Posted By James Byatt Hi All, First time on the forum so be gentle with me... I am, and have been (for the 5 years of my H&S life) employed as a "Company H&S Manager" with various organisations. I'm always on the look out for new challenges and am now considering vacancies for consultancy work. Being a new area to me I would welcome any advice, such as pro's and cons (highs and lows!) of consultancy work, to give me an idea of what this career path would let me in for. I'm not considering self-employment so it would be working for a particular consultancy...if that helps narrow the field Thanks in advance, James

Posted By Karen Todd Hi James, I can speak to you as someone who has done both. +ve: Variety and experience (I never got bored, got to go to places such as construction sites, slaughter halls & meat processing plants, joinery workshops, a pub & restaurant, sewage treatment works, etc.). Some consultancy jobs are home based (this can be a + or a - depending on how you look at it). Getting out and about, meeting lots of new people, not being stuck in the factory all day. A sense of satisfaction, helping many people. Some are clueless, others know a fair bit, but most just need steered and guided in the right direction and a sanity check that they are going about things the right way. Building up a rapport with clients, some more than others. Some you have a right laugh with and you really enjoy going to see them. Usually a small close knit team of consultants. -ve: Those who think they can delegate responsibility for H&S to a consultant and really don't want to know. Some clients you dread going to see. They really don't give a damn and their sites are a disgrace. Here is a quote, "We're quite pleased with the accident investigation you've done for us. However, we wondered if it would be possible for you to do an, erm, 'alternative' toned down version, one that we could show to our insurance company"...I said no, that they could alter the findings for themselves. Really these are the kind of people you have to ask yourself if you want to allow them to continue being your clients - they don't want to do anything to improve H&S, but want to be able to say they've got a H&S consultant who looks after their H&S for them. Having to go out in bad weather - I had to dig my car out of the snow, and trying to write on the page when it is lashing is a bit of a bugger. Can be a bit like being in a goldfish bowl (if there are only a couple of you and you are all in the one office)- you can't go for a dander round the factory to take 5 mins to chill out! Some people say being a H&S consultant is an easy life - you just make your recomendations and leave the poor suckers to get on with it. I disagree, it is far from an easy life. It all depends who you work for and what their setup is (how many in the team, whether home based or sharing a common office, etc). Make sure you get a company car! I was doing about 37,000 miles a year in my own car between travelling to the office (44 miles away) and doing my site visits. Having been a H&S manager will stand you in good stead - you will realise the implications of your recomendations for the guys who've got to implement them. I know you don't want to become self-employed, but you really should consider becoming a self-employed dangerous goods safety advisor: http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/NEWSW12.html Looks quite lucrative!!! Good luck, Karen