Posted By Geoff Burt
An interesting theme has developed on another thread about why people go into H&S.

In the 'olden' days a number of people came into it because they were getting towards the end of their working lives and it was an easy option.

Fine, but why now?

Is it still an easy profession to excel in?

Is it still seen as the easy option. A person can take a two week course and call themselves a H&S Officer, so surely it must be!

We know the pay is generally low for employed H&S people - why is it so popular then?

At the risk of taking the moral high ground is it because we want to help 'the worker' - how patronising that sounds!

Note: I have not attempted to present any views here but I would be interested in why, if it is such a bad deal, people still want to do it.

Geoff

Posted By Tyler
Confuscius also say:

"Man who wants pretty nurse, must be patient."

No seriously, I do this job because it is the most interesting t6hing I have ever done, I used to work in the environmental feild and moved into health and safety as a new challenge, and boy is it a challenge!

Also, there is a real sense of satisfaction when a small snippet of advice can have such an effect on an individual. The effect can almost be seen in real time.

Tyler

Posted By Eric Burt
I went into health and safety in 1983 when I left the Merchant Navy. I was a Deck Officer with Shell Tankers and when I came ashore I found that the ability to navigate using a sextant wasn't going to open an awful lot of doors for me, however, my knowledge of fire, hazardous substances, confined spaces (the tanks not the cabins), working at heights, emergency procedures etc etc was an excellent grounding for a career in health and safety.

Have never looked back - I think it's a brilliant career. Many H&S Practitioners are more or less their own bosses, they organise their own work schedules, each day is different and it's an ever-changing area.

Granted, there are some upsetting aspects such as interviewing accident victims and witnesses, but I find that this often spurs me on to strive to put things right.

I wonder how many of us would recommend to our children that they should take up a career in health and safety. I would! A good friend of mine works in a car factory and although he earns more than me, I wouldn't have his job for a gold clock.

I could go on, but you'll just have to buy my book when it's published. It's called Sun, Sea, Sand and ....Safety! (Inspired by my time in the Merchant Navy)

Eric

Posted By Jason McQueen
Dave, I think that situation is changing albeit slowly. You quite often used to see adverts for jobs which read 'must have NEBOSH Cert and MIOSH' or other similar contradictory statements. However its becoming less common as employers gain an understanding of the career development ladder.

Posted By Arthur Champion
Geoff Burt's comments have set me thinking...

What's meant by "an easy profession to excel in" - is this a wind-up? Anyone who seriously wants to excel in Health & Safety has always needed more than a two week course! Surely any illusions about fast-tracking must have been blown away these past 10 years - since the arrival of the EU six pack.

Back in the 1960s Health & Safety certainly wasn't an easy option for people working on the shopfloor in the manufacturing industry. Thousands of employers did just enough H&S to stay on the right side of the law. For example, I served an engineering apprenticeship in the foundry industry. After long hours of working in the heat, noise and chemical fumes, I had an idea (a vocation?) that a lifetime could be spent improving people's working conditions and this would also increase productivity.

I think Geoff is right that back then Health & Safety was sometimes a dumping place for those approaching retirement. Although management might see H&S as an easy option, the experience was extremely challenging for anyone in manufacturing tasked with being the Company's H&S conscience! Management were generally apathetic about H&S whilst the unions were mostly interested in perusing compensation claims. Being a H&S Adviser was like being the Company's resident scapegoat. Thankfully at last there are growing signs that H&S is moving from the back room to the board room.

Speaking more personally, I chose to work in Health & Safety because of concern for people who look like they are being exploited. The Christian faith helps to guide and sustain my H&S work. The bottom line is that people's well-being is more important than financial rewards.

Posted By Lance Morgan
Interesting thread this.
I started my working life at 16 as a nurse ing cadet and qualified in both the mental and general health fields going on to specialise in intensive care, A&E and Infection Control.
I saw all the hazards nurses and other healthcare professionals were exposed to and with them for the most part accepted as going with the job.
After several incidents of violence, stress, back injuries including knackering my own through lack of training and equipment I said enough was enough. Managers saying we can't do this and we have'nt got enough money for that. So I got active in my professional association as a steward and in the end management decided to create the post of H&S advisor (coincidence that at that time the nhs lost crown immunity and NHS Trusts were high on the HSE's to do list)anyway I applied for the job and was offered it (probably to shut me up). My credibility as as a clinician stood me in very good stead. Experience really counts in my job when your dealing with nurses and doctors. Since then 12yrs ago I have not looked back with some successes such as dedicated budgets, new equipment and more training for staff and still alot of frustration still from the attitude to safety at the very top of the management chain.
My motto and message to them has always been Foreseeable risk means mandatory training.

Long live health and safety advisors and thank god for all the hard work they do in all sectors of work.

Posted By Graham Bullough
Here are some additional reasons why most people work in H & S. For employed H & S folk, the relative validity of the reasons will vary, among other things, according to your role and the type of organisation for which you work. H & S is less boring than many other jobs, as it can involve a wide range of subjects including psychology, ergonomics and applied law to name just a few. ("Eclectic", which means "drawing on different disciplines", is not a common word, but usefully describes our work) Also you encounter and have to deal with wide range of situations and types of people. You probably also have a reasonable degree of autonomy in how you plan your work, although unexpected events and situations can send your plans askew. As with other professions, much of the work depends on interpersonal and communication skills. One of the challenges of H & S is to explain in plain language the aims and practical requirements of what appears for many people to be confusing chunks of H & S law.

One definition I sometimes give for the aim of H & S is to promote arrangements and attitudes at work so that employees, and others liable to be affected by work, finish each day in the same condition as they start it, apart from being tired and hopefully a little wiser than the previous day.

Another plus comprises the range of knowledge and experience we get from fellow H & S people - partly stemming from the variety of backgrounds of people who didn't start directly in H & S. This is reflected by the range of attitudes and information which appears on this forum. The forum also reflects a good sense of humour among most H & S people. Although this forum is interesting and informative, I can't finish this response without a mention of IOSH groups. If you work in H & S and don't already go to IOSH branch and/or specialist group meetings, it's worthwhile doing so if you can - among other things, to learn or keep yourself updated, to benefit from other people's experience and knowledge, and also to share your own with others!