Posted By Rick1138
Hi all,

I am new to the IOSH boards, i have been a H&S practitioner for about a year and a half now.

I was a document controller originally, but my last workplace had their HSE advisor leave for a new job overseas. I was (surprisingly) offered his job. I had zero experience in HSE but i was good at controling document systems and had recently finished my degree in business administration and management.

I was put through my nebosh Gen certificate, which i passed wqith credit, and have also completed internal audit courses and various courses for fire safety and COSHH,

However after a year in that position, my company fell into financial strife and they had to make some staff redundant, i waqs one of these people. However it turned out after a month of my notice period, they said i couldn't be fired as HSE turned out to be too important and encompasing to hand it over to another staff member.

Unfortunately the situation was handled badly, and i had a better offer at a new business.

I have been in my new job for 4 months now, it is a very different place to my last job, mostly office based, my new job is a fabrication business mainly welding pipework and offshore fabrications.

We have ISO9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certs, however the HSE requirements of the job have become to large for the managing director to carry out so i was hired to carry out H&S obligations for the company.

The problem is i have been the sole HSE person at both companies, i have never had an instructor or someone to follow, so i am still very green.

As a result i am coming into a workplace that is classed as a high risk profession, i.e. hot work, power tools etc. The staff are quite good at HSE but in the first 3 months of the job i have been audited twice by BSI 2 suprise inspections by the HSE and some client audits.

We have issues that i am implementing, but i feel like all my job involves as seen by the chairman is to cost them money, i.e. HAVS controls and training, training courses for staff in OHC use, LEV systems (which will not be cheap)and getting staff on my side to understand why they have to wear ear protection, eye glasses and why i need to bring in all these changes.

I have been thrown very much in the deep end, and i feel i am becoming unpopular very quickly as i do not have a huge amount of confidence in my role and i need to be ascertive, but i also feel there is a lot of resentment at the role (not me personally) from some staff, and that HSE is simply "jobs for the boys" and how can the company scrape by with PPE\Safe system equipment, rather than buy what is suitable, get the cheapest one and make do.

Its difficult to enjoy your work when you feel if something goes wrong, i will be the one getting fired when i am still trying to find my feet, even after a year of reading all i can, about HSE management.

I don't know how you experienced guys got to your positions before throwing in the pan and leaving companies to their fate.

Anyone any advice for a new HSE manager who feels the whole world suddenly crashed onto his front lawn!

Sorry for long post.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Rick

Appreciative of your concerns, I'm also puzzled by your choice of heading.

If you want to start developing a safety culture, it can be much more straightfoward than you may imagine.

For the essence is to stimulate and support conversation about strains of change, especially by managers.

An excellent, well-validated survey for this task is available from a university in Nova Scotia. It was developed by Micheel Leiter, one of the psychologists who's a world leader in stresses of organsiastional change. What's great about it is that the modest price for using it includes the survey norms which you can use to benchmark your scores.

This enables managers to see how they compare to thousands of other organsitions, and why.

Taking the initiative to develop a safety culture could turn out to be your bridge to the next stage of professional accomoplishment, however it turns out.

Posted By Kate Graham
I've been there and what was most helpful for me was being able to meet other H&S people in the same business sector. The chance to talk about "what do you do about ...?" and just generally to realise that others are in the same situation makes it all less lonely and stressful. I don't know what opportunities there might be for you to do this, but if you have any, take them!

Posted By John Packer
Rick,
I'm not sure anyone working in H&S knows how they got here. You attend one little course there,,you taken one little responsability here,,and before you know whats hit you you end up working full time in H&S. I've still yet to meet the person that said; "When I grow up I want to work in H&S!"

Posted By Liz Maw
Hi Rick

I've not used the mentoring service offered by IOSH myself as I've been in this line of work now for many many years, but it sounds like mentoring might help you.

If you contact IOSH HQ they will apoint you an experienced and trained mentor who can help and guide you through any safety issues you are struggling with.

Hope this is helpful.

Posted By Dee
Rick

You have mail

Donna

Posted By Rick1138
Didin't even know there was one to be honest.

Or where it would be, or more to the point if i would be allowed off work to go to such a thing.

Posted By Tracey Kelly
Rick,

I want to wish you luck with your job – I’m sure you will do fine – as you realise that you don’t know everything, and can ask for help.

When you come across opposition to your advice or proposals, ask yourself if that individual (or group of individuals) would respond better to financial, regulatory, moral or personal benefit arguments - then tailor your tactics accordingly.

My advice would be to keep talking to people, and read as much as you can on the IOSH, HSE, and EU OSHA web sites. If you can, it is also useful to have access to the Barbour Index for checking up on the current guidelines, research etc. Be a squirrel – seek out as much information as you can about every topic that you come across, and always check if there is a new code of practice or HSE publication / web pages (even if it is a topic that you worked on a few months before).

One word of warning – I know from experience that some people will respond to posts on this forum in a nasty way. Please don’t be put off it that happens to you – ignore them and keep on posting your queries and benefitting from the many helpful responses you will get.

Tracey

Posted By MT
Rick, details of the Branch are here:

http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...o=branches.details&id=14

Next meeting is 11 November at 6pm off the Lang Stracht. Some of the meetings are held in the afternoons, but equally some are in the evenings, which is good for those who have a problem leaving work to attend.

Posted By alex mccreadie
Rick

Remember you got this job through your own ability to sell yourself and not through your Health ansd Safety experience. In itself that says a lot about you. Carry on what you are doing talk to the workforce and show them you care about them. The worst thing (in my opinion) you can do is quote regulations to them. It will take you years to understand the regulations but as long as you know where to look it will help.
Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Alex

Posted By mark linton
Hi Rick

Someone may have mentioned this already but I only scanned the other responses. In your position I would contact firms in your local area, particularly one's you know work in high risk operations and ask if they would mind a networking visit. Most H&S people I have spoken to are more than happy to oblige - I believe that most of us are so starved of interested listeners we are willing talk to anyone ;). Even where there is limited similarities between companies, any visit and subsequent discussions always brings up something you can use (I always find them hugely beneficial).