NEBOSH is about to make its new Health and Safety at Work qualification accessible to another 370 million people. By the end of 2010 the NEBOSH Health and Safety at Work qualification will be available in both Arabic and Russian.
Around 224 million people worldwide speak Arabic as a first language, making it the 4th most widely spoken language in the world. Russian is the first language of 146 million people and is ranked 8th in the world. English is the first language of 332 million people and is ranked 3rd after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
“It’s NEBOSH‘s vision to preserve and improve health, safety and the environment in workplaces worldwide,” said NEBOSH Chief Executive Teresa Budworth. “Although many people speak English throughout the world, we cannot achieve this vision without making our courses and qualifications available in other languages.
“For the Health and Safety at Work qualification we’ve chosen Arabic and Russian as these languages fit well with the international markets being forged by several of our Course Providers.”
Teresa added: “We’re not stopping at Arabic and Russian of course. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by almost 86 million people, around 13% of the world’s population, so this qualification will soon be available in this language also.”
Arabic is an official language in 25 countries. These include countries in the Middle East such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and in North Africa such as Egypt, Algeria and Libya. While Russian is an official language in only a few countries – Russia and several former Soviet states – there are sizeable Russian speaking communities in many parts of Europe, Asia and other regions of the world.
