This awareness-level qualification introduces learners to:

• The properties of flammable substances and how they ignite
• The legal framework, including DSEAR 2002 and the CLP Regulation
• The fire and explosion risks associated with flammable substances
• The interpretation of safety data sheets and hazard labelling
• Safe storage, including quantities, segregation and dedicated stores
• The control of ignition sources and hazardous area zoning
• Ventilation, containment and spill control
• Safe handling, dispensing and decanting procedures
• Fire prevention and emergency arrangements
• The correct use of PPE and the reporting of incidents

• Gas density decides everything. Heavier-than-air gases fill pits and basements; lighter ones collect at roof level, and the wrong assumption puts detection and ventilation in the wrong place.
• Acetylene behaves like nothing else. It can decompose without air, must be kept upright, and a cylinder in a fire can continue reacting for hours afterwards.
• Oxygen is not inert because it does not burn. Slight enrichment makes ordinary materials burn fiercely, and oxygen with oil or grease can ignite spontaneously.
• Aerosols are pressurised as well as flammable. Heated cans rupture, travel and spread burning contents.
• Some materials react with water. Certain metals and compounds make a fire worse when water is applied, so extinguishing media must match the material.
• Ignition sources are more numerous than people assume. Static, friction, hot surfaces, vehicles and electrical equipment all ignite atmospheres that no flame ever reached.

• Foundation-level (Level 1) qualification for stores, workshop, production and maintenance personnel
• Minimum of 4 hours’ instructional contact time, designed for flexible short-course delivery
• Delivered entirely online through the Britsafe learning management system (LMS) no physical classroom attendance is required
• Course materials are provided digitally (soft copy) via the LMS
• Assessed via an online examination through the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS), with a minimum pass mark of 70%
• Certification issued with an anti-counterfeit hologram security seal, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy
• Covers flammable substances across gases, liquids, solids and aerosols rather than liquids alone
• Gives gas cylinders and acetylene the attention their hazard profile warrants
• Explains why oxygen is a serious hazard despite not being flammable
• Addresses ignition sources beyond the obvious flames and sparks
• Available fully online to learners in the UK and internationally

Knowledge developed:

• Combustion, classification and labelling across all physical states
• Gas density, accumulation and cylinder storage requirements
• Acetylene, oxygen and oxidising agents as distinct hazards
• Aerosols, flammable solids, water-reactive and pyrophoric materials
• Ignition sources, ventilation, segregation and emergency response

Skills developed:

• Recognising which substances are present and how each behaves
• Storing cylinders correctly, secured, upright and appropriately ventilated
• Keeping oxygen and fuel gases segregated in storage and in use
• Identifying ignition sources introduced into flammable areas
• Recognising damaged cylinders, valves and fittings and reporting them
• Evacuating and raising the alarm rather than attempting to tackle a cylinder fire

This Award is designed for anyone storing or handling flammable materials, including:

• Stores, warehouse and goods-in personnel
• Welders, fabricators and metalworkers
• Workshop and production operatives
• Maintenance and engineering technicians
• Vehicle repair and bodyshop staff
• Laboratory and technical personnel
• Paint, coatings and finishing operatives
• Construction and site operatives using gas equipment
• Catering and hospitality staff using bottled gas
• Delivery drivers handling cylinders and flammable goods
• Supervisors and team leaders responsible for storage areas
• Health and safety advisers and coordinators

No prior qualification is required this Award is intended as an accessible entry point into the subject.

There are no formal academic prerequisites for this Level 1 Award. It is open to learners aged 16 and above with a reasonable standard of spoken and written English, sufficient to engage with course materials and complete the assessment. No prior chemistry knowledge is assumed.

Course content is structured around progressive learning blocks covering combustion and the fire triangle; classification, labelling and pictograms; flammable gases and the significance of density; gas cylinder storage, security and orientation; acetylene as a special case; oxygen and oxygen enrichment; oxidising agents and segregation; oil and grease with oxygen equipment; flammable liquids at outline level; aerosols; flammable solids and powders; water-reactive and pyrophoric materials; ignition sources including static, friction and hot surfaces; ventilation; segregation and quantity limits; cylinder handling, movement and connection; flashback arrestors and non-return valves; emergency response and cylinders in fire; and selection of extinguishing media.

Assessment is conducted through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS). Learners must achieve a minimum score of 70% to pass. On successful completion, learners receive a certificate, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy. Results and certificates are typically issued promptly following successful completion.

