It is the employer who decides whether your skills are valuable or not. If your reasons for failure are correct then you simply did not fit the profile. The job may have been a relatively low level position. Nothing to do with low standards per se. If, as I suspect, you are seeking a more senior level appointment or direct report situation then you simply need to keep looking; trying to hide anything is unlikely to bring success.

If I accept that your justification for your failure is correct then I can share my experiences with you. I would say that working from within HR is a common situation in many large employers. Most HR staff are also highly qualified these days and in my experience working alongside HR professionals is a mutually beneficial experience for both parties and a good way to be successful in OSH. Thus leading to improved management of OHS. So, far from signalling that OSH is not important it actually strengthens the case.

And of course, once in post you can always demonstrate and convince others that the structure would benefit from change----and you know just the person to fill the new position;-)


Good luck with the search

I'd say you were just unlucky with you choice of employers.
Based on the experiences of H&S friends those are two areas I'd make a point of avoiding if I was job hunting.

Find an employer that is obliged to take H&S more seriously - the private sector

Thomas, I work in the private sector and have reported to HR for nearly 9 years. It is not the ideal relationship but as Jake says I have adapted. In fact now its tends to be a functional relationship in terms of annual reviews, etc and the majority of times I am my own boss and link in with the relevant managers on site. For me it works well.