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Posted By Di Clarke
Hello,
I am currently working as a Health and Safety Officer for a construction company. I have been in this role for less than a year and came from a military background with no h & s experience at all. I am enjoying my job, but am wondering if construction is really an area I want to make a career in.
I have been looking on websites and have noticed that there are experienced h & s advisor roles advertised within law firms. Is there anyone out there currently doing this kind of role? How did you get there?
It's just something i'm thinking about at the moment was hoping that someone on here could shine some light on the subject so that I can make an informed decision.
Merry Christmas to one and all.
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Posted By Alex Nasmyth
I have been working in a large law firm (650+) for 8 years now. I started with minimal H&S experience and worked within the Facilities Department, however the firm was kind enough to pay for my H&S training and I now act solely as an H&S Advisor.
As you are coming from the construction industry you will find that moving to a lower risk environment may take a bit of getting used to. There are however still challenges, such as DSE, Manual Handling and issues relating to building maintenance amongst others.
One of the hardest challenges for me was getting used to working with the lawyers and there are some general tips that may be handy for you.
1. Always come prepared with a well researched view or proposal, time is money and they do not like time wasters.
2. Try to think like a litigator and consider the meaning of everything you write and say.
3. A report with spelling or punctuation mistakes will not pass the first hurdle, the errors will jump out to a lawyer before any of the content.
4. Do not expect things to always move quickly, attention to detail comes first.
Generally I think that law firms, certainly of the size that I work for, do make good employers. You will however find that you will not earn as much as you could in construction.
Whatever your final decision, I wish you the best of luck.
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
Di
Is your query about working for a law firm in h&s or working in h&s law?
Ray
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Posted By SteveD-M
Di
I would agree with all of the points Alex makes. Attention to detail is everything!!
I wanted to move into law a few years ago, I worked with a small law firm part time to allow me to qualify. I incidentally provide them with H&S advice as they were part funding my courses.
If you wish to be a H&S advisor in a law firm then don't expect a huge salary, if you are looking to move into law then use your higher salary and time to gain the required qualifications before you make the jump.
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Posted By WilliamTell
Hi Di,
From what I can see i've done the exact opposite to you...I now work in construction having worked for a law firm for 8 years....and I must say I do miss some of my previous job..that said I have no regrets...
The firm I worked for had in excess of 1000 practising solicitors and over 200 partners, it was pretty big. I worked was as a legal advisor to the litigation department.
What you will find more and more common now is law firms basically setting up their own (lets say for a better word) consultancy - that certainly was the case where I worked.
Think about it...the h&s solicitors are defending companies who have had accidents, we then basically went in to these companies and effectively helped them put things right, that said we were always actively under pressure to get our own clients...and thats the problem (some may say) with working in a law firm - its very high pressured and everything is about fee earning and chargable hours...I must agree with other posters the money is not that great and in my experience you are sort off treated like a second class citizen because your not a practising solicitor/lawyer so its difficult to work your way up....however if you bring in the business they will treat you good.
One thing i do miss about the previous job is being involved in court cases....you are at the very sharp end of the law and the experience gained is invaluable.
Incidentally I got the job with a NEBOSH Cert but I think it helped that I was also an ex secondary school teacher because they wanted to expand into health and safety training....All in all a wonderful working experience and I got to learn so much about the legal side of h&s something you don't really see unless your constantly working with soliciotrs lawyers...and if i'm honest the experience gained has helped me further my career no end.
So to summerise if you get the chance to work in a law firm grab it with both hands because it can open doors which might otherwise never be opened.
All the best.
Regards
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Posted By Di Clarke
Hi there
I'm sorry for the delay in response since my initial posting. Thank you all for such a good response.
My initial thoughts were going into a h & s role within a law firm as I hadn't really given the h & s law side of things a great deal of thought. There is certainly a lot to think about.
I'm not going to say that money isn't everything, but I'm looking for something that will give me a bit more job satisfaction than what I am currently experiencing. I just don't know if I have ended up with a construction company that isn't willing to help me progress forward or whether I have branched out into the wrong field hence my initial post. My current post is meant to be mentored and is paid as such due to my experience levels. My h & s manager is also trying to get a training centre off the ground so most of the focus is on that which has resulted in me doing site visits and not really getting much further. I have been left to my own devices and feel like I am just muddling along.
Now very confused.
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