NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (IGC) — Study Guide

NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (IGC) — Study Guide

Credential: NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (IGC) Issuing body: NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health), UK Jurisdiction: International (UK-based; recognized globally, especially Commonwealth, Middle East, oil & gas) Level: Foundation/professional-entry (SCQF Level 6 / RQF Level 3 equivalent) Prerequisites: None formal — but the assessment is written English at a professional standard; NEBOSH recommends a minimum English standard (IELTS 6.0 equivalent) since answers are essay-style. Exam format: Two units. IG1 — Management of health and safety: scenario-based open-book examination (OBE), 24 hours to complete, ~100 marks of applied scenario questions. IG2 — Risk assessment: a practical risk-assessment project on the learner's own workplace (written report with hazard identification, risk evaluation, and an action plan), pass/refer graded. Overall grading: Distinction (≥75%), Credit (65–74%), Pass (45–64%). (Format verified against current NEBOSH IGC specification; confirm the OBE window and unit weightings in the current syllabus guide.) Renewal: No expiry — the IGC is a lifetime qualification (no recertification cycle). Professional membership (e.g., IOSH) built on it has its own CPD.

Why this credential matters

The IGC is the world's most widely held health-and-safety qualification — the baseline credential for HSE roles across oil & gas, construction, and manufacturing outside North America. It teaches the management of health and safety (plan-do-check-act, risk assessment, incident investigation) rather than jurisdiction-specific law, which is why it travels: the legal unit references international standards (ILO conventions, ISO 45001) with UK law as the worked example. For engineers moving into HSE roles internationally, it is the fastest credible entry.

Syllabus structure

Unit IG1 — Management of health and safety (open-book scenario exam)

Element 1 — Why manage health and safety. Moral (the human cost — and the exam rewards answers that treat moral reasons as primary), legal (enforcement, prosecution, civil claims), financial (insured vs. uninsured costs — the HSE's cost ratios: uninsured costs typically 8–36× insured; the exam loves the iceberg model). The business case: reputation, tender prequalification, workforce morale.

Element 2 — Health and safety management systems. The PDCA cycle per ISO 45001 / HSG65: policy (statement of intent, roles/responsibilities, arrangements — the exam tests the three-part policy), planning (hazard identification, legal registers, objectives), implementation (competence, communication, documentation, operational control, emergency preparedness), checking (active monitoring — inspections, audits; reactive monitoring — incident investigation), management review, continual improvement, and safety culture (indicators of positive vs. negative culture — the exam's favorite essay: "describe the features of a positive health and safety culture").

Element 3 — Influencing health and safety culture and behavior. Human factors: individual (attitude, competence, fatigue), job (task design, workload, environment), organization (culture, leadership, communication). Perception of risk, behavior-change techniques, workforce consultation.

Element 4 — Risk assessment. The 5-step model (identify hazards; decide who might be harmed and how; evaluate risks and decide precautions; record and implement; review and update). Hierarchy of control (ERIC PD: Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control, PPE, Discipline — the UK mnemonic; know both it and the ANSI version). Special cases: young persons, new/expectant mothers, lone workers, workers with disabilities. Dynamic vs. suitable-and-sufficient assessments.

Elements 5–11 — Common workplace issues (the applied core). Each element follows the pattern: hazards → who is at risk → control measures → specific standards:

• 5. Movement of people and vehicles: segregation, traffic routes, reversing aids, visibility, loading bays.
• 6. Manual and mechanical handling: TILE (Task, Individual, Load, Environment) for manual handling assessment; lifting equipment (LOLER: thorough examination, marking of SWL), lifting accessories, crane operations.
• 7. Work equipment: PUWER — suitability, maintenance, guarding (fixed, interlocked, adjustable), isolation/lockout, hand tools, mobile equipment.
• 8. Fire: fire risk assessment, the fire triangle, ignition/fuel/oxygen controls, detection/alarm, means of escape (travel distances, exit capacity, emergency lighting), extinguishers by fire class, evacuation of mobility-impaired persons.
• 9. Electrical: shock, burns, arc flash, fires/explosions; control by competent persons, inspection/testing (PAT), isolation procedures, overhead/buried services, hazardous-area classification conceptually.
• 10. Chemical and biological agents: COSHH assessment (the UK framework: 8 principles of good practice), exposure routes, OELs (WELs in the UK — 8-h TWA and 15-min STEL), health surveillance, biological agents classification.
• 11. Physical and psychological agents: noise (action values 80/85 dB(A), limit 87 — the EU/UK framework), vibration (HAVS/whole-body), radiation, thermal environment, lighting, workplace violence, stress (HSE management standards: demands, control, support, relationships, role, change).

