OTHM Occupational Health and Safety – Level 6 qualifications

• OTHM Level 6 Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety;
  Qualification Number: 603/5218/8
• OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety;
  Qualification Number: 603/5002/7

Overview

The Level 6 qualifications in Occupational Health and Safety are developed to provide learners who have or are looking to develop into a senior role in an organisation for managing health and safety policy and practice. Learners will gain the skills and knowledge to understand the legal and regulatory background to occupational health and safety policy, to be able to assess policies, as well as to recommend and implement policy changes. Learners will develop knowledge and skills relevant to putting policy into practice, utilising management systems, resources, risk and incident management, leadership, management and skills development.

Individuals successfully completing the diploma qualification will be eligible to apply for the Graduate level of membership Grad IOSH.

Entry requirements

For entry onto the OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety qualification, learners must possess:

• Relevant NQF/QCF/RQF certificate or diploma or equivalent recognised qualification that covers the following basic concepts within Occupational Health & Safety:
  • Science and Technology
  • Legal and regulatory systems
  • Workplace safety and health
  • Definitions of risk and risk management principles
  • Principles and theories of safety and health management
  • Occupational health and hygiene
  • Occupational psychology
  • Information technology, literacy and numeracy

  Qualifications that fulfil this requirement include:

  • British Safety Council Level 3 Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health
  • British Safety Council International Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health
  • NCFE IOSH Level 3 Certificate in Safety and Health for Business
  • NCRQ Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety
  • NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety
• Mature learners (over 21) with practical experience at least 2 years
• Learner must be 18 years or older at the beginning of the course

English requirements: If a learner is not from a majority English-speaking country, they must provide evidence of English language competency. For more information visit English Language Expectations page in this website.

Equivalences

OTHM qualifications at RQF Level 6 represent practical knowledge, skills, capabilities and competences that are assessed in academic terms as being equivalent level to Bachelor’s Degrees with Honours, Bachelor’s Degrees, Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Graduate Diplomas and Graduate Certificates.

Qualification structure

OTHM Level 6 Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

The Level 6 Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety consists of 4 mandatory units for a combined total of 32 credits for the completed qualification.

Mandatory units:

• Health and Safety Management Principles and Policy (8 credits)
• Health and Safety Management Practice (10 credits)
• Risk and Incident Management (8 credits)
• Promoting a Positive Health and Safety Culture (6 credits)

OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety

The Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety consists of 7 mandatory units for a combined total of 60 credits for the completed qualification.

Mandatory units:

• Health and Safety Management Principles and Policy (8 credits)
• Health and Safety Management Practice (10 credits)
• Risk and Incident Management (8 credits)
• Promoting a Positive Health and Safety Culture (6 credits)
• Maintaining a Safe Workplace Environment (12 credits)
• Health and Safety Law, Regulation and Influence (8 credits)
• Development of the Health and Safety Practitioner (8 credits)

Duration and delivery

The qualification is designed to be delivered over 4 months approximately for full-time study, but it is also flexible in its delivery in order to accommodate part-time and distance and blended learning.

The qualification is delivered face-to-face, through lectures, tutorials, seminars, distance, online by approved centres only.

Assessment and verification

All units within this qualification are internally assessed by the centre and externally verified by OTHM. The qualifications are criterion referenced, based on the achievement of all the specified learning outcomes.

To achieve a ‘pass’ for a unit, learners must provide evidence to demonstrate that they have fulfilled all the learning outcomes and meet the standards specified by all assessment criteria. Judgement that the learners have successfully fulfilled the assessment criteria is made by the Assessor.

The Assessor should provide an audit trail showing how the judgement of the learners’ overall achievement has been arrived at.

Progression

Successful completion of Level 6 Occupational Health and Safety qualifications provide learners with the knowledge, understanding and skills to be competent in a range of Occupational Health and Safety roles. Individuals who achieve the diploma qualification will be eligible to apply for Graduate level of membership Grad IOSH.

Those eligible for Graduate membership can then undertake a period of Initial Professional Development which will require students to provide evidence of their practice skills in a skills development portfolio (IPD). At the end of this period there will be a professional review interview. After successful completion of this IPD process students will then be eligible for Chartered membership of IOSH (CMIOSH).