I absolutely love my job, have been a practitioner for 15 years, I've worked in; construction, extractive minerals, FM, university accommodation (hard and soft services 'circa 35000 rooms nationally across 12+ universities') estate transfer and demolition/ construction. I have an M&E background have worked worldwide (Middle East, USA, South Atlantic; Falklands, South America....ad infinitum.

Would I encourage a layperson to embark upon a career in H&S? not a chance. I believe Brexit will affect our commercial, construction and public service industries' take on H&S law, the UK is seen as the gold standard for H&S standards throughout the world but this has certainly been dumbed-down by the recent Conservative governments 'red tape' remarks and the reduction in resource for the HSE £10m+ per annum.

I've seen a marked change in attitudes from employers, certainly away from accreditations (OHSAS18001 etc.) towards a less paper orientated H&S and 'competency' based management system towards a cheaper 'culture' centred approach (that in itself is no bad thing I suppose?)

Gone are the days, or certainly going are the days, of the hierarchical based practitioner qualified (the greater the letters after ones name the better you are)

I've given a lot of thought to embarking on another avenue of employment but alas I think I'm a little too long in the tooth (Asian-continent sized mortgage and two kids yet to finish university)

what say you?

I think you missed my point re the letters after a name..............

The problem with all management standards is the same BS (pun intended) that no one will do business with you if you haven't got the certificate - they are voluntary not mandatory so those who perceive commercial advantage will attain accreditation and the rest of the world just keeps turning without wasting money and effort on a certificate "to prove" they are competent and satisfactory in what they do.

Step back from the hype and question:
1) how often do you actually get asked for various ISO certificates?
2) why other than a tick box on "their" form are they actually requesting it?
Most of the Quality Managers who diligently reviewed supplier responses have long gone or had their remit expanded so much that time consuming activities have dropped by the wayside so why would any prudent company spend a minimum £6,000 p.a. for each piece of paper?

Many decades ago Raymond Baxter on Tomorrows World spoke to the paperless office - desk professionals love their time consuming forms, tick sheets and procedures in evidence for the management systems auditors wholly at odds with lean business practice and consuming valuable resource.

As a nation we will still continue to gold plate our regulatory activity as we have a house of public representatives primarily from a legal background. It is also unlikely we would ever "re-invent the wheel" re-writing from scratch all those EU directives and their UK regulatory implementation. The one thing to prepare for when we trade more freely in the global economy are the delights of complying with differing global rules in areas of ethical trading.