Investigation and enforcement (woven through IG1): incident investigation (immediate vs. root causes — active failures, latent/organizational failures; the exam rewards the systems view), RIDDOR-reportable events conceptually, enforcement notices (improvement/prohibition), the HSE/authority inspector's powers.

Unit IG2 — Risk assessment (practical project)

Conduct a real risk assessment of the learner's workplace: describe the location and activities, identify ~10–20 hazards across categories, evaluate risk (likelihood × severity with justification), apply the hierarchy to propose prioritized actions with timescales and owners, and present it as a professional report. Graded pass/refer against NEBOSH's criteria: breadth of hazards, quality of evaluation, practicability and prioritization of actions, report structure. Common referral causes: too few hazards, generic controls ("PPE" as the only control), no timescales/owners, hazards outside the learner's actual workplace.

The NEBOSH answer technique (this is half the exam)

NEBOSH questions use command words — obey them:

• "Give": one-word/short-phrase list (no explanation needed; give more points than asked — if it asks for 4, give 6).
• "Outline": principle + brief explanation per point (2–3 lines each).
• "Describe": fuller account — what it is, what it does, how it works.
• "Explain": why/how — the reasoning, the causal chain. The OBE is scenario-based: every answer must be applied to the scenario — generic textbook answers score poorly. Structure: identify the scenario facts, apply the principle, recommend the action. Time discipline: the OBE rewards breadth across all questions over perfection on one.

Worked examples

Example 1 — "Outline" question. "Outline the features of a positive health and safety culture (8 marks)." Answer skeleton (one mark per well-outlined point): leadership visibly committed (managers stop work for safety); workforce involvement (safety committees, near-miss reporting without blame); communication (two-way, toolbox talks, lessons shared); competence (training, supervision); just culture (errors treated as learning, violations distinguished from mistakes); resources allocated; proactive monitoring valued; organizational learning (investigations change procedures). Give 10 for an 8-mark question.

Example 2 — Scenario application. Scenario: a warehouse with pedestrian/forklift mixing, no marked walkways, reversing alarms broken. "Describe" the controls: segregate (barriered walkways, one-way systems); engineering (reversing cameras/sensors to replace broken alarms — note: repair is the first action); administrative (speed limits, banksmen for reversing, traffic plan, driver refresher training); visibility (high-vis, lighting, mirrors at blind corners); maintenance regime (pre-shift checks logged — the broken alarms indicate a failed inspection system, which is itself a management finding). Every recommendation tied to a scenario fact.

Example 3 — Risk assessment (IG2 style). Hazard: manual unloading of 25-kg sacks. Who: warehouse operatives. Evaluation: TILE — Task (repetitive twisting lifts), Individual (agency staff, untrained), Load (25 kg at the HSE guideline limit for the zone), Environment (uneven yard, poor lighting). Risk: high. Actions (hierarchy): eliminate (palletized delivery — negotiate with supplier); reduce (mechanical aid — sack truck/lifter); isolate/admin (job rotation, training, two-person lifts as interim); timescales (interim controls this week, supplier negotiation this month, equipment procurement this quarter); owners named.

Example 4 — Fire element. Scenario: an office with a blocked fire exit (storage), no fire drills in 2 years, extinguishers unserviced. The answer: immediate (clear the exit — prohibition-level), short-term (service extinguishers, appoint fire wardens, conduct drill), systemic (fire risk assessment review, housekeeping policy, management monitoring of drill/service schedules). The exam rewards the immediate/short/systemic layering.

