Aug - Oct 2014

Examiners ReportNEBOSH National Certificate in Environmental Management

2015 NEBOSH, Dominus Way, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1QW

tel: 0116 263 4700 fax: 0116 282 4000 email: info@nebosh.org.uk website: www.nebosh.org.uk The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health is a registered charity, number 1010444

Examiners’ Report NEBOSH CERTIFICATE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

UNIT EC1: MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AUGUST – OCTOBER 2014

CONTENTS

Introduction 2 General comments 3 Candidate performance 4 Learning outcomes 4 Examination technique 6 Command words 7 Conclusion 8

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Introduction

NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) was formed in 1979 as an independent examining board and awarding body with charitable status. We offer a comprehensive range of globally-recognised, vocationally-related qualifications designed to meet the health, safety, environmental and risk management needs of all places of work in both the private and public sectors. Courses leading to NEBOSH qualifications attract around 50,000 candidates annually and are offered by over 600 course providers, with examinations taken in over 110 countries around the world. Our qualifications are recognised by the relevant professional membership bodies including the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM). NEBOSH is an awarding body that applies best practice setting, assessment and marking and applies to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) regulatory requirements. This report provides guidance for candidates which it is hoped will be useful to candidates and tutors in preparation for future examinations. It is intended to be constructive and informative and to promote better understanding of the syllabus content and the application of assessment criteria. © NEBOSH 2015 Any enquiries about this report publication should be addressed to: NEBOSH Dominus Way Meridian Business Park Leicester LE19 1QW tel: 0116 263 4700 fax: 0116 282 4000 email: info@nebosh.org.uk

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General comments

Many candidates are well prepared for this unit assessment and provide comprehensive and relevant answers in response to the demands of the question paper. This includes the ability to demonstrate understanding of knowledge by applying it to workplace situations. There are other candidates, however, who appear to be unprepared for the unit assessment and who show both a lack of knowledge of the syllabus content and a lack of understanding of how key concepts should be applied to workplace situations. This report has been prepared to provide feedback on standard date and on-demand EC1 examinations sat between August and October 2014. Feedback is presented in these key areas; examination technique, command words and learning outcomes and is designed to assist candidates and course providers to prepare for future assessments in this unit. Candidates and course providers will also benefit from use of the ‘Guide to the NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management’ which is available via the NEBOSH website. In particular, the guide sets out in detail the syllabus content for EC1 and tutor reference documents for each Element. Additional guidance on command words is provided in ‘Guidance on command words used in learning outcomes and question papers’ which is also available via the NEBOSH website. Candidates and course providers should also make reference to the EC1 ‘Example question paper and Examiners’ feedback on expected answers’ which provides example questions and details Examiners’ expectations and typical areas of underperformance.

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Candidate performance This report covers all examinations, both standard and on-demand examination sittings during August to October 2014.

Learning outcomes Candidates performed well in these areas of the syllabus: 1.2 Explain the ethical, legal and financial reasons for maintaining and promoting

environmental management Candidates needed to be able to demonstrate understanding of the rights and expectations of local residents, outcomes of incidents in terms of environmental and human harm and legal and economic effects on the organisation. Candidates performed well with legal and ethical questions. Candidates were able to attain marks for specifying potential prosecution or issuing of notices by the regulator and fines. Areas of weakness included an inability to outline regulator costs for dealing with an incident. The quality of candidate responses suggested good course provision with this learning outcome. 4.3 Outline control measures that are available to reduce emissions Candidates needed to understand the control hierarchy and examples of technology in this field including filtration, separation, scrubbing and adsorption. Candidates were able to attain high marks for identifying the control hierarchy for reducing emissions. Areas of weakness included a lack of consistent understanding of how technology such as electrostatic precipitators operates. The quality of course provision for the content required within the hierarchy of reducing emissions appears to be fairly comprehensive. However, the lack of understanding observed by Examiners for the associated technology suggested room for improvement in course tuition. 7.4 Outline the control measures available to enable energy efficiency Candidates were expected to understand control measures such as insulation, building design and energy efficient transport issues in order to be energy efficient. Candidates relayed the options available to minimise carbon dioxide emissions from road transport such as energy efficient vehicles and optimisation of vehicle routes. Areas of weakness included the omission from candidates of up to date technology to minimise transport such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing. Candidate responses suggested that course providers had addressed the issue of energy efficiency but more detail would enhance deeper understanding.

