It’s been almost 30 years since 51-year-old Anthony West last sat an exam, and admitted he was daunted by the prospect of returning to the classroom to study the NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety at the University of Sunderland.

But his hard work and dedication to the 18-month course – provided by Integra Training and Consulting in the university’s business school – paid off and he will now attend an awards ceremony at Warwick University in July to receive the NEBOSH accolade for ‘Best Candidate’ for Unit C of the national diploma.

The diploma is recognised as the leading health and safety qualification both nationally and internationally and follows strict guidelines.

Anthony, an environmental health and safety manager for the chemical industry at three sites on Teesside, said: “I knew it was going to be hugely challenging balancing a full-time job and family life while studying for this qualification, but the hard work has all paid off.

“The last time I took an exam was in 1982, when I was studying a chemical engineering degree at Teesside Polytechnic, so was nervous about returning to education after all this time.

“But being on this course has helped me enormously in my high pressure job. I now have the background knowledge to be able to question some of the things that happen, or don’t happen at work, as well as resolving any unseen issues. Achieving this NEBOSH award is a huge honour. It’s certainly secured my options and made my skills more marketable for the future.”

He added: “I was prompted to sign up for the course after seeing a risk and safety management presentation, which suggested that qualification and regulation for people in my position would eventually become a requirement.

“I chose to study at Sunderland because of its reputation and would encourage others in a similar role to myself to do the same; the qualification gives you a good general background in health and safety.”

Derek Watson, Integra Programmes Director, said: “Anthony has worked incredibly hard and deserves this accolade.

“We have a track record of our students achieving excellent results from all our programmes and several former students have also achieved NEBOSH Best Candidate Awards.”

“Our reputation as one of the UK leading Health Safety & Environmental providers is down to our motivated students, excellent facilities and dedicated support and tutor team.”

Integra was established by the University of Sunderland in 1993 as a commercial consultancy and quickly established a reputation for quality provision of products and services. Since then, Integra has moved into health and safety training and consultancy services, delivering the accredited NEBOSH National General Certificate since 1998.

A spokesperson for NEBOSH said: “We are delighted at Anthony’s success. One of the strengths of the NEBOSH diploma is its flexibility – allowing students to fit their studies around demanding full time jobs and their family commitments.”