Health and Safety Blog

Why the NVQ level 5 Diploma in OHS

Why NVQ Level 5 Diploma in OHS? As a safety practitioner we are constantly required to continuously develop our skills, abilities and indeed our knowledge and knowhow. We can achieve this not only through formal qualifications, but also through developing our on-site competence. Some say that there is no better way to learn than to do, and as such when working in a role we learn everyday through our tasks.

Many people still exist that do not hold a qualification in Health & Safety and indeed have many years of on-site experience to prove competence. In a world where more and more regulations persist, and countries evolve requirements the UAE is no exception. Only recently the government of Dubai posted a news article about the requirement and need to ensure safety officer competence for working in companies and on projects. The article talks about the need for safety officer accreditation, which I think is certainly needed and will bring Dubai in line with the current requirements in Abu Dhabi.

Many people are hired as Safety Officers with very much unrelated diplomas or degrees and indeed with no prior qualifications or knowledge, which is certainly risky business.

One way to overcome this is to undertake the City & Guilds NVQ Level 5 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety. The diploma is structured in such a manner that it can be completed in your own workplace and at your own pace, with no exams or classroom attendance. This is the purpose of a vocational training course. Many people have different learning styles, and as such a classroom and examinations may not be for them. The diploma can be completed anywhere from 4 months to 2 years and consists of something called reflective writing. Reflective writing is all about YOU as the candidate, writing about what YOU have done. The reflective accounting is then supported with a piece of evidence that supports your statements.

The reflective account for each unit will be compiled and reviewed by one of our NVQ portfolio coordinators, who will give you feedback throughout the course, the ideas is to guide you to completion as it is not possible to FAIL.

I personally undertook the NVQ level 5 diploma in OHS and found that it suited me at the time as I was in full time employment. I found it a fantastic process and very enjoyable, I also learned a lot too!! My main highlight however was the end result of achieving CMIOSH, which was my ultimate goal!!

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