Unit EC1

Management and control of environmental hazards

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The following learning outcomes have been identified as being the most challenging area of the syllabus for candidates in this period:

2.2 Describe the key features and appropriate content of an effective EMS, ie ISO 14001:2004

Candidates were expected to understand issues such as initial environmental review, policy, planning and auditing.

Areas of weakness included auditing where candidates were asked to outline pre-audit preparations and mistakenly responded with lists of documentation to be studied. Candidates were expected to outline management commitment, practical arrangements and an outline of documentation required. Candidates also relayed a lack of understanding with the essential requirements of a policy where an organisation was seeking certification under ISO 14001:2004. Correct responses were often limited to a signature and management commitment when others such as appropriate to the nature, scale and impacts of organisation’s aspects and provision of a framework to set objectives and targets would have merited more marks.

Examiners reported that the responses from candidates suggested a low level of understanding with this learning outcome and the associated expanded content within. Course providers should focus on this particular learning outcome as Examiners suggested room for improvement. 3.2 Describe the types of environmental impact Candidates were expected to understand direct and indirect impacts, atmospheric, land and aquatic contamination and positive and negative effects on community and the ecosystem. Areas of weakness included confusion with the terms aspects and impacts where candidates were expected to distinguish between the aspects and impacts specified in ISO 14001:2004. Aspects of a coal-fired power station include gaseous emissions of sulphur dioxide and dust and the associated impacts of dust deposits in the local environment on neighbourhood cars or the formation of acid rain further afield. Examiners reported that course providers could use this feedback to focus on the distinction between aspects and impacts.

9.1 Explain why emergency preparedness and response is essential to protect the environment

Candidates were expected to understand a general duty not to pollute, the need for prompt action to protect people and the environment and the risk of prosecution and costs.

Candidates were able to outline the content of emergency plans but experienced difficulty in explaining the reasons for having the emergency plan. In one instance candidates were asked why an emergency plan would be advisable with an organisation operating near a stream. Correct answers would have included avoidance of consequences such as a damaged environment or harmed organisation reputation through an emergency plan.

Examiners reported that candidates displayed mixed knowledge in this area and this could be a focus for course providers.

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Examination technique The following examination techniques were identified as the main areas of improvement for candidates: Candidates did not respond effectively to the command word Examiners reported that many candidates provided insufficient detail in answers in order to satisfy the required depth of information elicited by the command word in the question. The learning outcomes in the syllabus guide dictate the depth of answer that a candidate would be expected to provide and the questions set contain command words that reflect these learning outcomes. All Examiners reported that candidates frequently responded with insufficient depth to the command word specified. For example, candidates frequently provided listed answers to an ‘outline’ or ‘explain’ command word and were not awarded all marks available for the corresponding question. In contrast, candidates occasionally provided excessive information for the command words such as ‘give’ or ‘identify’ and wasted valuable time although overall marks awarded were unaffected. If a question or part of a question specifies identification of aspects there is no need to identify impacts too. Unnecessary additional information consumes valuable time. Course providers should ensure that learning materials complement the command words in the NEBOSH guidance on command words and sufficient time is given to advising candidates on suitable examination technique during a course of study. Candidates did not allocate enough time to the question A number of candidates did not answer all of the questions as a result of running out of time or through lack of knowledge. There are about 30 minutes to answer a 20-mark question in Section 1 and 9 minutes available to answer an 8-mark question in Section 2 of a NEBOSH Certificate question paper. This time will be required for reading and understanding the question, developing an answer plan mentally or in brief note form on the answer booklet and finally committing the answer to the answer booklet. The efficient use of time is essential in order to answer the eleven questions within the 2 hours available. Candidates misread/misinterpreted the question Questions set for the NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management relate directly to learning outcomes specified within the associated syllabus guide. The syllabus guide requires that candidates are sufficiently prepared to provide the relevant depth of answer (see command words below) across a broad range of subject areas. For example, a candidate could be asked about the general subject area of impacts from organisations but may be requested to elaborate on a specific environmental impact assessment applied to a practical scenario in industry. Examiners reported that some candidates repeated the same kind of answer in response to different questions. Although these repeated answers occasionally gained marks the majority of answers did not relate to the specifics within the question and therefore marks were not gained. This approach may have been due to rehearsal of answers based on previous Examiners’ reports but could equally be attributed to a failure to read the question correctly, resulting in lengthy answers that did not answer the question. Candidates are advised to allow sufficient time to read and re-read the question in order to understand the key requirements. Underlining or highlighting key words in the question can assist in keeping focused and simple mind maps or answer plans are useful. However, candidates must be conscious of the overall examination time too.

