I cant speak NEBOSHian.

[stephen1974]

This is really starting to annoy me now.
About 5 years ago I had a look at the NGC, paid for an online course, and gave up. I just couldn't do it. The way things were done I just could retain information and write answers in the way NEBOSH wanted me to. I switched to the NCRQ instead and that was fine.

Now i'm looking at doing the NFC simply because there is nothing else out there that suitable but I can't even understand the questions.

Example, Give brief details of the steps that should be completed when carrying out a fire risk assessment. (14 points).

What does this mean? Is it the 5 steps of the risk assessment? is it all the different things you are looking for in a risk assessment? is a combination of them both?

There is a bit you often see on NEBOSH saying students often fail because they dont read the question and answer the wrong thing. NO. They do read the question, they are just dont understand them because your questions are coming straight out of vague news.

How do I go about learning NEBOSHian?

[bernicarey]

Well first off, I've edited your post to ensure no NEBOSH copyright breach, as required by the Forum T&Cs.

But basically yes, the 5 steps of a FRA.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... cklist.pdf


The amount of detail required is reflected by the Command word(s) used.

https://www.nebosh.org.uk/document-libr ... ril-17.pdf

So for 14 Marks, they want a few sentences at least on each aspect.

[Extankman]

The best way i have found to learn NEBOSH speak is to download and print the syllabus. It explains what you are going to learn, what the learning outcomes are and NEBOSH can only test you on those outcomes, its not like they can throw a spanner in to try and trick you.

Also download and print a few copies of the command word guidance docs. I keep one on view at my desk all the time and look at it multiple times a day. I also keep a copy with my workbooks/studybooks and notes to cross reference any TMA's that i submit.

You can also stick "How to answer nebosh questions" or "nebosh command words guidance" in to YouTube and there are video's which explain it in very good detail, some of them are for the iDip but the gist is the same across the board.

I have found, historically that due to me confusing the amount of details required from a question i have wasted far too much time on questions that just say things such as "List" or "Give"

You are not alone in this either, speaking NEBOSH is pretty much key to attaining decent marks in your test papers

hope this helps

[bernicarey]

There is a bit you often see on NEBOSH saying students often fail because they dont read the question and answer the wrong thing. NO. They do read the question, they are just dont understand them because your questions are coming straight out of vague news.

I have to disagree with you on that, as I'm sure any Course Providers and Tutor would, irrespective of whether a NEBOSH paper or not.

People don't read the question correctly, in that they either don't recognise the Command Word or they just go off on a completely different tac in some sort of 'exam panic'...

Even on FAW Courses, with simple short answer questions, I have people totally misunderstand/misread the question.
One of the most common mistakes is to get a question about Anaphylaxis and they describe Diabetes or vice versa. Faced with a question giving the symptoms of a Diabetic Hypo, they say they would use an Epipen, when the correct answer is to give a sugary drink or sweets.

[stephen1974]

Thats not knowing the answer, it isnt not understanding the question.

[stephen1974]

The best way i have found to learn NEBOSH speak is to download and print the syllabus. It explains what you are going to learn, what the learning outcomes are and NEBOSH can only test you on those outcomes, its not like they can throw a spanner in to try and trick you.

Also download and print a few copies of the command word guidance docs. I keep one on view at my desk all the time and look at it multiple times a day. I also keep a copy with my workbooks/studybooks and notes to cross reference any TMA's that i submit.

You can also stick "How to answer nebosh questions" or "nebosh command words guidance" in to YouTube and there are video's which explain it in very good detail, some of them are for the iDip but the gist is the same across the board.

I have found, historically that due to me confusing the amount of details required from a question i have wasted far too much time on questions that just say things such as "List" or "Give"

You are not alone in this either, speaking NEBOSH is pretty much key to attaining decent marks in your test papers

hope this helps

I don't have a problem with command words. They I understand. Its the vagueness of what they are asking you to do that I cant get my head around.

Another example, Outline the actions that the enforcing officer may take against an organsisation. (2 points). Now, if you look at the course materials that gets provided for such things, tthe actions can mean different thing, it could simply mean, to act, or it could be a specific list of actions you find in course material, or it could mean something else.

