Are you a business owner who worries about how an incident could be handled in the workplace? Or maybe you have an interest in making sure that incidents are properly dealt with and learned upon. Maybe an incident has already happened, and you are worried about ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. When an incident occurs in the workplace it is vital that it is properly investigated, processed and, importantly, not allowed to happen again.

NEBOSH along with the HSE have created a qualification to enable you to properly and thoroughly investigate an incident either on your own or as part of a team. It will help you to understand legal challenges made as a result of an incident and also give you the knowledge to put plans in place to ensure that similar incidents don’t happen again – probably the most important aspect of incidents happening.

About the Introduction to Incident Investigations Course

The new NEBOSH course has been aimed at helping people to properly investigate an incident and then find and take the necessary measures to ensure that people, businesses and property are kept safe.

If you think that you might be interested in taking the Introduction to Incident Investigation, NEBOSH course here is everything that you need to know about it.

• Who is the course aimed at?

The course is aimed at any managers or supervisors, people who feel strongly about health and safety, union representatives or people who are hoping to work in health and safety as a career.

• How long does the course take to do?

The Introduction to Incident Investigation course will usually last for one whole day as a classroom course. The assessment results usually take about 24 days to come through, and a qualification parchment should be with you within 40 days of the confirmation of passing the assessment.

• Why would an individual want to take the course?

Some of the reasons why an individual would benefit from the course include:

• Teaches you how to individually investigate incidents
• Shows you how to gather evidence and interview witnesses
• Helps you to play an important part of a team of investigators in bigger incidents
• Shows you how to produce an effective and implementable action plan
• Helps you to create and encourage a culture of safety

• Why would the course be beneficial to employers?

• Helps to learn lessons from previous incidents, reducing the risk of repeating an incident over again
• Gives you confidence in the incident investigation process
• Allows you to build in best practice within the company
• Helps to create a culture of safety

What does the course entail?

The Introduction to Incident Investigation course will focus on four main aspects:

1. Moral, financial and legal arguments for investigations
2. The factors which contribute to an incident – both organisational and human
3. How to investigate incidents
4. How to conduct positive and successful interviews.

After this course, you will be armed with a set of tools that means that you will be able to properly investigate an incident, find out exactly what happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

The assessment of the course is a practical assessment where each person is given a pack of evidence as well as a video of statements. The evidence will be reviewed, and the interview evaluated, and an action plan produced to help to avoid a similar incident from happening again.

Although there are no particular entry requirements for the Introduction to Incident Investigation course, NEBOSH recommends that those who take the course have a basic knowledge or background in health and safety. They also recommend that those wanting to take the course have a decent level of English – preferably gaining a score of 6.0 or higher with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

And Beyond…

This NEBOSH qualification is a great place to start if you are just setting out on your health and safety journey, but it is also a useful qualification to add to your portfolio of health and safety abilities.

Once that they have completed this course and passed the assessment, many people go on to fulfill other NEBOSH courses or the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health. It can help you to make credible investigations with effective outcomes, both giving you confidence in your findings and playing a critical role in the future health and safety of a business.