I cannot comment on the job market in the U.K. but I can tell you that things in the U.S. are not good at all...

To your second point, I suspect that seeing the OHS practitioner's scope of responsibilities expand to include environmental risk management is a reflection of a slow, but steady progression over the past decade, which has certainly gained traction due to the economic pressures in play the past few years. As the values of society move towards more concern for environmental protection, and the legislation is put into place to respond to that value shift, I think that the OHS practitioner that invests in themselves by gaining the necessary skills will be best positioned to succeed.

Similarly, could Quality and /or Environmental practitioners gain OHS expertise to expand their marketable skills? It's back to school, for all of us it would appear!

1 - Is the job market as bad as it gets (or if the US financial situation is as bad as the media hype) or will it still degrade? ----- After >45 years [and a person who studies social history] at work I feel that the recession has a long way to go yet

2 - As a result of this lack of jobs are companies and potential or current employers looking to reduce the risk involved financially and require Health and Safety professional to take on roles such as Quality, Environment and potentially security? --- Yes and Yes again

3 - OR are we seeing other professionals i.e. Quality and Environmental professionals enter into Health and Safety with a dual role? --- Yes and Yes again especially HR types and production professionals


My thoughts are that a few more roles are being seen such as HSE or QHSE than I believe existed before....... In my experience dual roles have always existed; usually QA/production first then other areas are tagging on ..... The 'many strings to one's bow' situation comes in here

head down and keep going is the only answer or look to change completely

TSC, good questions and I agree generally with the responses so far. I have a couple of points to add. The synergy between Quality and H&S has been recognised for many years even decades in some places. The link to Environmental I think also came from the need to have management systems for that area as the subject became more important.
The other critical factor may be the effect of the success of the “safety movement” on many companies. One outcome of the “good safety is good business” is that the business understands that they don’ “have” to have a safety manager. We did I think have a purple patch where a safety manager post was almost a given without much thought as to what and why. That has passed both due to the stringent times and as a result of learnt experience, perhaps paradoxically due to the success of many safety practitioners.
So the broader your skills base the better chance you will have. Q.HSE. E. do have a natural synergy that companies recognise. It does also seem that, in smaller organisations at least, that a technical or business string to your bow is a more important aspect than of late.
If you are looking for work, good luck.

P48

I think there is still some tuff times ahead, alot of recruitment is just agencies Cv building and I would question do the jobs really exist?. I my self have had to diversified from solely a fire safety background ( ex fire brigade with 15 years experience) into general H & S, with all the focus on he RRO you would think people would be knocking my down down, or is just that they don't know I AM AVILABLE!!!!!!

In my personal opinion the job market will take a very long time to recover and the recovery will have many new areas and ideas within it so gone will be yesterday and its ways of working/being employed

So the only advice I give to those who ask is to get as many varied strings to your bow as you can and wherever possible get to understand production/process management & business finance [via proper academic qualifications in the subjects if possible] areas and add / account for these areas, especialy finance, into your communications as production & finance is the only talk of higher management!

Hi All,
I agree with most points provided earlier in the forum, my main thought within this issue is that it used to be a common sense approach to encapsulate Quality, Health, Safety & Environment together as each subject area is often broached into the other.

These days though I tend to have a different opinion as I have experienced the issue of managing all of the above. Now my thoughts are that if I had 72 hours in a day then I could manage them, as it is there are more and more environmental regulations being issued. I feel that the environmental aspect should be separated from the QHS role or we will be in jeapardy of becoming a jack of all trades and master of none.

Grant