After more than 50 years in work covering nearly all sectors from construction to social care & at the bottom of the sea in this and other countries I have finally hung up the boots; thats me done - I wish all the best to those now in the profession as U will have it harder than most of us oldies but I leave knowing that U young ones are as good as us oldies so U will not let the profession & those who rely on you down ---- my only commet is;- do nothing for free as I believe doing things for free is what has helped the profession lose out NB: My first day at work started in winter with me facing a brazier with my front burning and my back freezing with a very old 'site made' chair to sit on and nowhere to hang a coat properly;- that was known as welfare in those days ----- I have seen things get much much much better over the years but lately dropping back to my brazier days so in many ways things have gone full circle Regards to all

Well done that man. hope this doesn't mean your not going to drop in occasionally and share your views and experience? More importantly, what's next?

Yes all the best. I hope you do look in on occasion and share your hard earned wisdom (for free !). I should imagine H&S will be harder to put down than you think ( it's everywhere). Or at least come an laugh at us squabbling over the meaning of a couple of words. Chris

Well Bob, it comes to us all eventually, no matter how old you are, or say you are (private joke!). I was privileged to work with you for 14 years & you were a fantastic colleague and friend. No matter what was asked of you, you were always up for it & I knew that with your wealth of experience you would never let anybody down. You know that I will say this privately to you, but I just feel it's right that your career should be honoured publicly on this Forum where you have always strived to help others out. All the best to you & your family. Zyggy

Best wishes Bob

Nice one Bob - join the gang. I can fully recommend retirement, however you don't get a day off ;-)

Good on yer Bob, enjoyed reading your posts. I am not so far behind you. :)

I am looking at moving to a new profession myself 'don't all cheer at once'. Aftre 25 years this profession is like ground hog day, it doesn't matter what your achievements are in one role when you move on you have to start again from the beginning.

Bob. Congratulations of your retirement and very best wishes from me to you. I have had the benefit of your knowledge and experience on this forum and thank you for that. Long years of working produces lots of experince that is vital to pass on to others. I do hope you can pop in occasionally and pass on some of yours. Take care Bob.

Best wishes for the future Bob - I'm not envious in the slightest!! SW

Try not to slam the door on your way out: you may awaken other members ;-)

All the best Bob - enjoy the next part of your life! I'm sure we're all a bit jealous, you've put in the hard graft and generously helped others along their own path so you deserve the best of times ahead. Take care

Bob Firstly, in echo of earlier comments, please continue to share the benefit of your extensive experience and knowledge on the IOSH forums. Also, I can fully echo Zyggy's comments at #7 about you as a friend and former colleague, though for a slightly longer period of 15 years. Furthermore, you made a massive difference to me when you started as my colleague. For some considerable time beforehand, our employer's OSH team had consisted of just myself and an about-to-retire colleague because of the non-replacement of a colleague who left for another job and also a boss who had retired early with a debilitating medical condition. One reason cited for not replacing them was the spectre of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) being applied to OSH services within public service organisations, although the chance to save departmental budget money was suspected to have been a bigger reason. Anyhow, your arrival for me - and for all those for whom the 'skeleton' team was trying to provide a service - was metaphorically akin to seeing "the cavalry arrive in the nick of time to save a beleaguered fort". My work-related stress levels diminished and I stopped searching for work with another employer. Some perspective is needed about your first job: you were lucky to have a brazier! My first job, a temporary one with a Government sponsored job creation scheme, also started during a winter. Though my colleagues and I had the grand title of "conservation ranger" our work consisted of manual labour outdoors in wind, rain and snow in remote exposed places such as Bleaklow, a high moorland plateau in North Derbyshire. (At the time Bleaklow seemed to be a pretty apt name.) When conditions got really bad, we sheltered on hard bench seats in the back of an old draughty landrover with little or no heating, so would have regarded access to a brazier as luxury! Time to stop for now before this turns into the forum equivalent of the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch in which four ageing blokes reminisce and try to outdo each other about how hard their childhoods were! :-)