National Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals

The NEBOSH National Diploma is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) at level 10 in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). For users in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, this is comparable to a vocationally-related qualification (VRQ) at Level 6 in the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). In academic terms, a Level 6 VRQ is comparable to an honours degree.

The NEBOSH National Diploma course consists of three units.

• DN1 - Workplace health and safety principles. This unit covers moral, economic and societal drivers, health and safety law and management systems, organisational structures and leadership, behavioural change programmes, risk perception, human failures and reliability, hazard identification techniques and loss causation
• DN2 - Controlling workplace health issues. This covers occupational health, mental health, wellbeing, lone working and workplace violence, hazardous substances, epidemiology and toxicology, biological agents, noise, vibration, radiation, musculoskeletal, manual handling and welfare
• DN3 - Controlling workplace safety issues. This unit covers safe working environments, welfare, fire and explosion, confined spaces, work equipment, lifting and mobile equipment,  electricity, construction and work related transport

Learning Outcomes

• You will be able to source, develop, evaluate and interpret relevant health and safety information (such as legislation, guidance, best practice, procedures) and communicate it effectively to those who need it (both within your organisation and those affected by your organisation’s activities such as contractors and insurers)
• You will be able to promote a positive health and safety culture by:
• gaining commitment and participation; and
• engaging, supporting and influencing leaders (and others) to change attitudes and behaviour and make health and safety a priority
• You will be able to assess, develop and maintain individual and organisational health and safety competence
• You will be able to understand risk management including the techniques for identifying hazards, the different types of risk assessment, considerations when implementing sensible and proportionate additional control measures and developing a risk management strategy
• You will be able to develop and implement proactive and reactive health and safety monitoring systems and carry out reviews and auditing of such systems
• You will be able to continually develop your own professional skills and ethics to actively influence improvements in health and safety by providing persuasive arguments to workers at all levels
• You will be able to develop a health and safety policy strategy within your organisation (including proactive safety, Corporate Social Responsibility and the change management process)
• You will be able to contribute to health and safety legal actions
• You will be able to manage contractors and supply chains to ensure compliance with health and safety standards
• You will be able to advise the organisation on a range of common workplace health issues
• hazards including how these can be assessed and controlled and the legal duties associated with these issues/hazards
• You will be able to advise the organisation on a range of common workplace safety issues/hazards including how

The NEBOSH Diploma is an advanced qualification and an equivalent to a Foundation level Degree. Therefore, to increase your chances of successfully passing your NEBOSH Diploma, British Safety Council strongly recommend that you have prior learning gained through previous health and safety qualifications, such as the NEBOSH National General Certificate, before undertaking this course. If you do not hold such a recognised qualification, please contact [email protected] to discuss your options. 

Assessments are available in English only. Your standard of English must be such that you can both understand and articulate the concepts contained in the syllabus. NEBOSH recommends that non-native speakers undertaking this qualification should have a minimum standard of English equivalent to an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 6.0 or higher in IELTS tests. For further information please consult the IELTS website: www.ielts.org

When you start the course, we enrol you as a student with NEBOSH. Your initial enrolment period lasts for 5 years. This means that you must pass your first unit within 5 years. If you fail to pass your first unit within 5 years, you will need to re-enrol and pay another registration fee.

When you pass your first unit, your enrolment period is automatically re-set and you have a further 5 years to pass the remaining unit. In other words, your first unit has a shelf-life of 5 years. If you do not pass the remaining unit within 5 years, your first unit will expire and you will have to retake this unit in order to pass the qualification.

The NEBOSH Diploma comprises three units:

Unit DN1 – Know – workplace health and safety principles

Unit DN2 – Do – controlling workplace health issues

Unit DN3 – Do – controlling workplace safety issues

Total hours 191

A programme of study is based around a minimum of 191 taught hours and approximately 144 hours of self-study for an overall total of 335 hours (excluding assessment time).

The qualification specification (syllabus) can be found here.

The qualification comprises of three assessments:

Unit DN1 Assignment (in four parts - simulations, workplace-based activities, reflective tasks and a research project)

Unit DN2 Case study (simulation only)

Unit DN3 Case study (simulation only)

Each unit can be completed remotely accompanied by an online closing interview discussing your work.  We anticipate that it will take you around 60 hours to complete the ND1 assignment and 40 hours each for the ND2 and ND3 case studies.

Unit DN1: 4 weeks (40 hours)

Unit DN2: 2 weeks (20 hours)

Unit DN3: 2 weeks (20 hours)

The grading is based on the combined percentage mark for the 3 units. All three units must achieve a pass in order to be awarded the qualification. Once all three unit assessments (DN1/DN2/DN3) are passed, a combined percentage mark will give an overall grade for the qualification (Distinction/Credit/Pass).

Distinction 226 or higher

Credit 196 – 225

Pass 150 – 195

Additional fee for NEBOSH Examinations: £651 +VAT.

You can book Unit DN1, Unit DN2 and Unit DN3 using the Learning Zone.

For more information on assessments please see our NEBOSH Certificate Assessment Information page.

Your assessments should be booked through your British Safety Council account manager. If you’re not sure of their contact details, email [email protected]. The deadline for booking an assessment is 6 weeks prior to the examination date. 

Additional fee for NEBOSH Examinations: £651 +VAT.

We run free assessment preparation days via our virtual classrooms. We recommend you also attend these days so that you can fully practice applying your knowledge and understanding to the questions set.

Results are released 50 working days after the submission date for the assessment. A unit certificate will be issued 20 working days after the notification date for each successful unit. 

You can see when your results are due on the NEBOSH website.

A qualification parchment will be issued 20 working days after the results notification date for the third successful unit.

NEBOSH qualifications are recognised by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM).

Once completed, our students often continue their studies by completing a Foundation in IEMA. Please contact us to discuss your options.