Posted By Miss B What experience do you have in the field?

Posted By Tony Brunskill I would strongly recommend getting a job in a consultancy first. It is a massive leap of faith to go from newly qualified certificate holder to consultant. If your committed then plan it properly, Business Plan, Forecasted Turnover, Profit? If you are married say goodbye to the wife and kids for a couple of years until you are properly established with a strong client base. As you solve problems always remember theres always another one when you are working for yourself. Apart from that its great!!

Posted By Keith E Another important point is being a good saleman and having a wide range of contacts/networking contacts and opportunities etc. Ideally you would convert every contact into work - however, work on 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 positive contacts leading to work. In my view making enough contacts and ensuring enough flow of work/cash flow is the biggest obstacle to being a 'one man band' consultancy. The safety work is the easy part - the consultancy market is fairly saturated - because lots of people see it as easy money - it is if you have the sales/contacts etc.

Posted By dave burrage Would the Certificate satisfy the requirement under the Management Regs for an employer to obtain 'competent' health and safety advice? Asking this question may help a new entrant to the consultancy business target those businesses where the risk profile is lower than in others e.g. offshore vs small administative office. At the end of the day, all consultants need to know their limitations and extent of their competence.