Posted By Hilary Charlton I found a publication last year by the HSE entitled "Benchmarking the Competent Person in Manufacturing and Engineering Sectors". This outlines what is required for this particular environment, there may be others out there if you have a look. Hilary

Posted By Adrian Plimmer Thanks for your answers so far. Cheers. Ade Plimmer

Posted By Gavin adrian Be realistic - the qualification required is the one that recruiters will pay you for. Decide at what level you wish to operate, eg adviser, manager, consultant, etc and then review the relevant adverts. On that basis you will possibly end up with the level of competency required. In this day and age, the more qualifications the better, but this is balanced with a need to gain relevant experience. Also remember that as you will have to complete them you should consider the process, eg continual assessment, exams...

Posted By Patrick Teyhan I have seen ads for competence referred to range from Two years minimum experience (of the working environment / process) with an academic Health Safety and Welfare qualification ranging from Gen Cert to FIOSH all depending on the level of Risk. As for the Trade Union Representative comment Traditionally it was the most senior representatives job to take on the position of H&S Rep, this due in part to negotiating with management (to whom H&S was almost as alien) in relation to H&S requirements which would require investment of resource. I am sure that the Consultation with Employees regulations state that any appointed must be competent but failing that it should be an organisational issue ie the employer sets the standard and improves upon it through adequate information supervision and training even for the Health and Safety Adviser Manager. This could be easily achieved as it is in my part of the Civil Service through the issue of a Supplemental policy statement. These have as much weight as an ACOP but it is a start. Hope this is of help. Regards Patrick