April - June 2015

Examiners’ Report
NEBOSH
International Techni-
cal Certificate in Oil and
Gas Operational Safety
Examiners’ Report

NEBOSH INTERNATIONAL
TECHNICAL CERTIFICATE IN OIL
AND GAS OPERATIONAL SAFETY

UNIT IOG1:
MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL
OIL AND GAS OPERATIONAL SAFETY

APRIL – JUNE 2015

CONTENTS

Introduction 2

General comments 3

Candidate performance 4

Learning outcomes 4

Examination technique 6

Command words 7

Conclusion 8

 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
 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 120 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 IOG1
examinations sat between April and June 2015.

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 International
Technical Certificate in Oil and Gas Operational Safety’ which is available via the NEBOSH website. In
particular, the guide sets out in detail the syllabus content for IOG1 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 IOG1 ‘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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 Unit IOG1
Management of international oil and gas operational safety

Candidate performance
This report covers all examinations, both standard and on-demand examination sittings during April to
June 2015.

Learning outcomes
Candidates performed well in these areas of the syllabus:

1.4 Explain the purpose and content of an organisation’s documented evidence to provide a
convincing and valid argument that a system is adequately safe in the oil and gas
industries

Candidates were expected to identify documents needed to demonstrate the typical content of
documents such as safety cases and safety reports in relation to contractors and sub-contractors.
Many candidates correctly identified these documents. The overall quality of candidate responses
may reflect good teaching by course providers and successful learning techniques by candidates.

2.3 Explain the role and purpose of a permit-to-work system

Candidates were expected to relay information about specific types of permit. Many candidates
displayed understanding of precautions included within a variety of permits.

The overall quality of candidate responses may reflect good teaching by course providers and the fact
that the candidates may come from workplaces where permits are commonly encountered and
therefore they were able to rely on their own experiences.

3.1 Outline types of failure modes that may lead to loss of containment from hydrocarbons

Candidates were expected to relay understanding of a variety of failure modes. While the majority of
candidates were able to identify failure modes, more emphasis needs to be placed on tuition and
candidate understanding of factors/conditions that lead to respective failures and loss of containment.

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

1.2 Explain the hazards inherent in oil and gas arising from the extraction, storage and
processing of raw materials and products

Candidates were expected to give the meaning and relevance of terms such as flash point, flammable,
toxicity, vapour pressure and vapour density and skin irritant. Most candidates experienced difficulty
in understanding the meaning of some of these terms and especially their relevance in practice.

2.5 Explain the importance of safe plant operation and maintenance of hydrocarbon
containing equipment and processes

Candidates were expected to relay understanding of plant operations and maintenance including
identifying hazards and risks associated with maintenance in a practical context and some candidates
confused ‘hazard’ with ‘risk’. Candidates tended to provide a limited amount of control measures for
maintenance tasks and had a tendency to specify generic issues such as risk assessment, safety
briefings and good communication that did not gain marks.

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3.3 Outline the controls available to maintain safety critical equipment

Candidates were expected to communicate controls associated with open drain headers, sewers and
interceptors.

Within a nominated scenario candidates experienced difficulty in outlining how safety critical and
supplementary operational controls would prevent an incident.

It appears that this area of the syllabus is not covered well by course providers. Candidates do not
require an in depth knowledge but course providers should cover it to a greater depth than they
currently do. It is clear that most candidates had little or no knowledge of this area of the syllabus and
associated practical scenarios.

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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 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’ 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 hazards or risks there is no need to identify
control measures too. Unnecessary additional information consumes valuable time.

Course providers should ensure that learning materials complement the command words in the
syllabus guide and sufficient time is given to advising candidates on suitable examination technique
during a course of study.

Candidates misread/misinterpreted the question

Questions set for the NEBOSH International Technical Certificate in Oil and Gas Operational Safety
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 topic areas. For example, a candidate could be
asked about the general topic area of maintenance but may be requested to elaborate on the specific
application of maintenance applied to a practical scenario in the oil and gas industry.

Examiners reported that some candidates repeated the same kind of answer in the hope that it would
fit some of the 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 rote-learning but could equally be attributed to a lack of reading
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.

Candidates unnecessarily wrote the question down

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 International Technical Certificate in Oil and
Gas Operational Safety 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. The majority of Examiners reported that candidates
felt it necessary to write the question out in full, before providing the associated answer, and this
marginally limits the time available. Course providers should remind candidates that it is not
necessary to include a question with their answer.

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Command words
The following command words are listed in the order identified as being the most challenging for
candidates:

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 topic 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 risks to an operator when manually
closing a valve’ an answer such as ‘cuts, bruises, burns and strains’ would be insufficient as this
represents a listed answer. However, ‘cuts from contact with sharp edges of the hand wheel, bruises
from impact with adjacent plant items, burns from contact with adjacent uninsulated pipe work and
strains from using excessive force’ 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 types of fire
extinguisher’ suitable responses would include CO2, foam and water in order to be awarded a mark.

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 had a similar level of difficulty as with ‘identify’, but this may
have been more to do with the topics being examined than the command word.

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 process of leak testing equipment before plant
start-up’. If a candidate responded with ‘using a pressurised gas internally and a soapy water solution
on repaired joints’ 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 ‘all of the equipment that had been repaired would be pressurised with an inert gas, to
a predetermined pressure, and this would be monitored for a specified time period to determine if the
pressure had dropped significantly over the specified time period. Simultaneously, each repaired,
bolted and gasketed joint would be examined for audible escaping gas and externally sprayed with
soapy water solution and immediately monitored to see if a stream of bubbles evolves from the
sprayed joint’ this would merit the awarding of marks as the candidate responded in the context of the
question and in relation to the ‘explain’ command word.

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.

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Conclusion
The feedback from Examiners highlighted that candidates taking the IOG1 examinations in April to
June 2015 needed most improvement in the areas of controls available to maintain safety critical
equipment (learning outcome 3.3); the meaning of hazards inherent in the industry (learning outcome
1.2); and safe plant operation and maintenance of hydrocarbon equipment (learning outcome 2.5).

With regard to examination technique, candidates should concentrate on focusing more closely on the
command word within the question, reading, re-reading, interpreting and understanding what the
question is actually asking and refraining from repeating the question within their answer booklet.

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The National Examination
Board in Occupational
Safety and Health

Dominus Way
Meridian Business Park
Leicester LE19 1QW

telephone +44 (0)116 2634700

fax +44 (0)116 2824000
www.nebosh.org.uk