As an answer I could say they can take: informal action, formal action or prosecutorial action, as per course material, or I could say they can take action in the form or alteration, enforcement or prohhibition notices. To me it could be either/or, or both. In this case I would answer with both as its a short enough answer but some other answers you could write a book on.

Unfortunetly the material that i find gives vague guidance on how to answer as well. What I could do with is past papers with proper answers to I can decode what they want.

[Extankman]

Unfortunetly the material that i find gives vague guidance on how to answer as well.

Then i'd have to refer you back to the syllabus. It tells you exactly what the learning outcomes are, the study book gives you the information to tie in with that and the command word will ask you to demonstrate how you have assimilated the knowledge for that section/question as part of the exam.

How you answer it will be reflected by a number of things such as your interpretation of the information, your understanding of the command word, your level of retention/revision and other things such as past/present experiences etc etc.

Unfortunately there isn't a book of old answers about and those that rely solely on ROTE learning tend not to fair so well under exam conditions and this is always highlighted in previous reports by examiners, which you can access via the NEBOSH website and whilst they don't give you the answer you can almost read between the lines to figure out why someone answered a question well/poorly but i've found a lot of that judgment comes from having the knowledge in the first place

[Extankman]

The image attached shows an exam Question, what part of the learning outcome was tested and a brief description. Again this is just an example and the full report may go on to elaborate a little further. The examiners reports are handy tools, when used in conjunction with the learning material.
So when you say the questions are too vague, they are in fact pointing you directly to learning outcomes and so long as you use the information from those sections it can't be wrong information, and it doesn't matter if you write a bit too much as you can't have marks removed for putting too much info in an answer.

[Alexis]

As with any question from any exam, there are "operative" words as well as the dreaded NEBOSH command words and the amount of marks applied will be shown in brackets, which I found to be helpful to try and break it down into less stressful thoughts.

With regards to the inspection one Stephen mentions, there are only 2 marks, so if you look at the HSE site, the 2 marks would be for the types of notices as the questions asks, simply..... what enforcement action the inspectors can give to an organisation.......Improvement and Prohibition notices. That is what your answers relate to, just those 2 areas IMHO.

I think we all give ourselves un-necessary headaches with NEBOSH questions. This included myself when I did the NGC.

Being NEBOSHED is all part of the journey sadly.

[bernicarey]

Thats not knowing the answer, it isnt not understanding the question.

No, that's rushing and not reading it properly. 'Read what is actually there, not what you think is there'.
Because it's a FA course, I'm allowed to question them about the ones they get wrong and see if they really know it. In the majority of cases, on a 1-to-1 basis, when questioned they will give the right answer. To which my response is, 'so why didn't you write that 10 minutes ago'.

[stephen1974]

As with any question from any exam, there are "operative" words as well as the dreaded NEBOSH command words and the amount of marks applied will be shown in brackets, which I found to be helpful to try and break it down into less stressful thoughts.

With regards to the inspection one Stephen mentions, there are only 2 marks, so if you look at the HSE site, the 2 marks would be for the types of notices as the questions asks, simply..... what enforcement action the inspectors can give to an organisation.......Improvement and Prohibition notices. That is what your answers relate to, just those 2 areas IMHO.

I think we all give ourselves un-necessary headaches with NEBOSH questions. This included myself when I did the NGC.

Being NEBOSHED is all part of the journey sadly.

Its for Nebosh fire though and no where in the fire course work does it ever talk about improvement notices. Its alterations, enforcement and prohibition.

Also, the question isnt asking for notices, its asking for actions and in the course work what are specifically named as actions are informal action, formal action and prosecutorial action.

I personally would have answered with the type of notices, but this is why I have a problem with NEBOSH, the way things are worded can mean more than one thing.

[bernicarey]

I strongly suspect that the example question you have cited is incomplete. In my experience, such questions are usually preceded with an element of explanation.

For example, 'An enforcement officer has visited a moderate risk premises and found that the Fire Risk Assessment is incomplete'. That opener would then be followed by several questions.

The answer then to the question you posed would be along the lines of:
Depending on the severity of the omissions, they could take a) informal action such as a letter requiring some additional work, or b) formal action, either an Enforcement or Prohibition Notice. Neither of the latter options would prevent prosecution in the severest of cases.