In element A6, the changes are more subtle. Once again risk management strategies makes an appearance. These are the usual risk avoidance, reduction, transfer (a type of risk sharing), and retention. What has now been added is a section on when you might use these strategies, which was sadly lacking previously – yes, the useful bit. This links in very much with the risk profile mentioned in the previous element. The decisions a company makes very much depend on its risk appetite – for example, what level of risk it is prepared to live with before it decides on getting in external solutions. Also introduced are “principles and benefits of…
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NEBOSH Diploma Syllabus Revision News #4
Last week we noted the proposed changes in Unit A, elements 2 & 3. Much of element is much the same as it was (previously element A3). There is a greater emphasis on business terminology now, with explicit reference to performance management, key performance indicators and leading/lagging indicators. Though quite a bit of this has been a feature of such standards as BS 18004 (one of the neat supporting guides to OHSAS 18001) for many years. A new development in A4.3 is something borrowed from the health and well-being qualification – that is how sickness absence data can be used to feed back into occupational health policies (and the targets…
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NEBOSH Diploma Syllabus Revision News #1
NEBOSH started their second phase consultation on Friday 14th August. They issued course providers with revised syllabi for further consideration. The proposed revisions take account of comments from employers, students, course providers and examiners. The revised documents now contain concrete proposals for syllabus changes. These changes may or may not make it into the final versions but it does at least give some insights into current thinking. We’ll go into the details of the proposed changes, and what they might mean, in later news bulletins but for now, we’ll just give you a an overview of the changes. One of the purposes of the revisions was to get much better…
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Fire Safety Precautions
Fire-walk with me ‘We’re surrounded by fire’! This was the exclamation by a student on a recent course I tutored. We had just returned from an impromptu ‘walk-about’ of the building where I was delivering elements of the NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management. It all started when we took a break for coffee and cakes and I asked the group of students to make a note of the ‘factors relating to means of escape and methods and systems to give early warning in case of fire’, the idea being that as they walked through the building to where the coffee was , they should observe and…
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Power to The People
Power to The People Don’t worry, I don’t want to start a revolution, but reading the syllabus for Element 1.3 of the NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management (FC1.3) cast my mind back to the late 1970s (giving my age away, now!). When the sitcom Citizen Smith was on our TV screens, and main character ‘Wolfie’ Smith’s catchphrase was ‘Power to the People’. In my experience of delivering Element 1.3 there is often some misunderstanding and confusion in relation to its title – ‘The roles and powers of enforcement agencies and other external agencies in relation to fire safety’. For some students, a sort-of word blindness sets…
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HSE Conference, Sudan
RRC’s Conference Helps Spread HSE Awareness in Sudan As part of its aim to achieve safer working in Sudan, RRC Training Middle East (RRC ME) held a very successful two-day conference, ‘Enhancing HSE Culture for Sustainable Solutions’, in Khartoum. A high level of audience participation, plus excellent opportunities for networking, were the order of the day at the conference, which was attended by more than 200 delegates from public and private organisations from all over Sudan, representing the many burgeoning industries, including construction, energy, mining and manufacturing. The importance of HSE to Sudan’s government, the increasing need for local training and the damaging effects of accidents on Sudan’s economy were…
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What’s In a Name?
What’s In a name? “’What’s in a name?’, as the great John Fatpimple said.” Thank you Ronnie Barker – sorry I couldn’t resist it. The old ones are the best. I think I may have written previously about my embarrassment at having to confess to people that I work in health and safety and the fact that when I did other jobs personal introduction were so much easier. It’s the name isn’t it. Health and Safety. With the capitals. or ‘elf and safety as the tabloid press would prefer us to think of it. The very name grates on people. It’s like a red flag to a bull (incidentally cattle…
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BSI – PAS 1010, Managing Psychosocial risks
It may have escaped your notice or your budget but BSI recently published a publicly available specification (PAS 1010) about managing psychosocial risks (i.e. stress, violence and harassment) in the workplace. Though it is a type of document called a PAS, they stress it is not a specification and shouldn’t be quoted as such. It’s simply guidance…that’s called a specification. Like many of the BS and ISO management standards, it is framed so it is consistent with the plan-do-check-act management cycle approach – but don’t be fooled into thinking “consistent with” means using those headings to describe the standard. No, they do something different and equally exciting. The standard reminds…