While this Level 1 Award is a foundation qualification rather than a competence credential, it provides relevant grounding for roles including:

• Stores, Warehouse or Goods-In Operative
• Welder, Fabricator or Metalworker
• Workshop or Production Operative
• Maintenance or Engineering Technician
• Vehicle Technician or Bodyshop Operative
• Laboratory or Technical Assistant
• Supervisor responsible for flammable storage
• A stepping stone toward DSEAR, process safety and hazardous substances pathways

Metal fabrication, welding and engineering

• Chemical manufacturing and distribution
• Construction and civil engineering
• Automotive repair and manufacturing
• Paint, coatings and surface finishing
• Laboratories, pharmaceuticals and research
• Food production and catering
• Warehousing, logistics and distribution
• Agriculture and land-based industries
• Waste management and recycling
• Plant hire and equipment servicing

• Supports compliance with DSEAR 2002, COSHH and fire safety legislation
• Extends awareness beyond flammable liquids to gases, solids and aerosols
• Addresses gas cylinder storage, a frequent source of enforcement findings
• Corrects the assumption that oxygen is harmless because it does not burn
• Improves segregation practice between fuel gases, oxygen and combustibles
• Improves recognition of ignition sources introduced into flammable areas
• Reduces the risk of inappropriate extinguishing media being used
• Provides documented evidence of training for audit, inspection and insurance purposes

• A recognised, portable credential relevant across industrial and technical sectors
• Understanding of how different flammable materials actually behave
• A flexible short-course format (minimum 4 hours) that fits around shift patterns
• Knowledge that prevents severe burn and explosion injuries
• Awareness of when to evacuate rather than intervene
• A foundation for progression into DSEAR and hazardous substances study

Learners can apply this qualification directly to:

• Storing cylinders secured, upright and in ventilated locations
• Keeping acetylene upright at all times, in storage and in use
• Segregating oxygen and oxidising agents from fuel gases and combustibles
• Keeping oil, grease and contaminated gloves away from oxygen fittings
• Recognising that heavier-than-air gases collect in pits, drains and low areas
• Holding only the quantity of flammable material actually needed in work areas
• Identifying and removing ignition sources before work begins
• Checking cylinders, valves, hoses and fittings for damage before use
• Ensuring flashback arrestors are fitted where required
• Evacuating and raising the alarm where a cylinder is involved in fire
• Reporting damaged containers, leaks and unsafe storage promptly

This Award is best positioned as an awareness foundation. Learners often progress into:

• DSEAR awareness and hazardous area training
• COSHH assessment qualifications
• Gas equipment and welding safety training
• Hot work and permit to work training
• Fire marshal and fire risk assessment training
• Spill response and emergency training
• Level 2 and Level 3 occupational health and safety qualifications

• Hazardous substances and DSEAR specialisms
• Process safety and major hazard pathways
• Fire safety management routes
• Warehouse and chemical stores management development
• Professional membership routes with relevant chemical, fire and safety bodies

Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online, making it accessible to learners across the UK and internationally without the need to attend a physical training centre. The behaviour of flammable materials does not vary by jurisdiction: gas density, acetylene instability, oxygen enrichment and water-reactive chemistry are identical everywhere, and hazard classification derives from the Globally Harmonised System applied across most major economies. Statutory duties, quantity thresholds and cylinder standards are national, so learners working outside Great Britain should confirm the requirements applicable locally.

1. What does this qualification cover?
It covers flammable substances in all physical states: combustion and the fire triangle, classification and labelling, flammable gases and cylinder storage, acetylene, oxygen and oxidisers, flammable liquids at outline level, aerosols, flammable solids, water-reactive materials, ignition sources, ventilation, segregation, handling, emergency response and extinguishing media.

2. How is this different from the Management of Flammable Liquids Award?
That qualification concentrates on liquids and the behaviour of their vapour why vapour rather than liquid burns, why nearly empty containers are more dangerous than full ones, and how vapour travels to remote ignition sources. This Award covers the wider family of flammable substances, with gases and cylinders, oxygen and oxidisers, aerosols and flammable solids as its distinctive content. Sites handling both liquids and gases benefit from each.

3. Why does it matter whether a gas is heavier or lighter than air?
Because it determines where the gas goes. Liquefied petroleum gas is heavier than air and flows downwards into pits, trenches, drains, basements and vehicle inspection pits, where it can accumulate unnoticed. Natural gas and hydrogen are lighter and collect at high level under roofs and in voids. Ventilation, gas detection and evacuation routes all depend on getting this right, and an assumption in the wrong direction leaves detection in exactly the wrong place.

