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NEBOSH
The National Examination
Board in Occupational Safety
and Health (NEBOSH)
Dominus Way,
Meridian Business Park,

Certificate in Fire Safety

Leicester LE19 1QW
Tel: +44 (0) 116 263 4700
Fax: +44 (0) 116 282 4000
Email: [email protected]
www.nebosh.org.uk
Version: 1 Unit FSC2: Risk assessment
Specification date: April 2020
Publication date: January 2021 Guidance and information for learners and Learning Partners
Registered Charity Number: 1010444
© NEBOSH. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic,
electrostatic, mechanical, photocopied or otherwise,
without the express permission in writing from NEBOSH.
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Course Part 1 Guidance for learners

Overview
Contents Learning outcome 4

Assessment criteria 4

Introduction 5

Stages of assessment 6

Location 10

Assessment time and tutor guidance 10

Assessment forms and submitting Unit FSC2 for marking 11

Results 14

Resubmission in case of referral 14

Part 2 Guidance for Learning Partners

Setting up the assessment 16

Location 16

Guidance on assessment completion 16

Learning Partner’s staff, family or friends taking the Unit FSC2 assessment 16

Assessment submission 17
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Part 1:
Guidance for learners
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Part 1 Learning outcome

Do a fire risk assessment in their own workplace
Guidance for – prioritising risks, inspecting the workplace,
learners recognising a range of common fire hazards,
evaluating risks (taking account of current
controls), recommending further control,
planning actionsmeasures, planning actions.

Assessment criteria
Produce a fire risk assessment of a workplace
which considers a wide range of identified
hazards (drawn from elements 1-6 of the
FSC syllabus) and meets best practice
standards ‘suitable and sufficient’.

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Part 1 Introduction
This assessment requires you to apply When completing your FRA, it can be difficult to
Guidance for what you have learnt in your studies of know how much detail is enough. So, here’s some
learners the whole syllabus (elements 1-6). To do useful tips. Your FRA should not be about creating
this, you will need to complete a fire risk huge amounts of paperwork, but instead be about
assessment (FRA) of your workplace. identifying sensible and proportionate measures
to control the fire risks in your workplace. We
want your FRA to be realistic and the level of
detail to be proportionate to the level of fire risk in
The stages of the assessment are as follows: your organisation. To help you with this we have
produced an example in the assessment pack.

General Fire safety Summary and

Review
information audit action plan

The rest of this guidance tells you what you

need to do to complete the assessment. The
guidance also contains some helpful hints and tips
(including how to complete the various forms).

An assessment pack has been produced to

provide you with everything that you will need to
complete the FRA. This can be downloaded from
the NEBOSH website (www.nebosh.org.uk).

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Part 1 Stages of assessment

Guidance for
You must use the table in Section 1 (1a - 1c) of
learners General
information
Fire safety
audit
Summary and
action plan
Review
the assessment pack to complete this part.

You will need to include the following information:

Your assessment is going to be marked by an Section 1a - general information:
Examiner appointed by us. The Examiner will need
• your name and the date you completed
a clear description of your organisation to allow
the fire risk assessment;
them to judge whether your FRA is suitable and
sufficient. If you provide an unclear or incomplete Section 1b - organisational and building information:
description this could affect your marks. • the name of the responsible
person at the organisation;
• what the building is used for (eg,
an office, a warehouse etc);
• the maximum occupancy and the
hours the building is occupied;
• the number of floors in the building;
• the approximate floor area per floor of the building;
• what materials have been used to construct the
building and what the layout of the building is;
Section 1c - building occupants:
• the types of occupants in the building (eg, does
anyone sleep there or are there any young
people in the building). You will need to supply
supporting information in the additional comments
box for any categories of people present.

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Part 1 General Fire safety Summary and You must use the table in Section 2 (2a - 2c) of
Guidance for information audit action plan
Review
the assessment pack to complete this part.

