This article outlines the benefits of health and safety professional undertaking NCRQ Level 6
>>> This is a legacy article. NCRQ is no longer delivering AIM qualifications (Oct 2022). IOSH or NEBOSH can provide a similar level of HSE certification. <<<
Why choose NCRQ Level 6 Certificate in Applied H&S?
The NCRQ Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety has been designed so that candidates develop the skills and knowledge required to be able to implement health and safety in the workplace, rather than simply answer exam questions.
NCRQ qualifications have been developed by the UK’s leading experts on health and safety; including academics, barristers, serving Health and Safety Executive specialists. Importantly, they have been developed in partnership with some of the biggest employers in the UK – including the BBC, Royal Mail, and Siemens plc.
The modular approach to our qualifications means that by completion of the Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety, you will already be one third of the way towards completing the full Diploma in Applied Health and Safety.
Aims
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Supervise or manage a workforce in a safe way
- Undertake risk assessments and develop sensible and proportionate control measures
- Carry out investigations into workplace accidents or ill-health
- Establish and develop a safety management system for any size of organisation
- Understand and improve behaviours and attitudes that foster a positive safety culture
- Manage health and safety in a low risk environment
Who is it for?
The NCRQ Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety is suitable for you if you:
- have no safety knowledge or experience and want a good foundation in safety management
- are working in a safety related role and want to improve your knowledge and skills, or
- have general management responsibilities and want to be able to maintain a safe and healthy workplace.
There is also a focus on the softer skills, such as being able to justify your decisions to senior management, deal with conflict, and practical advice on how to implement change management and improve attitudes to health and safety.
The law, standards, and regulatory arrangements of the UK are an integral part of this qualification. Overseas students may wish to contact us for advice.
How is it delivered?
NCRQ Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety teaches you to teach yourself. You are not required to memorise facts and recite lists of information. Instead, you learn to solve problems confidently by applying the basic legal duties and fundamental principles of safety management.
You will be given a workbook, which takes you slowly through a wide range of case studies. A sample of the workbook is available here, and all of the case studies are based on real life incidents where people have been killed or seriously injured. NCRQ believe that studying failures in safety management is the best way of learning how to improve and implement effective controls. You are required to undertake a variety of activities, such as making notes, reading online publications, completing NCRQ e-learning modules, or simply thinking and reflecting on something before moving on. In this way, you will progressively improve your knowledge and skills, and importantly be able to apply them to a real working environment.
Assessment and certification
NCRQ assessments are designed to reflect real life, and enable you to demonstrate the skills that employers actually want. In real life, you are not isolated in a room and required to recite answers to generic questions in a specific format. In real life, you work at your own pace, albeit to a deadline, and have access to resources, legislation, and free online publications. In real life, you have time to write a report in your own style or that of your organisation. And in real life, there is often not one black and white solution for a problem.
When you feel ready to complete an assessment, you simply let us know and you will be able to download your assignment from myNCRQ – our online learning portal. You will be given a realistic scenario and a task to complete. This may involve analysis of a range of supporting information, such as documents, witness statements, operating instructions, etc. You will then be required to produce a written report, and upload it through myNCRQ within the allocated time. The assignments for HSD1: Principles of Health and Safety are shown below:
| Assessment | Approximate time required | Completion period |
|---|---|---|
| Undertake and write a risk assessment | 5 hours | Two weeks |
| Prepare an accident investigation report | 15 hours | Four weeks |
| Reply to a number of requests for advice | 5 hours | Two weeks |
| Complete a professional development plan | 2 hours | Two weeks |
The Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety is registered and regulated by Ofqual, and is awarded by AIM Awards in partnership with NCRQ. It is accredited by IOSH as meeting the requirements for Technical and Associate Membership.