4. What makes acetylene different from other gases?
Several things. It is unstable and can decompose explosively without any air being present, which no other common industrial gas does. It is stored dissolved in a solvent held within a porous mass, which is why cylinders must be kept and used upright and allowed to stand before use if they have been laid down. And a cylinder involved in fire can continue reacting internally for a long period after the fire appears to be out, which is why the emergency services apply extended cordons and prolonged cooling rather than declaring the incident finished.

5. Why is oxygen dangerous if it does not burn?
Because it makes everything else burn far more readily. A modest increase in the oxygen content of the atmosphere causes ordinary materials clothing, hair, packaging to ignite easily and burn with an intensity that is genuinely difficult to imagine. Clothing that has been saturated by an oxygen leak can ignite from a small spark and burn through in seconds. Oxygen in contact with oil or grease can also ignite without any external ignition source, which is why nothing greasy goes near oxygen equipment and why oxygen is stored separately from fuel gases.

6. How should gas cylinders be stored?
Outdoors wherever possible, in a secure, well-ventilated compound, with cylinders secured upright and valve protection in place. Where storage is indoors, ventilation is needed at both high and low level because different gases accumulate at different heights. Full and empty cylinders are separated, fuel gases are segregated from oxygen and oxidisers, and stock is kept to the minimum needed.

7. Why are aerosols treated as a specific hazard?
Because they combine flammability with pressure. Heat causes a can to rupture violently, and a failed can can travel a considerable distance while burning, spreading fire beyond the original area. Large quantities of aerosols are therefore stored in dedicated cages or areas rather than on general shelving.

8. What are water-reactive materials?
Substances that react with water, in some cases generating flammable gas or heat sufficient to cause ignition. Certain metals and metal powders and some chemical compounds fall into this category, and applying water to a fire involving them can make it considerably worse. This is why extinguishing media must be selected for the material present rather than assumed, and why fire arrangements should account for what is actually stored.

9. What ignition sources should be controlled?
More than most people list. Flames, sparks and smoking materials are the obvious ones. Beyond those: static discharge from clothing, movement of liquids and unbonded equipment; hot surfaces including lighting, engines and process equipment; friction and mechanical sparks; electrical equipment not suitable for the area; vehicles; portable electronic devices in specified zones; and chemical reaction. Where a flammable atmosphere may exist, controlling ignition sources is the primary discipline.

10. What should be done if a cylinder is involved in a fire?
Raise the alarm, evacuate and keep people away including from the area behind cover, since cylinders can fail violently and project fragments. Cylinder fires are not something for site personnel to tackle. The emergency services will apply cooling and maintain a cordon, and with acetylene that cordon may remain in place far longer than the visible fire lasts.

11. Does this qualification make me competent to carry out a DSEAR assessment?
No. Assessing risks from dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres, and classifying hazardous areas into zones, are specialist activities requiring dedicated competence. This Award provides awareness so that learners work correctly within the arrangements those assessments produce.

12. Does it cover using gas welding equipment?
At awareness level only, including the purpose of flashback arrestors and non-return valves. Operating gas welding and cutting equipment requires practical training and, in many workplaces, authorisation.

13. Who is this qualification aimed at?
Stores and warehouse personnel, welders and fabricators, workshop and production operatives, maintenance staff, vehicle technicians, laboratory personnel, drivers handling cylinders, supervisors and safety personnel.

14. Are there any entry requirements?
No formal prerequisites are required. Learners should have a reasonable standard of English and be aged 16 or above.

15. How long does the course take to complete?
The qualification has a minimum instructional contact time of 4 hours, making it a compact, focused course suitable for induction-level delivery.

16. How is the qualification assessed?
Through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System, with a minimum pass mark of 70%.

17. What materials are provided with the course?
Learners receive digital (soft copy) course materials via the Britsafe learning management system. The course is delivered entirely online; there is no physical classroom attendance or physical course material.

18. What happens after I pass the exam?
Successful learners receive a certificate from Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited, featuring an anti-counterfeit hologram seal for authenticity. The certificate is available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy.

19. Is this qualification recognised internationally?
Yes. Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online to learners across the UK and internationally, though statutory duties and cylinder standards are national and should be checked locally.

20. Can this qualification lead to further study?
Yes. It provides a foundation for DSEAR awareness, COSHH qualifications, hot work and permit training, fire safety qualifications and higher-level occupational health and safety study.