learners
This part works like an audit checklist. It asks a answer it “no” and note “not applicable” or “n/a” in the
series of general questions so that you consider a additional comments. You can also cross-reference
wide range of fire safety issues for your organisation. between comments boxes eg, “see above” if the
You must answer each question in the checklist with answer comments would otherwise be repeated.
either “yes” or “no”. You can provide extra detail in
the “additional comments” for each question. We
expect the majority of the issues to be applicable to How this works is best understood by use of examples.
most workplaces. However, not all workplaces will, for So that you can get idea of the level of detail required and
example, have portable heaters or flammable solvents. how the additional comments box works, please see the
examples in Table 1 below (this has been extracted from
the full example that is included in the assessment pack).
Specific Guidance on the use of the additional
comments box for each question:
We want the FRA to be as realistic and practically
useful as possible. Because every workplace is
different, we have avoided using too many very specific,
detailed questions which would otherwise make the
checklist overly long. Instead we have provided an
additional comments box. The general rule for the
additional comments is that we expect you to provide
sensible, realistic and proportionate comments for
each question in this part. You should use this box
to add detail to clarify or note any issues or to add
information that you feel is useful and relevant whilst
carrying out your fire safety audit. However, if a realistic
answer to a question is “not applicable”, please just

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Part 1 Example
Heating, ventilation and
lighting
Yes No Additional comments

Guidance for 1 Are there fixed heating and

ventilation installations
Yes The gas boiler is located within the plant room. This is a cement
lined room that is reinforced with a steel frame door that can only
learners within the premises? be accessed by key holders. Fire detection equipment is installed
in this building. There are gas safety valves installed, these are
tested yearly with the heating system.
There is an air conditioning system that can be used in the office
and meeting rooms.
2 Are the fixed heating and Yes Heating system and ventilation system are serviced yearly as part
ventilations installations of a service plan.
regularly maintained?
3 Are there any portable No No portable heaters used in the organisation.
heaters within the premises?

4 Is there periodic inspection Yes Emergency lighting is tested once a month. There is no record of
and testing in place for the previous month’s test.
emergency lighting?

Table 1

In example 1, we follow the general rule of giving (similar to the case of example 2).
more information in the additional comments box. The
There is also an additional optional comments box
additional comments here add detail as to what these
at the very end of the audit checklist. This should
‘fixed heating and ventilation installations’ are.
be used to note down any issues or information
In example 2, we again follow the general rule as that you feel is not covered in the questions. But
it is natural to support the answer with detail on there is no need to add any information here if
how frequently the maintenance is carried out. you feel that all issues have already been covered
adequately in the earlier parts of the audit checklist.
In example 3, there are no portable heaters within the
premises, so there is no need to say very much about
them. If the answer were yes, it would be natural to add
extra information such as what types and how many.
In example 4, the general rule is again followed

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Part 1 General Fire safety Summary and

Review
You must use the table in Section 3 of the
Guidance for information audit action plan assessment pack to complete this part.

learners
Once you have completed the audit checklist, you arguments and may also include legal considerations
must pick at least 10 of the most significant/highest (especially where there is country specific legislation).
risk issues that you feel need attention. These issues
Include details on current measures in place, additional
need to be your top priorities for action and must
controls, responsible person and timescales. Please see
already have been identified during the fire safety audit
the example in table 2 (this has been extracted from the
(i.e, you must not include issues that haven’t already
full example that is included in the assessment pack).
been identified as part of the fire safety audit).
You must justify why you think these are the top priorities.
Your justification must include financial and moral

Significant Current fire

Justification for Additional actions/ Responsible Completion
Issue prevention and
selection controls required person date(s)
Identified precaution measures
Visitors - no All visitors should be Visitors currently sign A formal induction process Facilities 1 month
site / building given the same fire into the building and must be put in place that Manager
safety information as workers provide the name of informs visitors of all
induction to enable an efficient the person they are safety/fire arrangements.
building evacuation visiting. All visitors are Each visitor to sign to
if required. Providing accompanied around the confirm they have received
fire information to building by the person this induction and that they
all visitors will not they are visiting. It is understand all emergency
only ensure a swift the responsibility of the procedures.
evacuation but it could person they are visiting
also preserve the lives to inform visitors of the
of both visitors and safety arrangements; this
workers as they will be includes the emergency
fully aware of what they procedures.
need to do in the event
of a fire.

Table 2

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Part 1 General Fire safety Summary and

Review
You must use the table in Section 4 of the
Guidance for information audit action plan assessment pack to complete this part.

