Posted By David John Harris Suze do you have any training or qualifications already in H&S? Many members have taken up H&S after becoming a Safety Rep with their unions others have been lead into it by the original job they had, for instance a chemical engineer who gradually takes an interest in safe working measures. If you do not have any formal qualifications within the field of safety and health then I suggest you get yourself onto the NEBOSH general certificate course.

Posted By Suze I have never worked in the field of H&S before so I will look into how I get on a course to get the NEBOSH general certificate. Thanks very much for your help - Suze

Posted By AMelrose Suze What's your background? If you've worked in construction before then I'd agree, the Construction certificate would probably be a good start. If however you've never worked in construction then a more mainstream H&S qualification would probably be better to start with. If you have the finances and the time, then you could consider a university course on H&S [full time, part-time or distance learning]. Are you employed at the moment? Could you help out with any H&S related issues e.g. if you work in an office, could you offer to become a risk assessor [covering display screen assessments / monthly site inspections etc] or shadow the current H&S adviser? You can then put this "experience" on your CV when looking for suitable positions. Good luck!!

Posted By NJS as you need to attain the NGC before you can get the NCC some providers run the NCC in tandem with the NGC, that might be a good place to start as it gives you both general and construction training. if your determined to follow the construction route i would recommend taking the route i'm on, ive completed bothe NGC and NCC while also taking an HNC/D in Construction and Civil Engineering this route gives a good solid base of skills needed to prove knowledge in the field. if you can manage to take both these courses on a day realease basis while getting site experience then it will put you in good stead for future H&S roles in that field. aside from H&S officer this will also provide nearly all the criteria to prove competant in the role of CDM-C. good luck

Posted By willhiem 'I really want to become a health and safety officer ' - cant fault your enthusiasm anyway!! There are so many ways to get trained / educated in health and safety, one of the most important areas is to get experience so as someone described shadowing a H & S person where you work now or helping out is a good way to start. The way you get trained / educated is really up to you, do you want to go full time / part time, both have their pros and cons, which I’m sure you'll be aware of. I'm sure looking around your local area you'll find loads of courses, maybe even come across a few distant learning ones (not locally of course because obviously there wouldn’t be much point in doing it by distant learning then would there!!) (see study forum). And if you 'really want to become a safety officer' well best of luck, it can be tedious to get a foot into to start but don’t let that put you off. Hope it works out for you.

Posted By NJS sorry that was meant to be "Teaboy"

Posted By Robert Morton Hi Suze, There are three main NEBOSH Certificates: General; Construction; and Fire Most people take either the General or the Construction certificate. You’ll notice that all three share the NGC1 unit. If you take a certificate and pass it and then if you decide to do another certificate within five years you don’t need to do the NGC1 unit again. NEBOSH National General Certificate Unit NGC1: Management of Health and Safety Unit NGC2: Controlling Workplace Hazards Unit NGC3: General health and safety practical application NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction, Safety & Health Unit NGC1: Management of health and safety Unit NCC1: Managing and controlling hazards in construction activities Unit NCC2: Construction health and safety practical application NEBOSH Certificate in Fire Safety & Risk Management Unit NGC1: Management of Health and Safety Unit FC1 Fire safety and risk management Good luck with whatever certificate you wish to take. Regards, Robert.

Posted By rjhills I would not recommend construction at the moment, as three of the largest construction/house builders have just suspended ALL house building due to the global conditions. I support the previous post recommending IOSH General Cert study to start off your career. Suggest you review your work experience and see what experience you already have which may support your wish to enter H&S.

Posted By Kate Swift Message for Christine who is in Abu Dabai. CHSS do courses on NeBosh General Certifate in Dubai. Their website is www.chss.com Hope that helps Suze - good luck, I made the transition from being a PA to a Finance Director to a Health & Safety Advisor last year. I've not looked back! Regards