Executive influence
Advise directors, influence organisational policy and communicate complex risk to senior stakeholders.
A strategic, portfolio-based ProQual Level 7 Diploma for senior health and safety managers, consultants and directors.

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Run by Nigel Lewis




Awarding Body
Skill Level
Diploma
Course Type
This Level 7 Diploma is specifically designed for experienced senior health and safety managers, group health and safety directors, and senior consultants. Focused on high-level policy change and tactical implementation, it is designed for professionals working at senior or strategic level. It can support progression toward advanced professional recognition, subject to the requirements of the relevant membership body. There are no examinations, making it a flexible learning pathway. You are assessed based on your competence, skills, knowledge, and understanding, and will provide evidence showing how and why you perform your work.

Accredited Certification
IOSH-approved CertIOSH pathway.

Flexible Study
Start anytime. Learn at your own pace.

15 Months Access
Complete your work when it suits you.

For Senior Professionals
CertIOSH approved Pathway.

Vocational Course
Work Based Learning

Career Progression
Industry Standard
Our fully supported, assignment-based approach, helps you build a portfolio of work across 5 units.
5 Mandatory Units – Level 7

Ideal for professionals tasked with overseeing company-wide safety protocols and policies. This course will equip you with the knowledge and skills to implement effective health and safety strategies at a senior level.
Perfect for those aspiring to elevate their career to a strategic management role, focusing on high-impact health and safety leadership. Gain insights and tools necessary to drive organisational change and enhance safety culture at the highest levels.
Secure a recognised qualification and formalise your expertise to progress in senior health and safety roles.
Learn from Industry Experts
Our assessors are experienced health and safety leaders who bring current industry knowledge and practical insights. They don’t just assess—they mentor and guide you.
Real-World, Evidence-Based Learning
Complete practical assignments and build a professional portfolio based on your existing workplace experience. Apply what you learn immediately to improve business performance.
Tailored One-to-One Support
Receive dedicated support from enrolment to completion. Our assessors work with you to ensure you understand each module and meet your goals.
CertIOSH Pathway
Level 7 can support CertIOSH progression. CMIOSH is achieved through IOSH's own approved assessment route.
This course is specifically designed for individuals in senior health and safety roles, such as Senior Health & Safety Managers, Group Health & Safety Directors, and Senior Consultants. It is aimed at professionals with a background in health and safety, looking to advance their careers to strategic management levels. The course is suitable for those who have achieved or are working towards a Level 6 NVQ and are aiming to progress to Level 7. It can support CertIOSH progression, while CMIOSH is achieved through IOSH's own approved assessment route. Prior experience in high-level policy change and tactical implementation within health and safety is expected.
SHEC Learning® delivers the ProQual Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Health & Safety Leadership and Management for experienced professionals with strategic responsibilities. Study remotely with assessor guidance, knowledge workbooks and a portfolio of genuine workplace evidence across five mandatory units. We review your role, experience and evidence access before enrolment.
ProQual Level 7 Diploma · RQF Level 7 · Strategic leadership and management
This Diploma is designed for experienced professionals whose responsibilities extend beyond day-to-day operational safety management. Typical learners include heads of health and safety, group managers, directors, senior HSEQ professionals, consultants and strategic risk leaders.
Advise directors, influence organisational policy and communicate complex risk to senior stakeholders.
Develop organisation-wide arrangements, contribute to governance and manage significant business risks.
Lead cultural change and connect safety, sustainability and organisational performance.
Evaluate data, innovation and emerging technology to inform strategic decisions.
Total Qualification Time: 500 hours. Guided Learning Hours: 260. Assessment is through an internally assessed portfolio, graded pass or fail. The qualification is for learners aged 19 and over.
ProQual specifies no formal entry qualification requirement. That does not make this a beginner programme: substantial experience, knowledge and a credible strategic context are essential to a suitability decision.
Understand hazards, select suitable controls, manage systems and evaluate health and safety performance.
Ask how risks affect business objectives, who owns them, what the board needs to understand, and how leadership should respond to financial, cultural, reputational and operational implications.
Strategic leadership considers organisational resilience, global influences, risk appetite and long-term performance alongside effective operational controls.
