Why not leave the work opportunities to those who need the work and find a charity or two that needs support? Not just H&S but other practical support. The choice is massive.

The early stages of retirement especially is a very difficult thing & time, noting that ageism is rife should U be looking for employed work, especially for a person who has worked all their life as adjustment is different & difficult for all of us & it can take a long while to adjust. Hobbies are brilliant as is setting up a business in a completely different area to your working life and mentoring new &/or less - differently experienced H&S people is very satisfying As an individual I will not undertake volunteer work where employees have been sacked and volunteers now do the work e.g. cleaning parks, streets, small waterways and many such things as has and is happening country wide, however the concept is a good idea e.g. support the citizens advice bureau Best of luck, throw your net out wide and don't forget to get the most out of your bus pass! NB: I retired late in life however early retirement must be harder!

Hi Chris/ Martin, Why don't you get together and form a Voluntary consultancy group ? You could set up a group on FB or Linkedin call it something like "Age of Consultancy" and offer FREE HSE Advice or specialisms to local or National businesses. That way you could set the parameters of how you want to work and in what areas you can offer assistance. Wouldn't be too hard to do and you do have time on your hands at the moment, if you advertsie enough you could turn it into a Ntaional phenonemum. Either that or it's B&Q:) Best of luck

Citizens Advice are always looking to train Advisers to work in their offices, or you could look to join the Board of Trustees for your local Citizens Advice. I worked as an Adviser after being made redundant, the training took about 3 months and was very interesting and good for CPD. After finding paid employment I went on to become a Trustee because I could not continue as an Adviser but wanted to remain involved with this organisation. Hope this helps Geoff

Colleagues with all due respect I thought that it was April fools day already when I read ".....Voluntary consultancy group ? You could set up a group on FB or Linkedin call it something like "Age of Consultancy" and offer FREE HSE Advice ......." however its only the 29th of March! Please note that there are enought nails in the H&S coffin already so why make it even harder for the youngsters that are following - please please please do not give anything away until accountants, HR, lawyers, designers, gas fitters etc. etc. do the same As I noted before, retirement is a strange thing and takes some getting used to

You are so lucky to be retired, I personally can't wait to get out of this dire industry. I know its paid the bills etc, but I look forward to leaving the industry and doing a nice little part time job that I actually enjoy and feel valued.The constant negative remarks you get on announcing what you do for a living, to trying to get people to comply with reasonable standards...won't miss it one bit...3 years to go and counting!

I don't have a problem retiring, I have much better things to do with my time than h&s. Sadly the bank manager says no. A whole list of hobbies, travel and activities to get on with. Anything but h&s!!

In my view it's a shame that some people feel reluctant to tell others about their involvement with OSH. When people who meet me ask what I do, I tend to respond with "lots of things". (Methinks that quite a number of those who ask people about their occupations really want such information in order to gauge, in their eyes, the status and worth, etc. of the people they ask!) Therefore, when enquirers refine their question and ask "what do you do for living?", my standard reply that I'm retired invariably elicits a question like "well, what line of work were you in?" I've never been ashamed to answer this by saying I spent some 35 years working in occupational safety and health and adding that it's a very different entity to what most newspapers and some people, especially ignorant ones, tend to think of as "elf and safety". This sort of reply can lead to some interesting and constructive conversations, especially if you ask an enquirer about his/her current or past jobs and can then suggest some of the OSH implications of such jobs/occupations. Also, even if the people you meet haven't had adverse experiences themselves, most know of at least some relatives, friends or acquaintances whose safety and/or health certainly has been impaired by work - and very seriously in some cases. For example, I learned from an older person I met a year or so ago that his father had died (well before retirement age) of mesothelioma which stemmed from having been employed for most of his life in an asbestos factory. Graham B

Invictus When you used to say "saving lives", didn't that simply prompt at least some people to ask how you actually went about saving lives?!! :-) Graham B

quote=gerrysharpe]Some retiree's may want to offer their services or perhaps mentor someone younger, perhaps they feel they have a lot to give and when they officially stop working, they have so much spare time. I have alot of Respect for the older H&S guys, they have been through it all and could definitely offer some of us "Younger" guys some guidance and mentoring. You can actually Volunteer with IOSH, Not sure how that would work but an advise or Helpline could be handy for people that need an answer to something urgent? Or advise on a particular issue or problem? Anything to stop the brain cells turning into Jelly