Professional Diploma in Occupational Safety & Health
The Professional Diploma in Occupational Safety & Health is designed to develop learners’ professional knowledge and understanding of occupational health and safety principles, workplace risk management, and effective health and safety management practices.
The programme focuses on the identification of workplace hazards, systematic risk assessment, implementation of appropriate control measures, prevention of work-related injuries and ill health, and the development of effective health and safety management systems. It also addresses incident investigation, occupational health risks, emergency preparedness, workplace inspections, and the promotion of a positive health and safety culture.
Drawing on internationally relevant occupational safety and health principles and established UK health and safety management practices, the programme enables learners to explore how health and safety risks can be managed across different industries and organisational environments. It introduces recognised management system principles, including ISO 45001, alongside practical approaches to legal compliance, worker consultation, performance monitoring and continual improvement.
Upon successful completion, learners should be able to identify and evaluate occupational health and safety risks, recommend proportionate preventive and protective measures, contribute to incident prevention, and support organisations in improving workplace health and safety performance.
The programme is suitable for individuals seeking to develop their knowledge of occupational safety and health, as well as those with existing workplace safety responsibilities who wish to strengthen their professional competence.
The qualification is assessed through a combination of written assignments, workplace-based case studies and knowledge assessments. Learners must successfully complete the required assessments and achieve the minimum pass mark to be awarded the diploma.
Fundamentals of Occupational Safety & Health and Legal Compliance
- Principles, objectives and scope of occupational safety and health.
- Workplace safety culture and the business case for accident prevention.
- Employer, worker, supervisor and contractor responsibilities.
- Overview of applicable national OSH legislation, regulations and regulatory authorities.
- Occupational safety policies, objectives, procedures and documentation.
- Worker consultation, participation and safety communication.
- Ethical responsibilities and prevention of work-related injuries and ill health.
- Roles of safety officers and supervisors in maintaining safe working environments.
Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment & Risk Control
- Hazard identification and risk assessment principles.
- Workplace inspections and task-based assessments.
- Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Job Hazard Analysis (JHA).
- Risk-rating matrices, risk registers and prioritisation of hazards.
- The hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative controls and PPE.
- Physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards.
- Safe systems of work, procedures and method statements.
- Dynamic risk assessment and review following workplace changes.
- Selection and monitoring of risk-control measures.
Occupational Health, Industrial Hygiene & Workplace Wellbeing
- Principles of occupational health and industrial hygiene.
- Chemical hazards, hazardous substances and safety data sheets.
- Physical hazards, including noise, vibration, temperature extremes, radiation and inadequate lighting.
- Biological hazards and workplace exposure prevention.
- Manual handling, ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders.
- Workplace exposure assessment and principles of exposure monitoring.
- Occupational health surveillance and medical monitoring where appropriate.
- Fatigue, work-related stress, psychosocial risks and worker wellbeing.
- Workplace hygiene, sanitation, welfare facilities and preventive controls.
Operational Safety & Control of High-Risk Activities
- Machinery safety, guarding and control of hazardous energy.
- Electrical safety principles and electrical hazard prevention.
- Work at height, ladders, scaffolding and fall-prevention measures.
- Confined-space hazards and entry-control principles.
- Hot work, ignition sources and fire-risk prevention.
- Lifting operations, suspended loads and material-handling risks.
- Workplace transport, pedestrian safety and vehicle movements.
- Excavation hazards, permit-to-work systems and pre-task checks.
- Contractor coordination, supervision and PPE selection, use and limitations.
Incident Investigation, Emergency Preparedness & Response
- Workplace accident, incident and near-miss reporting.
- Initial incident response, scene preservation and evidence collection.
- Incident investigation methods and root cause analysis.
- Human factors, organisational factors and unsafe conditions.
- Corrective and preventive actions, responsibilities and follow-up.
- Emergency preparedness and response planning.
- Fire prevention, evacuation procedures and emergency communication.
- Emergency roles, first-aid arrangements and coordination with responders.
- Emergency drills, lessons learned and chemical spill response where relevant.
OSH Management Systems, Auditing & Continual Improvement
- Principles and structure of an occupational safety and health management system.
- Introduction to ISO 45001 and its risk-based management approach.
- Organisational context, leadership, planning, support and operational control.
- Worker participation, competence and documented information.
- Workplace inspections and internal audit principles.
- Audit evidence, findings, nonconformities and corrective-action tracking.
- Leading and lagging OSH performance indicators.
- Safety objectives, action plans, management reporting and continual improvement.