Evaluate advanced occupational health and safety systems, strategic risk, recognised management standards, risk quantification and communication. Consider how the organisation manages risk beyond individual assessments.
Explore the relationship between safety culture, sustainability, global influences, psychological health and organisational performance. Connect safety with wider behaviour and business priorities.
Evaluate digital technology, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, incident investigation and occupational risks, including biohazards, ecological and ergonomic risks. Consider strategic opportunities and unintended consequences.
Develop the leadership and management capabilities needed to influence people, decisions and organisational direction beyond technical health and safety knowledge.
Connect health and safety leadership with wider business risk, governance and organisational decision-making.
Use strategic reports, organisational risk work, policies, systems, senior-management presentations, business cases, projects and strategic plans to demonstrate the required outcomes.
Complete knowledge workbooks and provide genuine strategic workplace evidence. Your assessor maps your answers and work products to the relevant outcomes and provides feedback. Evidence must be sufficient, valid and authentic; professional discussion and witness testimony are not used for competence outcomes.
No traditional end-of-course examinations are specified. Your assessor still needs to establish that every required outcome and assessment criterion has been achieved.
Remote portfolio management and assessor contact support flexible study. The knowledge, competence and professional context being assessed must be genuine.
Board reports, executive presentations, governance documentation and stakeholder communications.
Business risk registers, strategic risk assessments, system reviews and policy development.
Culture-improvement programmes, sustainability initiatives and organisational change projects.
Technology implementation projects, risk evaluations and evidence of decisions about new systems.
Dashboards, incident trend analysis, strategic plans and business cases.
Leadership development, consultancy reports and evidence showing how you improve your own strategic capability.
For experienced practitioners managing policy, risk, competence, monitoring, emergency arrangements and professional systems. Explore the Level 6 Health & Safety NVQ →
For those influencing governance, strategic risk, culture, sustainability, technology, business performance and executive decisions.
Level 6 is not formally required before Level 7. Your experience, qualifications, authority, evidence and career objectives determine which route fits. If you are new to the profession or mainly performing operational activities, compare the Level 3 routes and other qualifications.
Completing this Diploma does not automatically award Chartered membership. IOSH sets its own requirements for qualifications, experience, professional competence, ethics, CPD and assessment.
Use strategic development alongside senior responsibilities and continuing professional development. Your route depends on your existing membership grade, qualifications and experience.
Read IOSH’s Professional Development Assessment guidance →
The Diploma can support development towards head of function, director, senior consultant, corporate safety lead and strategic risk responsibilities. Employment, promotion and salary depend on wider experience, performance and opportunity.
Connect risk ownership, appetite, business continuity, organisational change, third-party risk and reputation with corporate objectives.
Consider leadership behaviour, structure, incentives, competence, workload, psychological factors and employee engagement.
Understand the connections between health, safety, environmental, social and business priorities over the long term.
Evaluate opportunities alongside human factors, psychological risks, operational dependencies, failure modes and change risks.
Discuss your organisational influence, policy responsibility, board exposure, strategic risk, leadership and long-term objectives.
Your assessor helps you interpret the criteria, map genuine evidence to the five units and use feedback to address gaps.
Identify relevant existing work and genuine areas for additional learning, analysis or strategic activity.
Manage study and assessment alongside your working responsibilities through remote support.
Agree a realistic development and assessment plan within your enrolment period.
Discuss professional progression and confirm ELCAS eligibility and current arrangements before enrolment.
Discounted full-payment price. VAT may apply.
£1,950 total. VAT may apply.
£1,950 total. VAT may apply.
£1,950 total. VAT may apply.
The shop also lists an £850 upfront option, with the balance due on completion or within 12 months under its published terms. VAT may apply. Confirm the final balance, total price and current terms before selecting this option.
Current checkout terms are authoritative. Purchase after SHEC Learning® confirms suitability; applicable fees must be paid in full before certification.
Understand the requirements and review your experience, qualifications and strategic context.