learners
The final part of the assessment is to: without endangering your own health and safety
(eg, so that advice can be given on any restricted
1. Set a realistic review date for the FRA.
areas, whether PPE must be worn etc).
2. Explain why you have chosen that review date.
3. Indicate how you will follow-up on the FRA to
Assessment time and tutor guidance
check that the actions have been carried out. The time needed to complete the assessment is
not restricted. We do, however, recommend that
Location you take around three hours to complete all four
The assessment must be carried out in your own parts of the assessment. We feel that the three
workplace. This means that your FRA should be hours will allow you to show your understanding
realistic and provide added value for you and your of the assessment requirements and complete a
organisation. We want it to actually help you identify good quality FRA. Please note, however, that the
and control real fire issues in your workplace and not three hours is for guidance; you may choose to take
just be an academic exercise. But it also must help more, or less, time to complete your assessment.
you meet our assessment criteria. So, your workplace
We advise that you discuss your approach with
should be large enough to provide a sufficient
your tutor after reading this guidance. They can
range of fire issues (remember you need at least 10
give you advice on whether you are ‘heading in the
significant/highest risk issues for the action plan).
right direction’ – for example, they may comment
If you do not have access to a suitable on whether you have chosen a suitable workplace
workplace, please speak to your Learning or situation that will give enough scope to be able
Partner. Your Learning Partner will help you to tackle this assessment properly. Do not submit
to make arrangements for the assessment to drafts of your work to your tutor as they are not
be carried out at other suitable premises. allowed to pre-mark or comment on specific details.

Before carrying out the assessment, you must

speak to the management at the premises to
ensure that you can carry out the inspection

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Part 1
Assessment forms and submitting indicate that it is being continued (eg, just write
Guidance for Unit FSC2 for marking “continued”) and then use a continuation sheet. You
learners Your assessment can either be handwritten or
don’t need to use specific wording - you just need
to make it clear what is being continued. Here’s
completed electronically. The assessment pack contains how we suggest you do this for sections 1 and 2:
two sets of forms; one for a handwritten assessment
and the other for an electronic assessment. Continuation sheet for Section 1:

We would recommend that you submit electronically Simply print off an extra blank copy of
but understand that there will be occasions the same “Section 1” table and indicate
when this is not possible. The headings in which line you are continuing.
both sets of forms are the same, so feel free
Continuation sheet for Section 2:
to choose the format that is best for you.
We have included a blank continuation table at the
Electronic forms
end of section 2. Print off as many of these as you
When you start your assessment you must double- need. When you use the table enter the topic you
click the page footer and insert your learner number are referring to in the ‘header row’ of the first column
and name on the first sheet. The tables in the with ‘continuation’ in brackets after the topic. In the
template will automatically expand as you type into left-hand column add the question you are referring
them. The page numbering will change automatically to and then record your additional comments in the
as you increase the number of pages that you last column.
Heating See example below in red text:
and Lighting
Yes No Additional comments
use. Please ensure that you use a font and font (continuation)
Are there fixed heating There are gas safety valves
size that is easy to read eg, Arial size 10 to 12.
installations within the installed, these are tested
premises? yearly with the heating
Handwritten forms system.

You must ensure that your learner name and number Continuation sheet for Section 2

are written on the top of every form. Additionally, you

Please feel free to print off as many of the blank forms
must ensure that you include the page numbers at the
as required. Instructions for completion are given
top of every sheet where indicated eg, page 2 of 8.
at the top of Section. However, to show how this
For handwritten submissions, we recognise that could look please see the following example (we’ve
sometimes the additional comments box might not used colour coding (blue and red) to distinguish
have enough room for everything that you need between the first part and the continued part).
to add. So, if you are running out of room, simply

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Part 1
Issue Number 1

Guidance for
Significant issue identified Training and drills – there is no fire/safety refresher training provided to workers

learners Justification for selection All workers should receive basic fire safety training and attend refresher sessions at pre-determined intervals. Refresher
training is especially important when changes have been made to the emergency plan, when working practices or workers
responsibilities change and also to take account of any changes to circumstances of workers or any other relevant persons
that may put them at higher risk. Refresher training ensures that all workers are reminded what they must do to
safeguard themselves and others in the event of a fire. Records of refresher training must be kept therefore providing
evidence that adequate fire training has been given. Continued …
Current fire prevention and Fire and health and safety training is provided to every worker when they join the organisation.
precaution measures

Additional actions/controls 1. Decide on content for training.

required 2. Yearly refresher training to be rolled out to all workers. Each time refresher training is completed by workers the
date is to be recorded on their training records.

Responsible person 1. Facilities Manager and HR Team

2. Facilities Manager

Completion date(s) 1. 1 month

2. 3 months

Issue Number 1 … continued

Significant issue identified

Justification for selection Continued …

It is a legal requirement to provide workers with information relating to fire safety The Regulatory Reform (Fire
Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO 2005) is clear that workers are provided with adequate safety training when they are
first employed and the training should be repeated periodically.
Current fire prevention and
precaution measures

Additional actions/controls
required

Responsible person

Completion date(s)

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Part 1 Both sets of forms have been designed to take you

through all of the assessment sections. Completing
Guidance for all sections of the forms and referring to this document
for additional guidance should help you achieve a
learners ‘Pass’ for your assessment. We also recommend that
you refer to the ‘worked example’ so that you can see
what level of detail is required for each section. The
example can be downloaded from the resources section
on the qualification page of the NEBOSH website.

