Rank: New forum user 
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Hi all just looking some advice, i have worked in health and safety for 13 years and wish to work as a self employed health and safety advisor, is there any particular qualifications that i need to have?
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Rank: Super forum user
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There are qualifications and experience is you want to be admitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants' Register.
The OSHCR website explains these.
But membership is not a requirement for a self-employed H&S advisor.
So I suppose the "qualification" you would need is an understanding of who you are going to pitch to and at what price tag.
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 2 users thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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To get on the OSHCR you need to have degree level qualifications and be CMIOSH or FIIRSM, if you wanted to go down that route. However as said above, there is requirement to do that. The most important thing that you will need is PI insurance if you are going to be a self employed advisor.
As for qualifications, it depends on what you already have and in what industry you have specialised. Just remember the code of conduct, where it basically says that you need to turn down work that you are not competent to undertake. For example if you have years of experience in food hygiene it would be advisable to turn down work in the construction industry as you will probably be asked to provide advice off the top of your head at some point and that is impossible unless you are experienced in that particular industry.
Hopefully this has helped
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2 users thanked Shopland23872 for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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A competent health and safety professional should be able to turn their hand to any sector, subject to a recognition that sometimes they will have to say "I don't know" or I'll need to investigate.
When I joined HSE 38 years ago, it was a matter of policy that you weren't allowed anywhere near the sector you had come from until you had divested any preconceptions of accepted custom and practice.
So I'd come from a background of operating hand and power presses, and such like. Wasn't allowed to visit engineering factories for several years.
Started on paper and printing, textiles. Then molten metals, woodworking and minerals. Then food and drink and some small factories in other sectors including engineering. Then 4 years in construction and fairgrounds (24 fatals, collapse of fairground ride, uncontrolled explosion of firework at the closing ceremony of the Glasgow Garden Festival. Then finally molten metals and large scale engineering.
Frequently asked whether I had seen a process before. Frequently said "No, please show me and explain the risks and how you control these". Finally "I don't suppose you've seen a tube bending machine before". "I'm probably the only front line Inspector who has worked on a hand-operated tube bending machine, and I see you've got a Cincinatti CNC tube bending machine over there in the corner. The last one of those I saw I served a Prohibition Notice on". MD was like putty for the rest of the visit. Didn't tell him that I'd only ever seen one other CNC operated tube bending machine, nor did I explain why I had served the notice.
HSE has forgotten its very sensible policy.
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1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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