Posted By Philip Purcell Hi all, i am just wonder on the above. i have seen some jobs posted with both needed but as i have a diploma in H&S , i am wondering where i could get information on the other in relation to a safety officers role ? thanks for any help. philip

Posted By Carrie Ellerby Philip, I don't think you will find a document anywhere stating a typical environmental role as you commonly do for H&S advisors. I would say that it would commonly involve control of a system such as ISO14001, legal compliance advice and the organisation's environmental impacts. You can gain a lot of this knowledge through many different courses (short and long) but so long as you understand the priciples of H&S control I think you're well on your way, just need to gain a bit of env. specialist knowledge. Carrie

Posted By Bob Youel Friends / colleagues I am not accademically clever however I provide every day advice and management to diploma level in the subjects of occupational; safety, health, environmental, fire and quality areas as do a number of my associates - I also have a degree re Production and Industrial Management - The most important point being is that we should know our limitations and be willing to call for help The point being is that all areas affect health and safety as health and safety affects all areas and unless you have a good understanding of each area, at the level you operate within, you are probably doing an injustice to yourself and acting in a 'silow' as do most business managers We, as health and safety professionals, should not undersell ourselves, should know our limitations but should also know about other areas

Posted By AlB I'd like to add to Bob's post in saying that one of the cruicial skills required by a H&S (or HS&E) professional is to know your limits. However, this does not mean you can not do the job. It mearly means that you need to understand your limitations, find the actual gap in knowledge and skill, and then either outsource that part of the job, or go out and learn how to do it yourself. Both are as valid as each other, but I prefer to opt for the learning - continual improvement and all! Just make sure that you let any potential employer know that this is a valid approach and not to be scared off by any gap in knowledge and ability, as that gap can be easily bridged (within reason of course!)

Posted By Carrie Ellerby I do know that our old H&S Manager was asked to cover two sites while I did the environmental for both but the Managers expected him to look after security also. It seemed only natural, in their eyes anyway, that the H&S manager should look after security; maybe they didn't know who else to ask. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was expected other places also. It amazes me, the amount of senior people who don't understand H&S; anything they don't understand or don't know where to put will just pass it on to HSE!