Aug - Oct 2014

Examiners ReportNEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Healthand Safety (IGC1)

Examiners’ Report UNIT IGC1: MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

AUGUST – OCTOBER 2014

For: NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety NEBOSH International Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management NEBOSH International Certificate in Construction Health and Safety CONTENTS Introduction 2 General comments 3 Candidate performance 4 Learning outcomes 4 Examination technique 6 Command words 8 Conclusion 9

2015 NEBOSH, Dominus Way, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1QW tel: 0116 263 4700 fax: 0116 282 4000 email: info@nebosh.org.uk website: www.nebosh.org.uk The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health is a registered charity, number 1010444

Introduction NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) was formed in 1979 as an independent examining board and awarding body with charitable status. We offer a comprehensive range of globally-recognised, vocationally-related qualifications designed to meet the health, safety, environmental and risk management needs of all places of work in both the private and public sectors. Courses leading to NEBOSH qualifications attract around 50,000 candidates annually and are offered by over 600 course providers, with examinations taken in over 110 countries around the world. Our qualifications are recognised by the relevant professional membership bodies including the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM). NEBOSH is an awarding body that applies best practice setting, assessment and marking and applies to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) regulatory requirements. This report provides guidance for candidates which it is hoped will be useful to candidates and tutors in preparation for future examinations. It is intended to be constructive and informative and to promote better understanding of the syllabus content and the application of assessment criteria. © NEBOSH 2015 Any enquiries about this report publication should be addressed to: NEBOSH Dominus Way Meridian Business Park Leicester LE19 1QW tel: 0116 263 4700 fax: 0116 282 4000 email: info@nebosh.org.uk

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General comments Many candidates are well prepared for this unit assessment and provide comprehensive and relevant answers in response to the demands of the question paper. This includes the ability to demonstrate understanding of knowledge by applying it to workplace situations. There are other candidates, however, who appear to be unprepared for the unit assessment and who show both a lack of knowledge of the syllabus content and a lack of understanding of how key concepts should be applied to workplace situations. This report has been prepared to provide feedback on standard date and on-demand IGC1 examinations sat between August and October 2014. Feedback is presented in these key areas; examination technique, command words and learning outcomes and is designed to assist candidates and course providers to prepare for future assessments in this unit. Candidates and course providers will also benefit from use of the ‘Guide to the NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety’ which is available via the NEBOSH website. In particular, the guide sets out in detail the syllabus content for IGC1 and tutor reference documents for each Element. Additional guidance on command words is provided in ‘Guidance on command words used in learning outcomes and question papers’ which is also available via the NEBOSH website. Candidates and course providers should also make reference to the IGC1 ‘Example question paper and Examiners’ feedback on expected answers’ which provides example questions and details Examiners’ expectations and typical areas of underperformance.

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Candidate performance This report covers all examinations, both standard and on-demand examination sittings during August to October 2014. Learning outcomes Candidates performed well in these areas of the syllabus: 1.2 Explain the moral, social and economic reasons for maintaining and promoting good

standards of health and safety in the workplace This learning outcome requires candidates to understand the size of the health and safety ‘problem’ and related consequences, what society (national/state governments, citizens, workers/trade unions, and other stakeholders) expects of organisations carrying out work, the need to provide a safe place of work and safe working arrangements, the business case for good health and safety and related financial consequences if performance is poor. Questions with this learning outcome were, generally, well answered, with candidates showing good understanding and able to provide strong answers. Where there were areas of weakness they related to the breadth and depth of answers. These may be weaknesses of examination technique rather than of learning, for example, where candidates provided some of the points required in an answer but not sufficient or where the depth of response indicated by a command word was not followed. 1.3 Explain the role of national governments and international bodies in formulating a

framework for the regulation of health and safety Candidates need to understand the responsibilities of employers and workers, the role of enforcement agencies and consequences of non-compliance, international standards and conventions (ISO/ILO) and sources of information on national standards. Some questions with this learning outcome were well answered with questions relating to employers’ and/or workers’ responsibilities gaining good marks. This confidence by candidates may be the result of the combination of their study and practical experiences in their own workplace. Questions that required candidates to have learned what may not feature in their practical experience, for example questions about the role of enforcement agencies, tended to produce lower marks. It is important that course providers cover all aspects of leaning outcomes within the syllabus. The following learning outcomes have been identified as being the most challenging area of the syllabus for candidates in this period: 3.1 Outline the health and safety roles and responsibilities of employers, managers,

supervisors, workers and other relevant parties There is a detailed summary of the content of this learning outcome in the ‘Guide to the NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety’ and given that questions that related to this learning outcome showed a number of candidates struggling to gain good marks it would be worth candidates and course providers checking the content of 3.1 in the Guide. Some candidates were not clear about the different roles and responsibilities within an organisation (directors, managers, workers).

