Rank: Super forum user 
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Anyone who has spent a career in H&S working their way up through various organisations may be wondering how they can end their career on a high.
HSE are advertising for a new Chief Exec...
As a lifelong H&S professional I do not meet the person specification for this position - and I'm not sure any of the very good H&S people I have worked with over the years could either.
I personally think its a shame that the 'business' of leadership is seen as a profession in itself. A profession which is populated primarily by lawyers, bean counters and 'those who couldn't hack the gruelling life of a technical specialist so got an MBA instead'... I personally believe that any organisation is best led by someone who has the greatest possible knowledge and understanding of the subject the organisation deals with. Especially if (s)he is supported by a team of lawyers / bean counters / MBAs etc. Engineering businesses should be led by engineers, teaching businesses should be led by teachers, - and the Health and Safety Executive should be led by a health and safety professional.
Is this just me getting bitter and twisted in my old age or do others feel the same way?
Steve
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Rank: Super forum user
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I think there has to be a balance.
Lots of knowledge but poor business awareness and poor management skills can be a recipe for disaster.
Good business and management skills with no knowledge of the industry could also be a recipe for disaster.
Think there needs to be a bit of both.
Sometimes I worry that headmasters / mistresses (for example) are poor managers allowing some poor teachers to stay because they are teachers too and teachers stick together, when in fact they should come at it with a fresh pair of eyes and a managers head on. There is a lot to be said for people not being tainted by the industry they are managing. The HSE used to move inspectors around industry groups (they don't have industry groups anymore) so that inspectors didn't get too sympathetic to that industry. Having said that agricultural inspectors generally came from agricultural backgrounds so they understood the industry.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Steve, it's an interesting conundrum. Genuine leadership is a rare skill and is vital at the head of such a major organisation, coupled with good business management skills and the ability to project well. Knowledge of "the business" by comparison is more easily learned I think.
The boss of Virgin is unlikely to know how to join up optical cables, although he knows how to make a profit from it, the Chief of the Defence Staffs doesn't need to know how to drive a submarine, nor is the boss of Aldi necessarily the best user of the bacon slicer although etc...
Thus the CEO of HSE needs to have the personality, vision and determination to challenge whenever our political masters get it wrong and ultimately lead the troops to places they need to go. Intimate knowledge of the IR Regs or knowing how to fill out an invoice for FFI is not at all necessary.
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