Posted By Diane Thomason
Marc,

I work as a biological & chemical safety officer having started out in research and lecturing, with BSc and MSc in scientific subjects.

I decided to get qualified in general safety via the NEBOSH route (studying for Diploma part 2 now.) Personally I feel that to work in chemical safety you need to know the "safety" part as thoroughly as the "chemical" part. I think that underpinning knowledge about safety management, how the law works etc. is needed by any safety professional regardless of the area of safety in which you specialise. You can then apply your specialist knowledge in the proper context. For example, if you have a knowledge of, say, toxicology you also need to understand the role of toxicology in occupational health and safety.

Besides, I like being able to get involved in other aspects of H&S - stops me getting bored. This morning: genetic modification risk assessments, this afternoon: looking at DSE workstations!

The NEBOSH Diploma does in fact have a fair bit on content on chemical safety, not just in the "agents" modules but also in the "workplace modules", the latter including chemical process safety. In brain-shattering detail. I don't have knowledge of the syllabuses of other courses, but you can always contact some of the course providers from the IOSH web pages.

I do know of a number of chemical engineers who have gone on to be safety professionals and all of those people did a general safety qualification. I don't know of any specialist qualifications in chemical safety - others might do.

Good luck with your career change plans - if you want to talk this over you can email me directly.

Best wishes

Diane Thomason