Unit IGC1 Management of international health and safety

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Where questions relating to the control of contractors are asked they can result in candidates only providing an answer related to ‘selection’. This could be an error of understanding of what the question required or may be the result of rote-learning or question spotting. This may be a part of the syllabus where candidates may be tempted to over rely on their own practical experience (for example what they know of middle managers’ roles) but as indicated above, this learning outcome requires a comprehensive knowledge of matters that may not be familiar through work (for example the supply chain) and candidates need to study these aspects. There is likely to be some connections between poor performance due to lack of knowledge and that due to poor examination technique/attention to command words. The recommendations above apply here, in particular the value of candidates practising questions and taking feedback. 5.1 Outline the principles, purpose and role of active and reactive monitoring Candidates need to demonstrate their understanding of active monitoring procedures, the role of different types of active monitoring, inspections, effective report writing and reactive monitoring measures. Some candidates were not able to answer questions well where this learning outcome featured. There were weaknesses in the understanding of what ‘active’ and ‘reactive’ monitoring are and/or an inability to answer questions in sufficient depth to gain good marks. Even where candidates displayed some knowledge, they could not provide sufficient points to gain good marks. The content of learning outcome 5.1 is part of the syllabus and questions on its content will feature. The content of 5.1 is also relevant to those candidates looking to use the qualification in a practical manner so confidence related to health and safety monitoring is important. As with learning outcome 3.1 above, there was some overlap of poor performance due to poor examination technique and lack of attention to the command word. 5.3 Explain the purpose of, and procedures for, investigating incidents (accidents, cases of

work-related ill-health and other occurrences) Candidates need to demonstrate understanding in some breadth and depth about investigating incidents including why incidents are investigated, the range of incidents (ie not just personal injury accidents), how investigations are done, causes (immediate and root) and remedial actions. Where candidates fail to gain good marks it is usually because of an assumption that ‘incident’ equals ‘personal injury accident’ so not thinking about the potential for incidents like ‘near misses’ needing to be considered; not providing sufficient points within an answer; a lack of confidence in understanding what are ‘immediate’ and what are ‘root’ causes. Candidates and course providers need to consider the content of learning outcome 5.3 in the Guide. As with learning outcomes 3.1 and 5.1 above there was some overlap of poor performance due to poor examination technique and lack of attention to the command word. 4.5 Explain what factors should be considered when developing and implementing a safe

system of work for general activities This learning outcome requires candidates to have comprehensive understanding of the reasons why organisations need safe systems of work and how safe systems are prepared, put into use and monitored. Candidates also need to be able to define and give examples of some types of safe systems of work (for example, lone working). Where candidates did not gain good marks the reasons included a lack of understanding of the content of this learning outcome. For example where the question needed understanding of technical, procedural and behavioural controls and failure to understand the question topic sufficiently so as to be able to provide the breadth of answer needed.

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There was an overlap between lack of understanding and poor examination technique. For example, one question that had 4.5 as its learning outcome required candidates to say ‘why’ it is important to involve workers in the development of safe systems of work (SSOW). The marks available related to ‘why’ so candidates who gave an answer relating to ‘what a SSOW is’ or ‘how a SSOW is developed’ would miss out on many or all of the marks. Examination technique The following examination techniques were identified as the main areas of improvement for candidates: Candidates misread/misinterpreted the question Weaknesses in this examination technique can have a range of causes but the result will usually be the same. Where a candidate has misread or misinterpreted a question it is likely that much of their answer will not match the required answer. Common reasons for this weakness are set out below with suggestions to candidates and course providers on how they may be overcome. Candidates need to work to a plan when sitting an examination and an important part of that plan is to read questions carefully and be sure that they understand what is needed in their answer. There will always be a temptation, given the inevitable time pressure that examinations contain, to rush into writing but a short period considering what the question needs is time well spent. It can help candidates if they can practise specimen questions in examination-like conditions to develop this skill and get the right balance between thinking and writing. Examiners sometimes see answers that do not relate to the actual question. This can be the result of ‘question spotting’ where a candidate tries to predict questions and limit their study to those topics they hope to see. Given the breadth of the NEBOSH IGC1 syllabus and the number of different questions that can be asked of it ‘question spotting’ is not going to work in practice. There is no substitute for study of the IGC1 syllabus in the required detail. This error can relate to a candidate’s assumption that a question on the paper is one that they have seen before, perhaps while practising for the examination. This can lead to all or most of the given answer missing the marks available. Careful reading of questions and thorough understanding about what is required is essential. There may be some candidates who misunderstand questions because of limitations in their ability to read English. Candidates unnecessarily wrote the question down There is no need for candidates to start their answer by writing down the question. When candidates do this they spend part of their time on a question doing something that will not gain any marks. Candidates did not respond effectively to the command word There is further information about this weakness in examination technique below. The command word requires and assists the candidate to answer a question in sufficient depth. Where a candidate does not follow the command word it is likely they will miss out on marks. This is particularly unfortunate as often the limited response, for example a point in an answer being ‘identified’ but not ‘explained’ shows to Examiners that the candidate did have knowledge of a question topic and perhaps could have gained a higher mark. Candidates need to understand the importance of command words and what they indicate in terms of depth of answers. The NEBOSH guidance on command words referred to in General comments on page 3 is essential reading. Candidates who practise specimen questions and who receive and consider feedback on their response to command words should be more confident with them in the examination setting.

