Posted By Karen Heatley
I am currently working as a Health & Safety & Training Manager in Edinburgh and wish to relocate to the West Coast of Scotland in the very near future. With several years experience and all the appropriate qualifications under my belt,I am considering going self-employed. I need some advice from all you self-employed folk out there in Scotland who can point me in the right direction in order to start-up.

I will be based in Skye but happy to travel up to Kinlochbervie, Lochinver, Ullapool, Fort William, Western Isles.

In these areas there are many small businesses, building firms, shops, care homes, etc., where H&S is unheard of, or at least, not taken quite as seriously as it maybe should be. I was considering whether it would be a viable option to start offering H&S advice & small scale training options in these areas.

As I have a passion for H&S and I am a flipping good trainer, I thinkg I can make a go of it but do not know where to start.

All advice welcome.

Posted By MarkJAWatkins
I would start by trying Highland Council, Western Isles Council and the local NHS trust in the area.
You are not a million miles away from Inverness so you may pick up bits & pieces in that area.
There is a major tourism industry in the area so maybe some flyers to operators in the area to highlight the need for good H&S when dealing with members of the public.
Apart from that you have nothing but hills & coo's!
Regards, MW.

Posted By Alexander Falconer
Karen

I am currently based in the central belt approx 5 miles from Livingston, but work as Group HSE Manager in Glasgow.

During a previous spell of redundancy I seriously thought about doing the same myself. As a frequent visitor to the far north indulging one of my passions, Salmon & Trout fishing. I have partaken in discussions (and supping a few drams) with locals in many Public bars and inns at the end of a hard day's fishing.

Many locals depend on tourism as a source of income (whenever they can) and the thought of elf & safety is the last thing on their minds. They want to bring people into the area not scare them away.

This mentality, is all to common across the far north and hence why H&S jobs are far and few in these areas. To be honest, you may be better off opening a B&B.

However do not let me discourage you from trying, as a previous thread stated, contact all the relevant councils in the area, tourist information boards, local conglomerates/co-ops may also offer useful assistance.

As Mark said you are not a few million miles from Inverness, may be better basing yourself in the Black Isle area, at least you would find it easier to travel to the larger villages/towns - North to Thurso/Tongue/Helmsdale/Brora, West to Ullapool, South to Inverness, Fort William and east to the likes of Nairn, Moray, Banff, Lossiemouth, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Huntly to name a few.

This location may well give you more scope for these areas may well use H&S services in some form or another.

Whilst you do not state which areas you have experience in, you may need to look and ensure you have a diverse range of experience to cope with the likes of Fisheries, Food Processing, Medical, Retail, Tourism/Hotel/B&B, Golf Courses, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Distilleries to name a few.

All I would suggest is do the research first, assess the need for such services, and how you would provide this (and how quick) - make yourself approachable, do not distance yourself.

Although Skye is amongst the most scenic of areas, the road links to everywhere else leave a lot to be desired (so does the fishing too).

All I can say is good luck, its a big step

Alex

Posted By Karen Heatley
Many thanks for all comments and advice provided. Could S Mac contact me with the job you are takling about please as I cannot find it anywhere. Cheers

Posted By Jim Walker
Was in Ullapool at the weekend.
I can vouch for the fact that the hotel we stayed in needed some H&S advice!

I was going to offer some, but was discouraged by the wife on the pain of divorce.
She gets in a strop if I start hazard spotting.

My guess is that you might take time to establish yourself.
The normal advertise -apply- interview, job process does not operate North of Perth.
Its down to people gossiping about you.
The jungle drums rule up here.

Posted By bec_batty
Philby - lol

It's AT LEAST £3.00 down South!

Lucky I don't drink Guinness :0)

Rebecca
(Sanatio)

Posted By Joe Quinn
Karen,

I work in Kyle of Lochalsh and may have useful information. Email me at jquinn@qinetiq.com.

Posted By MarkJAWatkins
I would like to point out that when I made the "Coo's" comment I forgot to mention that I stay in the area so I can say that there is "Coo's" and nothing else. MW

Posted By MarkJAWatkins
I agree. The only thing I envy is the road system down south. Although busy they can get anywhere. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to go from Inverness to Aberdeen on the A96 - about 100 miles-ish. Nightmare.


We could do what that guy on ebay done and bottle the air and ship it to people who are less fortunate...!!!

Posted By MarkJAWatkins
The longman roundabout and industrial estate can be a nightmare if hit at the wrong time. I used to drive to Alness daily from Elgin it was murder.

Posted By Sufficient and Suitable
why not take the hassle out of starting up and buy a franchise from www.healthandsafetydept.com - at least you can focus on training and being a good consultant, rather than the myriad of paperwork and admin of starting your own business
Olivia is the main contact there
all the best!
regards
Christian

Posted By Kesp
Karen

When In Rome !

Posted By Karen MacKenzie (nee Heatley)
Dear HilaryM and everyone else with useful comments. Many thanks for the advice. I am currently meeting with the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and will be visiting the local Library on Skye on Monday.

Can I also add, it would be appreciated if only responses to my query were posted and all other "chat room" type comments were kept to other forums.

Many thanks to all, Karen