Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

*Terminology used in NEBOSH exams 
(Taken from the guide to the NEBOSH 
National General Certifi cate October 2003 
Appendix 3)
Action verb 
Meaning
defi ne 
provide a generally 
recognized or accepted 
defi nition
describe 
give a word picture
explain 
give a clear account of, or 
reasons 
for
give 
provide without explanation 
(used normally with the 
instruction to ‘give an 
example [or examples] of. . .)
identify 
select and name
list 
provide list without 
explanation
outline 
give the most important 
features of (less depth than 
either ‘explain’ or 
‘describe’ but more depth 
than 
‘list’)
sketch 
provide a simple line 
drawing using labels to 
identify 
specifi c features
state 
a less demanding form of 
‘defi ne’, or where there is 
no generally recognized 
defi nition
19.10.3 After the exam
If there are several exams to be taken, it is important 
to keep confi dence levels high. It is not a good idea to 
get into discussion about other peoples’ experiences of 
the exam. After one exam, focus on the next. If some-
thing went wrong during the exam (for example, illness 
or severe family problems), the tutor and the examining 
board should be alerted immediately.

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
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did not read the question with suffi cient care … and 
provided a list rather than an outline’.
Being clear about terminology is essential. In a 
question with a possible 10 marks, many candidates 
lost out because they were not clear about the terms 
‘immediate causes’ and ‘root causes’ in the question. 
In another question, candidates asked to ‘outline the 
main hazards’ instead discussed precautions and control 
methods. The question carried eight marks. Another 
question asked for an explanation of the purpose and 
benefi 
ts of collecting ‘near-miss’ incident data but 
several people confused the meanings of ‘purpose’ and 
‘benefi ts’ in their answer.
In a question on the effects to health of exposure to 
ionising radiation, the report describes ‘a tendency by 
some candidates to write down every possible health 
effect they could think of in the hope that some might be 
caused by radiation’.