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There will be some candidates who are not able to follow the required command word because their knowledge of a question topic is limited. These candidates may be able to ‘identify’ a point they know but lack a depth of knowledge to ‘explain’ a concept. Failure to follow command words appropriately may be related to a limitation in written English. Written English Candidates are not penalised for incorrect spelling, incorrect English grammar or poor handwriting but Examiners do need to be able to read, understand and mark what candidates provide. There appear to be some candidates who have such limited confidence in written English that their prospects of achieving a pass mark in IGC1 are poor. Course providers need to check that candidates do have the required confidence in written English to study and to take the examination. It is difficult to see how candidates with the very limited written English evidenced in the examination had been given the chance to practise questions in examination-like conditions.

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Command words The following command words are listed in the order identified as being the most challenging for candidates: Outline A common pitfall is that candidates give short bullet points or a list when an outline is required. This can mean that even where a candidate has knowledge of the question topic they miss out on the marks available. The NEBOSH guidance on command words is essential and candidates need to understand what is required by a question that asks them to ‘outline’. It is recommended that candidates practise questions with a full range of command words in examination-like conditions and receive feedback so that when they are faced with a question with that command word in the examination they understand what is required. This advice, that is to consider the NEBOSH guidance on command words applies to all of the command words that follow. Explain A common weakness is that candidates, again, list or bullet point their answer and do not provide sufficient content to be an explanation. The advice given in ‘outline’ above is relevant here. Failure to ‘explain’ can also be an indication of a lack of sufficient depth of knowledge of the topic of a question. The ability to provide an explanation may also require more confidence with written English than some candidates have. Describe As with ‘outline’ and ‘explain’ some candidates fail to give the depth of answer consistent with the command word that will gain them the marks and the advice given above is valid for this command word too. Examiners also provided detail of candidates who, when faced with a ‘describe’ question wrote far too much for each point. These candidates will have lost time once they had acted on the command word and provided a valid point with a suitable description. As mentioned before, practice on specimen questions with feedback will reduce the chance of this error and help candidates gain confidence in knowing the depth of answer when ‘describe’ is the command word. Give Weakness with this command word may be related to a lack of knowledge of the question topic for example, where a candidate provided a weak answer to a question asking ‘Give the meaning …’. Identify Questions with the command word ‘identify’ were usually the ones with strongest answers. Although a correct answer, compliant with the command word, can often be given briefly when asked to ‘identify’ the command word is not the same as list and marks were missed where answers were in such limited depth as to not provide sufficient content. For additional guidance, please see NEBOSH’s ‘Guidance on command words used in learning outcomes and question papers’ document, which is available on our website: www.nebosh.org.uk/students/default.asp?cref=1345&ct=2.

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Conclusion The feedback from Examiners highlighted that candidates taking the IGC1 examinations in August to October 2014 needed most improvement in the areas of the health and safety roles and responsibilities of employers, managers, supervisors, workers and other relevant parties (learning outcome 3.1), the principles, purpose and role of active and reactive monitoring (learning outcome 5.1), the purpose of, and procedures for, investigating incidents (accidents, cases of work-related ill-health and other occurrences) (learning outcome 5.3) and factors when developing and implementing a safe system of work for general activities (learning outcome 4.5). With regard to examination technique, candidates should ensure that they understand the question and what they are being asked to do in the answer, follow the requirement of the command word and do not lose time by writing down the question before beginning their answer. Practising answering questions and gaining feedback is likely to strongly benefit candidates. Course providers need to check that candidates do have sufficient confidence in written English to answer questions.

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The National ExaminationBoard in OccupationalSafety and Health

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