Standards/regulations cross-reference

• ISO 45001 — the management-system backbone of IG1.
• ILO conventions (C155, C187) — the international legal framework referenced.
• UK HSWA 1974 / Management Regulations 1999 — the worked-example jurisdiction (general duties, suitable-and-sufficient risk assessment).
• EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC — the European principles of prevention (the hierarchy's legal source).
• HSE guidance: HSG65 (managing for H&S), the 5-step risk assessment, RIDDOR, COSHH/LOLER/PUWER/DSEAR regulations as topic references.

Pitfalls

1. Command words. Answering "explain" when asked to "give" wastes the OBE clock; answering "give" when asked to "explain" loses all the reasoning marks.
2. Generic answers. The OBE scenario exists to be used — every recommendation must cite scenario facts.
3. PPE as the only control. NEBOSH examiners penalize PPE-first hierarchies; always work ERIC PD top-down.
4. IG2 breadth. Ten variations of "slip hazard" is one hazard category — cover the syllabus's range (movement, handling, equipment, fire, electrical, chemical, physical).
5. Moral/legal/financial. "Why manage H&S" questions expect all three reason classes — candidates who give only legal reasons lose a third of the marks.

Grading and strategy

• IG1 OBE: 24-hour window, but plan ~4–5 hours of writing. Answer every question; partial applied answers beat blank perfection. Front-load the high-mark questions.
• IG2: start the workplace assessment early — it needs site access and drafting time. Follow NEBOSH's report template exactly.
• Distinction (75%+): requires applied depth on most questions — scenario-cited, hierarchy-ordered, prioritized recommendations.

Practice problems

1. "Outline" four indicators of a negative health and safety culture. (Then upgrade two of them to "explain" standard.)
2. Scenario: a small factory — unguarded drill press, no risk assessments, workers bypass the guard "to work faster," supervisor unaware. Structure a full answer: immediate, short-term, systemic actions.
3. Apply TILE to: unloading 20-kg boxes from a van at night in rain.
4. "Explain" the moral, legal, and financial reasons for managing health and safety, with one mechanism each.
5. Draft three IG2-style actions for an obstructed fire exit, with timescales and owners.
6. A risk assessment from 2019 is still on file, unchanged; the process changed in 2023. Identify the legal/management failures.

Answers

1. Outline (brief each): high incident/near-miss rates with low reporting (fear culture); management decisions prioritizing production over safety; poor housekeeping tolerated; safety training treated as a tick-box; blame-focused investigations; workforce not consulted. Explain-upgrade example: "Fear culture suppresses near-miss reporting → the organization loses its leading indicators → the next incident arrives without warning, which is why reporting rates are a culture metric, not just a data gap."
2. Immediate: stop the machine, fit the guard, prohibit bypass (disciplinary framework communicated). Short-term: suitable-and-sufficient risk assessment (PUWER), guard inspection regime, supervisor competence check. Systemic: management review of why production pressure overrides safety (culture), near-miss/behavioral program, audit of all machinery guarding.
3. Task: repetitive, twisting from van bed height. Individual: driver alone (lone working), possibly fatigued (night). Load: 20 kg, bulky, possibly unstable contents. Environment: rain (slip, grip), darkness (visibility), uneven ground. Controls: mechanical aid (tail-lift/trolley), lighting, scheduling (avoid night unloading), repackaging to smaller units, training.
4. Moral: prevent foreseeable human suffering — the employer's duty of reasonable care. Legal: prosecution (HSWA), enforcement notices stopping the business, civil claims. Financial: uninsured costs (production loss, retraining, reputation) dwarf insured costs; tender prequalification increasingly requires safety records.
5. Immediate (today, facilities manager): clear the exit, prohibit storage there. Short-term (this week, fire warden): fire-exit signage check, extinguisher service booked. Systemic (this month, H&S manager): fire risk assessment review, housekeeping policy, monthly exit-check regime with log.
6. The assessment is not suitable and sufficient (it doesn't reflect current risks); the review step of the 5-step model was skipped; management monitoring failed (no trigger linked change-management to risk-assessment review); workers were left exposed to unassessed risk for ~3 years — a Management Regulations breach in the UK framing.

Original ETS reference writing, verified against public sources on 2026-09-30. Thin sourcing is flagged inline. Not legal advice — confirm current editions with the issuing body.