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Command words The following command words are listed in the order identified as being the most challenging for candidates: Explain When a question specifies ‘explain’ the candidate is required to provide an understanding or make clear an idea or relationship. For example ‘explain the cradle to grave concept’ if a candidate responded with ‘takes into account inputs and outputs, considers environmental costs and uses equivalences then this constitutes an outline but not an explanation and this would be insufficient to merit full marks as this does not provide a deep enough understanding or relationship from the specified command word or the context in which the question is asked. However, if a candidate responded with ‘A life cycle analysis study taking into account an inventory of all inputs and outputs; supply, manufacturing and waste impacts would be taken into account; environmental costs or obstacles would be added in at all stages along the way with interpretation through evaluation of these identified stages and alignment with the scope of the study’ this would merit the awarding of marks. Describe The command word ‘describe’ requires that candidates provide distinctive features of the particular syllabus learning outcome subject matter nominated and not a need to provide extensive information on that subject. Candidates occasionally respond to describe by completing a full page of text without actually responding with the distinctive features associated with question topic. Candidates need to distinguish between ‘outline’ and ‘describe’ and not respond with a series of unconnected points generally related to the subject in the question. If a candidate was asked to ‘describe the operation of an electrostatic precipitator’ a response of a huge bit of kit using high voltage to remove dust is a sufficient outline but is an insufficient description as specified in the ‘describe’ command word. However if a candidate responded with ‘contaminated gases, containing dust, pass through high voltage, electrically charged plates enabling the dust particles to become charged and attach themselves to the plates which are subsequently shaken, enabling gravity to act, forcing dust to fall into hoppers and cleaned gas discharges flow downstream’ this would satisfy the command word. Give ‘Give’ is normally used in conjunction with a further requirement, such as ‘give the meaning of’ or ‘give an example in EACH case’. Candidates generally responded appropriately to this command word. Outline Examiners reported that the command word ‘outline’ challenged many candidates. Insufficient detail was provided in response to the principal features or parts of the subject matter requested when ‘outline’ was specified in the question. Exhaustive descriptions were not required for ‘outline’ but limited answers like single words or listed answers did not satisfy the command word requirements. If the use of the command word in everyday language or conversation was considered it may help the candidate understand what was required. If asked to ‘outline the impacts from power station cooling water outlets discharged to the sea an answer like oil, dead fish and temperature would be insufficient as this represents a listed answer. However, pollution through oil in the discharge water, damage to ecosystems resulting in dead fish and high sea temperatures reducing oxygen levels would be sufficient. Identify When providing a response to ‘identify’ the mental selection and naming of an answer that relates to the question should be sufficient. In most cases one or two words would be sufficient to be awarded corresponding marks. Any further detail would not be required and impacts negatively on the time limit for completing the examination. For example, if the question was ‘identify key members of the ISO 1400:2004 family’ suitable responses would include ISO 14004 guidance on ISO 14001 or ISO 14020 environmental labels in order to be awarded a mark.

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For additional guidance, please see NEBOSH’s ‘Guidance on command words used in learning outcomes and question papers’ document, which is available on our website: www.nebosh.org.uk/students/default.asp?cref=1345&ct=2.

Conclusion The feedback from Examiners highlighted that candidates taking the EC1 examinations from August to October 2014 needed most improvement in types of environmental impact (learning outcome 3.2) where distinction was required between aspects and impacts; key features and appropriate content of an effective EMS (learning outcome 2.2) where a greater understanding of environmental policy and auditing was required; and emergency planning to protect the environment (learning outcome 9.1) where the theoretical reasons for having an emergency plan needed more comprehension. With regard to examination technique, candidates should concentrate more closely on the command word within the question, planning enough time to answer the questions and focussing on reading and interpreting and understanding what the question is actually asking. Overall, candidates could gain additional marks for responding with greater understanding of the technical aspects of this qualification and application of this knowledge to environmental scenarios frequently encountered in industry.

The National ExaminationBoard in OccupationalSafety and Health

Dominus WayMeridian Business ParkLeicester LE19 1QW

telephone +44 (0)116 2634700fax +44 (0)116 2824000email info@nebosh.org.ukwww.nebosh.org.uk