Occupational Health & Safety Practice Level 4

The Level 4 NVQ in Occupational Health and Safety Practice is a work-based qualification, designed for those persons who are appointed to provide such health and safety assistance in organisations with significant hazards and complex risks.

Recommended entry to qualification

No specific prior qualifications, learning or experience are required for candidates undertaking the qualification. However, the nature of the learning required for the qualification is such that candidates will need basic literacy skills. Candidates will also need to be able to organise written information clearly and coherently.

Centres will need to make an initial assessment of each candidate and decide on the most appropriate level of qualification.

Occupational Health and Safety Practice Standards - Structure of the NVQ

Level 4 N/SVQ in Occupational Health and Safety Practice is a thirteen unit qualification.
You must achieve all of the mandatory units 401 to 413. Additional units (414 to 417) can be achieved but are not necessary for the achievement of this award.


H5 Develop and maintain individual and organisational competence in health and safety matters 405

Unit no Standards	Unit Title	City & Guilds <>Unit no
Mandatory units
G3	Evaluate and develop own practice	401
3.1	Evaluate own practice	401.1
3.2	Identify self-development needs	401.2
H2	Promote a positive health and safety culture	402
H2.1	Gain commitment to a positive health and safety culture	402.1
H2.2	Develop and implement links with appropriate people and groups on health and safety matters	402.2
H3	Develop and implement the health and safety policy	403
H3.1	Define the statutory and practical health and safety requirements	403.1
H3.2	Develop the health and safety policy	403.2
H3.3	Implement the health and safety policy	403.3
H4	Develop and implement effective communication systems for health and safety information	404
H4.1	Develop and implement communication systems for health and safety information in your organisation	404.1
H4.2	Develop and implement communication systems for health and safety information within your organisation	404.2
H4.3	Develop and implement communication systems for health and safety information out of your organisation	404.3
H5	Develop and maintain individual and organisational competence in health and safety matters	405
H5.1	Conduct health and safety competence needs analysis	405.1
H5.2	Specify and ensure health and safety training needs	405.2
H6	Identify and evaluate health and safety hazards	406
H6.1	Identify and evaluate health hazards	406.1
H6.2	Identify and evaluate safety hazards	406.2
H7	Assess health and safety risks	407
H7.1	Determine health risks	407.1
H7.2	Determine safety risks	407.2
H8	Determine and implement health and safety risk control measures	408
H8.1	Determine and implement risk control measures	408.1
H8.2	Develop and implement safe systems of work	408.2
H9	Develop and implement active monitoring systems for health and safety	409
H9.1	Develop and implement inspection and monitoring systems for health and safety active performance monitoring	409.1
H9.2	Keep key stakeholders informed of health and safety active performance monitoring outcomes	409.2
H10	Develop and implement reactive monitoring systems for health and safety	410
H10.1	Develop and implement health and safety loss event reporting and recording systems	410.1
H10.2	Develop and implement health and safety loss event investigation systems and procedures	410.2
H10.3	Carry out statistical and epidemiological analyses	410.3
H10.4	Keep stakeholders informed of health and safety reactive performance monitoring outcomes	410.4
H11	Develop and implement health and safety emergency response systems and procedures	411
H11.1	Develop and implement health and safety emergency response procedures	411.1
H11.2	Develop and implement procedures for the control of a health and safety emergency	411.2
H12	Develop and implement health and safety review systems	412
H12.1	Ensure that each part of the health and safety management system is working as intended	412.1
H12.2	Ensure that the health and safety management system as a whole is working as intended	412.2
H13	Develop and implement health and safety audit systems	413
H13.1	Prepare to audit the health and safety management system	413.1
H13.2	Carry out a health and safety audit in accordance with the agreed specification	413.2
H13.3	Make recommendations based on the results of a health and safety audit	413.3

Who will be involved in my NVQ?

Assessment for your NVQ is carried out at our centre which has been approved by City & Guilds. Your centre may visit your place of work, or ask you to post or e-mail submissions to the centre.

The people involved in your assessment are as follows:

The candidate

That’s you! You are the most important person of all because without you, N/SVQs would not exist. Your responsibilities as a candidate are to:

• negotiate and agree an assessment programme with your assessor
• negotiate and develop a personal action plan with dates for review and assessment
• collect the evidence which proves your competence in your job
• organise and reference the evidence in a portfolio
• judge the evidence against the standards of competence to see whether it is adequate to present for assessment
• present the evidence for assessment; this may include:
  • attending an assessment interview
  • being available to discuss your evidence with the internal and /or external verifier if requested

The assessor

• will help you plan and organise your evidence
• is responsible for making the decision about your evidence and judging when you are competent.

The internal verifier

• is responsible for maintaining the quality of assessment within the centre by checking and validating assessment decisions made by assessors
• will have experience in your area of work and must be technically competent

The external verifier

• is appointed by City & Guilds to ensure that all assessments undertaken in your centre are fair, valid, consistent and that your centre meets the required national standard
• will make regular visits to your centre to observe assessments and examine portfolios of evidence
• makes regular reports to City & Guilds confirming what happens with assessment practice in your centre.

How will my competence be assessed?

Occupational competence can be described as the consistent demonstration of skill, knowledge and understanding, to the standard specified by the performance criteria for each unit of the NVQ. Each unit relates to competence in a different area of activity within a job.
Assessment of your competence will be based upon realistic work place situations, performing purposeful and recognisable tasks which will require a combination of skills and related knowledge. For each unit of the NVQ the evidence requirements are clearly stated and support the performance criteria.

Achieving your NVQ requires you to provide sufficient evidence which shows that you can work to the National Occupational Standards contained within the qualification.
Most assessment for your NVQ will be carried out by your assessor observing you at work and by questioning you about what you are doing. There are four basic sources of evidence and you may collect evidence from all of them.