Posted By Ross Stirton
Employers are unwilling to take a gamble on anyone who hasn't previously worked in the industry and who understands the environment, equipment, processes, legislative regime, and ways of working.
There is normally only one HSE Advisor (unless it's a big construction job), so no on-the-job familiarisation opportunities. They expect the candidate to be able to cope with whatever occurs from Day 1, Hour 1,and you may be called on to provide guidance on anything from helicopter operations, diving operations, high-voltage generation, drilling activities, hot work in Zone 2 areas, marine vessel offloading/cargo handling, overside working, abseiling, fire team training/emergency response exercises, laboratory issues, occupational hygiene monitoring, pipeline pigging, environmental monitoring, confined space entry, radiation, high noise/vibration environments, hazardous material handling/disposal, food safety/potable water sampling, etc., etc, - and usually the biggest problems occur at 2am on a Saturday night when you are in your deepest slumber and there is no-one to support you on the beach.
I don't mean to sound negative or condescending, but you really need to get experience (in any capacity) before you'll be considered for an HSE position in the UK/Norway(especially for an offshore role). If it's in a hostile environment (Nigeria/Angola, etc.), you may get a better opportunity to step up into an HSE role....
Regards, S R Stirton