NEBOSH Social Purpose Programme

Making a difference to workplace Safety and Health beyond our qualifications

NEBOSH is internationally recognised for its health, safety and environmental qualifications. By helping ensure and improve the professional competence of safety and health practitioners around the world we contribute to saving lives, by helping prevent accidents and ill health every day. We provide the foundations for organisations to tackle changing and emerging risks at work and to nurture their human capital. Our learners contribute to a safer and more sustainable economy, benefiting employees and wider society. But we can do more.

As a registered charity our objective is ‘the preservation of health and wellbeing by the promotion of high standards of safety, health and environmental protection at work’. In our vision for 2027 we are committed to making a ‘bigger difference to the world of OSH’, beyond our qualifications'. In our short video NEBOSH Chief Executive, Andy Shenstone, explains how the Social Purpose Programme supports this vision:

Vision and Purpose

Globally, an estimated 2.93 million people are killed every year by industrial accidents and diseases, more than 8,000 a day. Those fatalities are disproportionately clustered in high-hazard industries and parts of the world where financial and educational resources are limited, regulation and enforcement are patchy and employers’ understanding of the value of protecting workers is poor.

To help address this unequal toll of workplace harm and to further meet our commitment to reducing workplace injury and illness, we recently launched our Social Purpose Programme. The programme, approved by our trustees, will run for three years initially and diversifies our activity into advocacy and support for people that cannot advocate for themselves, particularly people working in economically-challenged regions of the world.

In parts of South Asia and North and West Africa, for example, there are opportunities to raise awareness among employers and workers of workplace risks and the benefits of protection. Closer to home there are under-served needs among workers in non-standard forms of employment for better understanding of occupational risks and protective measures.

Target Audience

Since the programme’s launch our Social Development team has commissioned research to help identify specific target areas, namely:

Industries and occupations currently underrepresented and where accident and fatality rates are high.
Regions where safety and health awareness and oversight is limited.
Organisations that are currently working to address gaps in OSH awareness, the initiatives they are undertaking and potential opportunities for partnerships.

Specifically, we expect to support initiatives including study programmes for labour inspectors to raise their ability to steer small employers towards better safety and health standards. We can fund research that throws light on the occupational health risks of many thousands of workers in informal jobs in extractive industries to enable planning for better health education. We are also supporting a programme to provide online safety and health content for self-employed people in the UK.

Initially, the Social Purpose Programme will focus strongly on occupational safety and health, where there is greatest alignment with our insight and expertise. But as it matures, we hope to broaden the programme’s remit to include support for environmental and wellbeing initiatives as well. The programme will run initially for three years.

Our Social Purpose Programme aims to build on the positive impact of our qualifications in improving standards of worker protection around the world, helping to raise safety and health provision in regions and sectors which need it most. It will be a major contribution to achieving NEBOSH’s mission to create sustainable business and a safer world of work.

Our Projects

Details on our current projects are available below. These will be monitored closely so we can evaluate their effectiveness, and model success to guide future funding. As the programme develops we also plan to report publicly on its impact.