Hi Sean; not being in the consultancy line of work I cannot say how much work there is out there. However if you do a search on the forums you will find plenty of experienced and long standing consultants who are finding times very tough indeed. Maybe you should consider running the two (full time job and consultancy) alongside each other so that at least if there is no consultancy work you have your full time job to fall back on? Good luck Stuart

Not the right time. Don't forget you'd need insurance. Also if safety is not your job at the moment consider your ability to prove 'competency'. It's not clear from your post what your experience level is. I'd be inclined to stay with your job for now and apply for jobs in safety. The grass is not greener currently.

Sean I don't think the current economic climate is particularly relevant to your question. There are always lots of people offering the type of service being proposed and SMEs never want to pay much for it. My answer would be pretty much the same at any time. You need to have a very good reason why a company would want to engage you as a consultant. You either need to be able to prove that you are very good at the standard stuff or have a niche that people value.

Thanks for your responses. iam currently a shift manager with NEBOSH general certificate. i carry out a lot of RA, ssow, sops. etc I thought the climate would be an advantage as a company could pay a fee rather than pay a full time wage for a safety manager. Obviously you people know as you are working in this sector. thanks again Sean

madsheff, It's a tricky time to go out on your own - certainly if you have no other income. I'm fortunate with also Mrs W working part time and have a bit of a pension. I've been sole-trader consultant for over 4 years now and there have been some lean times. 2009 I was often just working one day a week and my income from the business that year was under 15k. 2008 I had a good time working 3 days a week, and currently doing about 4 days but some of that will dry up after Christmas as a lot is training which doesn't last forever. JohnW

Hi I'd concur with Andy. There is work out there for niche specialists with a great deal of experience and knowledge. Basic H&S consultancy for small businesses - there are plenty of businesses that need it, but there is always pressure on price and you have to think how you are going to pay for the marketing needed to get the work. In recent years we have tried to move away from doing H&S for people and encouraging them to do it with our training and support. It's a tough market. I'd suggest, based on what you have said, building up more experience and qualifications before venturing into consulting. Perhaps plan to work for a consultancy for a number of years before branching out on your own. Best of luck Ian

It depends on what consultancy/contract model you are going to follow. If aiming to get lots of numerous 'small' clients only paying a relatively small amount, then lots of effort is required to make initial business contacts etc. I was alway lead to believe that only about 1 in 3 contacts leads to some work. So assume you want a salary of £45-50 k, depending upon your set up your turnover probably needs to be closer to £70k. If each client pays in the region of £5k then you need about 14-15clients. Using the 1 in 3 ratio, you need to make contact with at least 45+ prospective clients. Or about 1 per week. While setting up you have to think about cash flow, assuming you may not get any money for at least 3-4mths. Given the number of prospects needed thats a lot of time on the phone, knocking on doors etc - which is time not being paid for, as such. All in all, when first starting off, a pretty in efficient way of working. Another alternative is less clients, but more work from each client so hence more income. The down side is that if a client dispenses with your services you can take a large income drop. Too many eggs in one basket etc. In my view much better to go free lance contracting for 6-12mths at a time with one client. The hourly rates is usually such that you only need 1 - 6mth contract per year i.e. the rate is at least double 'staff' rates. Depending on where you work the current rate in the oil/gas sector is anything from £60-90/hr. Based on about a 1900hr year, thats a reasonable income Normal occupational safety jobs pay less. The better income is in 'technical safety' or 'safety enginering' NOT in IOSH/NEBOSH occupational type safety. You don't get lumped with stupid topics like PAT testing, DSE, gritting paths etc and the other trivia of occupational safety