Identify relevant evidence across the five units and plan genuine learning or assessment gaps.
Complete the knowledge workbooks, submit genuine strategic workplace evidence and use assessor feedback to address gaps against the criteria.
Complete all requirements before the portfolio proceeds through quality assurance and certification.
The qualification on this page is the ProQual Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Health and Safety Leadership and Management. It is not an NVQ. If you are comparing work-based routes, review the Level 6 NVQ in Occupational Health and Safety Practice alongside this strategic Diploma and choose according to your responsibilities and evidence.
Yes. You need genuine strategic workplace evidence as well as knowledge workbooks. Your assessor reviews evidence against the five units. The 500-hour Total Qualification Time describes qualification size; the 15-month completion period is your enrolment window, not a promise that every learner finishes at the same pace. Discuss evidence gaps and a realistic plan before enrolment.
No. Completion does not automatically award either designation. Membership depends on IOSH eligibility, relevant experience, CPD and the application or professional assessment requirements for the grade. Read the CertIOSH membership guide and CMIOSH progression guide to understand the separate steps.
For an earlier stage of your career, compare the IOSH Level 3 Certificate, the Level 3 Health and Safety NVQ and the health and safety qualification pathways. The workplace evidence guide explains general evidence principles; agree the specific strategic Diploma requirements with your assessor.
Yes. SHEC Learning® offers the ProQual Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Health & Safety Leadership and Management, qualification number 603/6851/2. You study remotely with assessor guidance, complete knowledge workbooks and provide genuine strategic workplace evidence across five mandatory units. We review your experience, responsibilities and evidence access before confirming suitability.
Experienced managers, senior consultants, heads of function and professionals operating at or progressing towards strategic leadership responsibility.
No. It is at the same framework level as master’s-level qualifications, but it is a different qualification type and is not a master’s degree.
No. Its regulated title is the ProQual Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Health & Safety Leadership and Management.
Five mandatory units: risk-based safety systems; culture, sustainability and global performance; digital technologies and incident investigation; strategic management development; and business risk management processes.
Through knowledge workbooks and a portfolio of genuine strategic evidence, such as projects, reports and workplace products. Your assessor checks each required outcome and criterion. Professional discussion and witness testimony are not used for competence outcomes.
The ProQual assessment model does not specify traditional end-of-course examinations. You must demonstrate the required learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
ProQual does not specify Level 6 as a formal prerequisite. Substantial experience, suitable knowledge and an appropriate strategic context remain important for realistic Level 7 study.
Your actual responsibilities and ability to engage with strategic issues matter more than your job title. We review your experience, influence and access to evidence before confirming suitability.
Your portfolio must contain valid, sufficient and authentic evidence demonstrating your knowledge and professional competence. Agree an evidence strategy that reflects your genuine responsibilities.
SHEC Learning® supports flexible remote study, portfolio submission and assessment. Your competence and strategic professional context must still be genuine.
AI must not fabricate professional activity, meetings, decisions, reports or workplace evidence. Any permitted support must preserve the authenticity of your own work.
No. Chartered membership is awarded separately by IOSH through its own eligibility, experience, competence, CPD and assessment requirements.
It can strengthen strategic professional development. Your IOSH progression route depends on your current grade, qualifications, experience and the requirements in force when you apply.
Level 6 recognises broad professional health and safety practice. Level 7 extends into strategic leadership, organisational risk, governance, culture, sustainability, technology and business performance.
You have 15 months to complete the Diploma. Agree your development and assessment plan at induction. A free extension of up to three months is available if you are at least 40% complete; otherwise, a paid 12-month extension is available under the enrolment terms.
Full payment is £1,695; VAT may apply. The three-, six- and twelve-month plans each total £1,950; VAT may apply. Check current payment terms after suitability approval.
The programme is advertised as ELCAS approved. Confirm your eligibility, the current course listing and funding arrangements with SHEC Learning® before enrolment.
Tell SHEC Learning® about your current responsibilities, organisational influence and professional objectives. We will help you decide whether this Diploma is the right next stage.