SQT Blog

Our latest cohort of students of the NEBOSH International Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety just received their results and we are delighted to report an overall pass rate of 98% across all three exams. This compares with a NEBOSH pass rate of 55% for the three exams across all centres offering this course.

Sincere congratulations to all students and to their tutor Finbarr Stapleton.

The NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety meets the academic requirements for Technician Membership (Tech IOSH) of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH – www.iosh.co.uk) and Associate membership (AIIRSM) of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM – www.iirsm.org).

Our next NEBOSH International Certificate course commences on 8th October.

A NEBOSH survey carried out during the first half of this year among 1,600 successful Certificate level students, revealed that Course Provider reputation was far more important than course cost for example, when deciding who to study with.

The survey showed the relative importance of the following factors in choosing a course provider:
- Reputation 30%
- Location 22%
- Study Method 11%
- Availability of dates 10%
- Cost 6%

“These are very interesting findings,” said NEBOSH Accreditation Manager, Matthew Powell-Howard, who led the study. “The survey clearly shows that building a strong reputation through recommendation from students, employers and other influential parties is vital.”

“The study also showed that students tend to judge the performance of their Course Provider primarily by the relationship they have with their tutor.” Maintaining the same tutor was also important. Less satisfied students tended to have several different tutors.

We here, at SQT, found this NEBOSH research encouraging.

We would hope that the solid reputation we have built up in delivering both the NEBOSH International Diploma and Certificate in Occupational Health & Safety is evident to prospective students.

Objective evidence includes:
- Feedback from delegates who attended the last 2 Diploma and Certificate courses revealed that 90% were fully or very well satisfied with their course.
- Exam results reveal that SQT candidates consistently out-perform NEBOSH averages for all providers. In a spirit of openness and transparancy, we publish all NEBOSH exam results on our website.

SQT always has the same tutor deliver the full NEBOSH courses. Finbarr Stapleton is our NEBOSH tutor and has extensive experience of deliverering both the NEBOSH International Certificate and Diploma in Occupational Health & Safety.

We are currently taking bookings on the next NEBOSH Diploma course commencing on 20th September and the next NEBOSH Certificate course commencing on 8th October.

Reading the latest NEBOSH newsletter, it is interesting to note that the International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety has overtaken the National General Certificate when it comes to annual registrations.

According to NEBOSH between April 2011 and 2012, there were 40,775 registrations to sit units of the NEBOSH International General Certificate compared to 37,426 for the National General Certificate.

The International Certificate course syllabus covers International legal frameworks and codes of practice.

The National Certificate is based on UK legislation.

Both courses are offered in Ireland. It is advisable for prospective attendees to consider carefully which course – International Certificate or a National suits them best.

Here at SQT we present the International Certificate course and we also add in Irish legislation. Our choice of course is in response to market demand. According to our research, the international course seems to best suit Irish attendees. Our next course commences commences on Monday 8th October. The link below includes the full brochure.

NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

Our next NEBOSH International Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety commences on Monday 26th March.

SQT’s pass rate for this course far exceeds NEBOSH average as shown in the table below.

Full course details here.

SQT’s International Certificate course covers International legal frameworks and codes of practice but also Irish legislation.

Contact jfeehan@sqt.ie or telephone 061 339040 if you wish to reserve a place.

NEBOSH have made a number of updates to the syllabus for the NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety course. Our course brochure reflects the updated syllabus.

One change that has been made is that delegates can now carry out the practical assessment in their own place of work, rather than at a venue organised by the tutor. This will make the practical assessment more meaningful for people who complete the course.

We are currently taking bookings for the next course which commences on 26th March. The course is an eleven day course, two weeks 26-30 March and 30 April – 04 May. The eleventh day, a revision day will be held on 30 May in preparation for the NEBOSH exams on 13 June.

The course costs €2,350.

Pass rates for our delegates well exceed NEBSOSH average rates. For the last exams held in June 2011, all SQT delegates passed all three units, a pass rate of 100%. The NEBOSH average pass rate across the three units for that exam sitting was 63%.

The International Certificate course syllabus covers International legal frameworks and codes of practice but our SQT course also covers Irish legislation. Other centres in Ireland run the National Certificate which is based on UK legislation.

Click on the course title here to see the full course brochure, NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.

Please contact Eilish Cummins, ecummins@sqt.ie or 061 339040 with any queries or to make a course booking.

Heartiest congratulations to all SQT candidates who took the NEBOSH Certificate exams in June. We are delighted to report a 100% pass rate across all three exams. Once again this 100% pass rate exceeds the NEBOSH average pass rate of 63%. We seem to be saying this after each set of exams but it is a statistic we are very proud of. NEBOSH qualifications are very well regarded in the Health and Safety field. Though NEBOSH is a UK based exam board, its courses are delivered worldwide.

Having been involved in the organisation of NEBOSH courses for the past number of years, I can vouch for the hard work which students have to put in … anyone with a NEBOSH qualification has worked hard to earn it. The NEBOSH Certificate but particularly the NEBOSH Diploma courses require a lot of study outside of the training days. (Self-study is built into the design of the Diploma course, it being a blended learning course).