Submission

Your assessment (Sections 1 - 4) must be entirely

your own work. By submitting your assessment for
marking, you are declaring that it is your own work.
Falsely claiming that your assessment is your own
work is malpractice and NEBOSH may impose severe
penalties, as set out in the NEBOSH Malpractice Policy.

Your assessment must be submitted to your Learning

Partner electronically as a PDF (portable document
format) document. If you do not know how to, or are
unable to, produce a pdf document, please ask your
Learning Partner for advice. If your submission is
handwritten, we would recommend that you retain a
copy before sending it to your Learning Partner (and if
you are sending it as a hardcopy, we recommend using
a postal service that enables you to track the delivery).

Your Learning Partner will tell you the date that

they need to receive your assessment. Once
received, your assessment will be upload to
NEBOSH for marking. If you fail to submit your
assessment to your Learning Partner by the date
requested, you will be marked as ‘absent’.

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Part 1 Results
We aim to issue results within 50 working
Guidance for days of the date of the assessment.
learners
Resubmission in case of referral
You can only achieve a ‘Pass’ or ‘Refer’ for the
assessment. If you need to resubmit you will need
to register for the assessment again and pay the
appropriate fee. You are not limited on the number
of times that you can resubmit the practical for
marking but you must speak to your Learning
Partner who will tell you the date by which your
assessment must be received by them. However,
you must remember that both units (FSC1 and
FSC2) must be passed within a five year period.

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Part 2:
Guidance for Learning Partners
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Part 2 This section gives specific information for

Learning Partners that is not included in Part 1.
carries out the assessment that they speak
to the management at the premises. This is
Guidance to ensure that the learner can carry out the

for Learning Setting up the assessment

inspection without endangering their own
health and safety (eg, so that advice can
Partners The FSC1 unit will be held quarterly and you be given on any restricted areas etc).
can choose to either connect the FSC2 to
this date or set up a separate on demand
assessment. If you chose the first option, you
Guidance on assessment completion
can start to upload assessments for marking You may give your learners guidance on
the day after the registration closing date. If whether they are ‘heading in the right direction’
you book an on-demand assessment, you – for example, you may comment on whether
must upload the assessments 10 working days they have chosen a suitable workplace or
after the assessment date at the latest. situation that will give sufficient scope to
achieve the necessary breadth and depth of
content required. You must not carry out a
Location pre-mark prior to submission to NEBOSH.
The assessment should normally be carried
out in your learner’s own workplace as the
FRA should be realistic. You should ensure
A Learning Partner’s staff, family or
that the learner has access to a workplace
friends taking the unit FSC2 assessment
that is large enough to provide a sufficient You must declare in writing to NEBOSH any
range of fire issues. If your learner does not staff member, spouse, family or other close
have access to a suitable workplace, you must personal relationship with any learner taking
help the learner to make arrangements to the FSC2 assessment. You must refer to the
instructions given in the document ‘Instructions for
carry out the practical assessment at suitable
Conducting Examinations’ for further information.
premises. If you are running the practical in
this way you should contact the Operations
team at NEBOSH for advice and approval.
You should ensure that before the learner

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Part 2 Assessment submission

Guidance You must satisfy yourself that the assessments
that your learners submit are their own work.
for Learning By submitting their assessments for marking
Partners the learner is declaring that it is entirely their
own work. Falsely claiming that it is their
own work is malpractice and NEBOSH may
impose severe penalties (see the NEBOSH
Malpractice Policy for further information).
You must tell your learners the date that you will
require their completed assessment by. You must
allow sufficient time for the upload (please see
‘Setting up the assessment’ for further information).
Assessments must be uploaded in PDF format
via the Course Provider Interface (CPI). Before
uploading the assessments, please make
sure that the pages are in order eg, run from
pages 1 to 5 and are rotated so that they can
be immediately read eg, the pages are the
right way up. You will need to click on the
‘Practical Upload’ tab; this will allow you to
either upload the assessments or, if the learner
fails to submit their completed assessment to
you on time, mark the learner as ‘absent’.

NEBOSH Certificate in Fire Safety 17