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Open free NEBOSH HSE Certificate in PSM prep resources ↗Exam facts & prep options
NEBOSH PSM1 Process Safety Management Assessment
A certificate-level occupational safety qualification developed by NEBOSH in collaboration with Great Britain's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for people working in high-hazard process industries. It is assessed by a single 90-minute closed-book online multiple-choice examination (Unit PSM1) with 40 questions, taken through NEBOSH's remotely proctored Online Assessment Platform on monthly fixed dates, and studied only through NEBOSH-accredited Learning Partners worldwide.
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Questions40 multiple-choice questions (10 of which are extended scenario questions), each worth one mark with one correct and three incorrect responses; all questions compulsory
Testing time90 minutes to complete the assessment once started, within a 24-hour assessment window on the monthly assessment date
ScoringPass at 60% or higher; Refer at 59% or lower; marked by NEBOSH
Exam feeNo exam-level fee published — each NEBOSH-accredited Learning Partner sets its own fees for the course and assessment; NEBOSH advises contacting several Learning Partners to compare fees and what they include
Prep options
Study resources for NEBOSH HSE Certificate in PSM
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Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NEBOSH
- Category
- Occupational Safety
- Current version
- Qualification specification Version 1.2 (specification date October 2023; publication date April 2026)
- Where it applies
- Global
- Exam languages
- English
- Testing provider
- NEBOSH (own Online Assessment Platform), remotely proctored by Proctorio
- Format
- Online multiple-choice assessment taken on NEBOSH's Online Assessment Platform within a 24-hour window, remotely proctored; closed book
- Availability
- Monthly fixed-date sittings; the assessment is open for a 24-hour period on the assessment date, and Learning Partner registration closes 10 working days before the assessment date
- Results
- Results within 15 working days of sitting the examination; parchment issued normally within 20 working days of confirmation of the successful unit
- Remote testing
- Available
Exam structure
One unit (PSM1): a 90-minute closed-book multiple-choice examination covering the whole syllabus with at least one question per element, across four elements — Process safety management (4 recommended tuition hours), Management of process risk (9), Process safety hazard control (10), and Fire and protection emergency response (5); recommended 28 taught hours plus approximately 20 hours private study
Where rules vary
UK-owned qualification credit-rated by Qualifications Scotland at SCQF level 7, but offered and taken worldwide through NEBOSH Learning Partners; NEBOSH examinations are taken in over 130 countries.
Eligibility
No formal entry requirements; underpinning health and safety knowledge recommended; recommended English standard of IELTS 6.0 or higher; study with an accredited Learning Partner is mandatory (self-study not possible)
Retake policy
Referred learners may re-sit the unit; no limit on the number of re-sits