Finbarr Stapleton, our tutor for NEBOSH courses, works hard with students throughout the course and to prepare them for the exams. He has many years of training and consultancy experience thus brings a wealth of knowledge to courses. His easy, friendly manner puts people at ease from the word go.

Good luck to the full class who commence a new NEBOSH Diploma course next Tuesday. The next NEBOSH Certificate class commences on 10th October and a small few places are still available.

If anyone has any questions on NEBOSH courses, feel free to contact me by email ecummins@sqt.ie or by telephone 061 339040.

Our training partner of fifteen years, TMS Consultancy, has recently completed a detailed review of how they work and communicate with their customers and, as a result, to facilitate their continued expansion into new markets, they’ve changed their trading name to Antaris (a guiding star, which has played a key role in safe navigation since ancient times).

As TMS Consultancy, Antaris has been helping clients across a range of industries in Ireland, Europe and beyond, to address the challenges of managing their Health and Safety, Environmental, Quality, Accessibility, Energy and Corporate Social Responsibility issues for many, many years. The familiar faces of Gerry, Shane, Finbarr, Doug and Nick will continue to deliver in excess of 45 different training programmes with SQT Training, to the same high standard of excellence as before.

In line with their commitment to continuous improvement, Antaris has launched a new website http://www.AntarisConsulting.com, which provides more details of their management systems expertise, training and consultancy services and software solutions. They have also completed a significant upgrade of their flagship software product, Register of Legislation, which will be re-launched as Pegasus Legal Register on the 1st July. Pegasus Legal Register is a successful and innovative software solution that makes the daunting task of interpreting environmental and health and safety legal requirements and assessing compliance, easy and simple.

SQT Training has always been proud of our relationship with the Antaris Team and so we look forward to many more years of our business evolution and shared opportunities.

Photo credit NEBOSH

NEBOSH publish a quarterly newsletter. Their latest edition includes new research, conducted earlier this year, which shows that any person looking for a health and safety job without suitable qualifications “need not apply”.

The 2011 NEBOSH Jobs survey found that:

• Just three of 100 nationally (i.e., UK) advertised health and safety vacancies failed to specify an appropriate level qualification or professional status.
• In 93 job adverts, a NEBOSH qualification and/or Technician Membership of IOSH or higher was specified.
• 66 of the 100 job adverts mentioned at least one NEBOSH qualification.
• A NEBOSH Diploma was specified in 45 cases and a NEBOSH Certificate level qualification 37 times.
• Membership of IOSH (The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) was mentioned in 48 job adverts. 5 mentioned ‘Tech IOSH’, 17 mentioned ‘Grad IOSH’, and 26 mentioned Chartered Membership (CMIOSH).

More information here

We are taking bookings on NEBOSH Certificate commencing in October and NEBOSH Diploma courses commencing in September.

The NEBOSH Certificate meets the academic requirements for Technician Membership of IOSH (Tech IOSH) and Associate membership (AIIRSM) of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM).

The NEBOSH Diploma holder may apply for Graduate membership of IOSH (Grad IOSH). This is the first step to becoming a Chartered Member (CMIOSH). This qualification is also accepted as meeting the academic requirements for full membership of IIRSM (MIIRSM).

Finally data compiled by NEBOSH shows that pass rates for SQT candidates consistently out-perform NEBOSH averages on both Certificate and Diploma courses.

Contact Jean on 061 339040 or jfeehan@sqt.ie for more information.

NEBOSH have just issued results for the most recent Diploma exams held in January. Our students once again exceeded NEBOSH overall pass rates – 55% across all exams for SQT compared to 46% for all centres. NEBOSH exams are very challenging so sincere congratulations to all.

The next NEBOSH exams are as follows:
- NEBOSH Certificate exams Wednesday 8th June. (Same date as Leaving and Junior Cert begins!)
- NEBOSH Diploma exams Tuesday 5th/Wednesday 6th/Thursday 7th July.

Our five day Occupational Health & Safety Management System Lead Auditor course has just received IRCA Certification. Congratulations to Shane and all involved.

I’ve just read in the NEBOSH newsletter of new research which suggests that gaining a NEBOSH qualification can significantly improve safety performance and add value to the workplace.

The study was carried out by Adrian Gannon as part of an M.Sc. in Occupational Health and Safety Management at Loughborough University. Gannon surveyed 130 students who had completed a NEBOSH International General Certificate qualification. Each student responded to 30 questions based around the learning objectives of the course. The results showed that the majority of those questioned had successfully transferred what they had learned to their working environment.

A sample question was would they would feel confident advising on emergency procedures following their studies.

The results were:
14% responded “to a very great extent”
44% to “a great extent”
31% to “a moderate extent”
10% to “a small extent”, and
1% said they would “not feel confident”.

Our next NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety will commence on 21st March. Please contact us immediately if you would like someone from your organisation attend.