRC.
2) Explain the main function of the company, number of workers – those involved in the areas you are inspecting.	2) Don’t just give the name of the company, it is its function that is important.
3) Describe the area and the main activities being undertaken and the equipment being used at the time of the inspection.	3) Don’t be too brief – give a clear description of the chosen area and the activities actually occurring. Describe the equipment used.

Executive summary:

Write this at the end but include here. Worth 5 marks.

Do’s	Don’ts
1) Write a concise view of the most important points of your conclusion.	1) Don’t miss out important findings.
2) Include a summary of the recommendations.	2) Don’t forget to include the recommendations or marks are lost.
3) Briefly persuade managers to take action eg mention the costs of accidents etc.	3) Don’t write too much, this section is worth 5 marks and is a summary.

Main findings:

Worth 30 marks, spread over 3 sections (3.1, 3.2, 3.2) so spend time on this.

Do’s	Don’ts
1) 3.1 – Write about the main hazards on your Observation sheets and show discussion of these. (15 marks)	1) Don’t duplicate the Observation sheets – ‘discuss’ the hazards. Don’t include anything new ie is not mentioned in your Observation Sheets.
2) Try to write about at least 5 main hazard groups eg Fire, electricity etc.	2) Don’t write about every hazard that is on your Observation Sheets, but don’t skimp on this – give good descriptions of the hazards you have chosen to write about.
3) 3.2 – For each hazard (or group of hazards) explain the legal breaches stating the legislation and how the legislation has been breached. (5 marks)	3) Don’t just give a list of the legislation eg breach of CDM regulations etc, but, say how the law has been breached.
4) 3.3 – Give clear legal, moral and financial reasons stating why management should take action. (10 marks)	4) Don’t forget to mention something relating to legal, moral and financial reasons such as staff could be injured, loss of business, fines etc.
5) Make sure, in your main findings, that you convince management to take action.	5) Don’t forget to try to persuade management to take action eg possible financial benefits, fines, loss of business etc.

Conclusion:

Worth 15 marks – so spend time on this:

Do’s	Don’ts
1) Summarise the main points you have written about in the main findings.	1) Don’t use the same words as you used in the main findings.
2) Try to persuade management to take action eg explain the consequences of not taking action.	2) Don’t include anything that is not in the main findings.

Recommendations:

Worth 15 marks – so spend time on this:

Do’s	Don’ts
1) The recommendations MUST come from the conclusion. (Column 1)	1) Don’t include points you haven’t mentioned in your conclusion or you may only be awarded 5 marks or less.
2) The Resource implications MUST be given in terms of cost and/or time. (Column 2)	2) Don’t write ‘No cost as this is done internally’ – there is ALWAYS a cost, in this case give the time taken to complete the work.
3) Prioritise the recommendations in terms of High, Medium or Low. (Column 3)	3) Don’t try to prioritise these as 1, 2, 3 etc.
4) Give a realistic timescale. (Column 4)	4) You don’t need to be too specific here.