COURSE OVERVIEW

The NEBOSH Certificate in Fire Safety is a qualification for anyone with fire safety responsibilities. It can be applied in many sectors. It covers how fires and explosions start, how they are controlled, how buildings and people are protected, and how to carry out a fire risk assessment in your own workplace. It replaces NEBOSH’s older National and International Certificates in Fire Safety and Risk Management.

COURSE CONTENT

Element 1: Managing fire safety

• Moral and financial reasons for managing fire safety
• The role of governments and international bodies in regulating fire safety
• Employer and worker responsibilities, and the role of enforcement agencies

Element 2: Principles of fire and explosion

• Combustion, the fire triangle, heat transfer and the stages of fire
• Factors affecting fire growth and smoke movement, including flashover and backdraft
• Ignition of solids, liquids and gases (flash point, flammable limits and similar terms)
• Types of explosion, including vapor cloud explosions, BLEVE and dust explosions

Element 3: Fuel, oxygen and ignition sources and control measures (4 hours)

• Common ignition, fuel and oxygen sources, and arson
• Fire and explosion risks from storing and using flammable materials
• Controlling ignition, fuel and oxygen sources
• Safe systems of work, hot work permits and contractor control
• Preventing and mitigating explosions

Element 4: Fire protection of buildings

• Fire resistance, compartmentation and preventing internal and external fire spread
• Means of escape, emergency lighting and escape for vulnerable people
• Fire detection and alarm systems
• Fire classes, extinguishing media and portable fire-fighting equipment
• Fixed systems such as sprinklers, hose reels and risers
• Access for the fire service

Element 5: Safety of people in the event of fire

• Fire emergency plans
• Evacuation types and procedures
• Human behavior in fires
• Fire safety training, fire marshals and wardens

Element 6: Fire safety risk assessment

• Objectives of fire safety risk assessment
• A step-by-step approach: identify hazards, identify who is at risk, evaluate and control risk, record, plan, inform, train and review
• Assessing substances that can form flammable or explosive atmospheres

WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO

• Justify fire safety improvements using moral and financial arguments
• Advise how fires and explosions can occur and which controls minimize the risk
• Advise your employer on fire protection of premises and workers, including training obligations
• Carry out a fire risk assessment in your own workplace: prioritizing risks, inspecting the workplace, recognizing common fire hazards, evaluating risks, recommending further controls and planning actions

EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Unit FSC1: Fire safety

• Assessment type: Open book examination
• Assessment time: 5 hours, Learners will have 24 hours to access, complete and submit their paper, starting from 11am (UK time) on the examination date. 
• Provisional pass mark: 45%
• Assessment dates: After Every 3 Months.
• Marked by NEBOSH; this unit sets the qualification grade

Unit FSC2: Fire risk assessment

• Assessment type: Practical assessment (a fire risk assessment carried out in any workplace)
• Assessment time: 3 hours
• Result: Pass or Refer only
• Assessment Submission dates: Within 7 days of Exam Date
• Marked by NEBOSH

Grades (based on FSC1 only)

• 75 or above——Distinction
• 65 – 74———–Credit
• 45 – 64———–Pass
• 0 – 44————Refer

Resit and certificate

• Learners who are referred can resit, with no limit within the 5-year period.
• NEBOSH sends the qualification parchment within 20 working days of the final successful unit.