The NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work Award provides a best practice introduction to workplace health, safety, and risk that is relevant to all industry sectors. This qualification is now available in Arabic, in addition to English.

The course content is delivered in an understandable and accessible way and will help you to: 

  • gain an awareness of common workplace hazards so you can help to implement or maintain your organisation’s health and safety management system
  • gain practical skills that can help keep yourself and others safe
  • apply the principles of risk assessment
  • have a positive impact on health and safety in your workplace.

This is a replacement qualification for the Health and Safety at Work Qualification.


Who is it for?

Anyone who needs to understand the principles of health and safety as part of their job will benefit from taking this qualification including:  

  • Team leaders and supervisors, 
  • HR professionals,
  • Facilities managers.

It provides a valuable overview, which can act as a sound basis for further study. 

Employers

The NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work Award can help you to: 

  • Reduce incident and injury rates, and the associated lost time and absence 
  • Foster greater health and safety awareness amongst employees 
  • Improve employee engagement and enhance safety culture 
  • Secure higher levels of compliance with organisational safety measures 
  • Protect the business from the reputational damage caused by health and safety failures.

Employers looking for more information on how NEBOSH qualifications can benefit your organisation, can find out more on our NEBOSH Corporate Services page. 

Health and Safety at Work Award HSA

“It is my ambition that all our people managers get to take the Health and Safety at Work Award, as I feel once you manage people, you must have a rounded knowledge of health and safety.”

Dr Sam Benson - Head of Health, Safety and Biosafety, Rothamsted Research

A practical, bitesize qualification that’s understandable and accessible so anyone can learn.

Improve your organisation’s safety performance with this practical qualification that is relevant to all industries.


Course Details 

The NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work Award looks at everyday solutions for general workplace health and safety issues. 

Through your studies, you will gain knowledge and practical health and safety skills. This will enable you to:

  • understand why health and safety needs to be managed, ensuring effective processes are in place
  • inspect the workplace, recognising common hazards, evaluating risk, recommending controls measures and assigning actions
  • understand why incidents happen and how to investigate them.

NEBOSH Learning Partners offer a variety of flexible course formats, including in-company options, so training can be arranged according to business need.  

Length of course 

This qualification has a minimum of 18 taught hours, two hours of self-study and a recommendation of three hours for the assessment.


Entry Requirements

There are no entry requirements for this qualification.

This qualification is available to study in English or Arabic. For learners studying in English, it is important they have a suitable standard of English language so they can understand and articulate the concepts contained in the syllabus. NEBOSH recommends that learners undertaking this qualification should reach a minimum standard of English equivalent to an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 5.0 or higher in IELTS tests.

Read more about language requirements for NEBOSH qualifications.


Start Studying

Every learner must register with a NEBOSH accredited Learning Partner and undertake the relevant learning before taking an assessment and gaining a qualification. It is not possible to self-study for a NEBOSH qualification. 

Our global network of Learning Partners provide excellent learning and support and will help you prepare for your assessments. You can search for Learning Partners in our Where to Study section, and can filter the results by multiple factors, such as location and mode of study.

You should ensure that the Learning Partner you choose offers the qualification in the way you want to study. We recommend that you explore your options before selecting a Learning Partner as it is an important personal choice.

The factors you may wish to consider include:

  • Mode of Study – Options available include face to face, distance learning, in-company training and eLearning. Has one method of learning been more effective for you in the past?
  • Course Structure – If you opt for classroom training, would you prefer day or evening classes, block release or a modular course?
  • Location – Being able to study and sit your examinations locally may be an important consideration for you. NEBOSH examinations are taken in over 130 countries.
  • On-going support – Will the support provided during your course and in the run up to your assessments match your expectations?
  • Language - This qualification is available to study in English or Arabic. Make sure your Learning Partner offers your preferred language option.

FIND A LEARNING PARTNER

Cost

Each Learning Partner sets their own fees to reflect the service offered. We recommend you contact a number of Learning Partners to establish what their fees are and what is included in the fee. Costs can vary depending on the mode of study, the level of support given, and the inclusion of examination registration fees, for example. 

Read more about our Learning Partner Programme and how to choose the right Learning Partner for you: Choosing a NEBOSH Learning Partner.


Assessment

After completing the course, you will be asked to complete a workplace health and safety review which:

  • Considers how health and safety is managed, and how it could be done better
  • Identifies health and safety issues, how they are controlled and if the risk can be reduced
  • Select the most important issue for improvement

This assessment is designed to test your ability to put into practice what you have learnt and, as it is carried out in the workplace, can add instant value to your organisation.

Once you have achieved a pass, a qualification parchment will be issued within 20 working days of the confirmation of the successful unit.


SQA Accreditation

The NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work Award has been accredited and credit rated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Accreditation. It sits in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) at SCQF Level 5 with 2 credit points.

SCQF Level 5 is comparable to RQF/CQFW Level 2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

See the Qualifications Can Cross Boundaries chart issued by the UK regulators.

Where appropriate, the SQA Accreditation logo will appear on certificates awarded for this qualification. The SCQF logo, credit and level information will appear on the unit result notification. Please visit the SCQF website for further information on credit and levels.


Further Study

If this is your first NEBOSH Award-level qualification, you may be interested in taking other NEBOSH qualifications at this level, such as Working with Wellbeing. Alternatively, you may wish to progress on to a Certificate-level qualification, such as the NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.

The Qualification Progression leaflet in the resources section below will help you consider your options. 


Resources

This section provides guidance and useful information in support of this qualification.

If you would like any further information please get in touch through our Contact Us page, our Customer Enquiry Team will be happy to help.

Syllabus Guide

The recommended course book for this qualification is also available in English and Arabic. To download an extract of the Health and Safety at Work Award course book in either language, complete our online form; Health and Safety at Work Award download.

NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work Course Book

HSA course book thumbnail

Health and Safety at Work follows the syllabus for NEBOSH’s Award in Health and Safety at Work, and provides the knowledge you need to help you gain the qualification.

The course boo outlines why it is important to manage health and safety in the workplace, highlights common workplace hazards and controls and explains why incidents happen and how they can be investigated.

Order online

Learners studying this qualification may receive a copy from their Learning Partner.

Assessment guidance

This qualification can be completed in English or Arabic. Assessment guidance is available for each language.

English resources:

Arabic resources:

Policies, terms and fees

Back to top