Posted By paultickle
I am currently researching the possibility of a career in health and safety in the biology/life science industry. I have a degree in Biochemistry and have recently completed a PhD in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. I am currently working in a Scientific Support role for a major distributor of chemicals and laboratory equipment. A large part of this job involves advising customers on health and safety issues. As such, I feel that I have a good awareness of the health and safety issues within this industry. However, I have a number of questions, for example:

1. Is it possible to specialise solely in this industry or do Health and Safety professionals usually work in a variety of industries?
2. If it is possible to specialise how can I get myself qualified to work in this area?

If anyone can give me any insights into Health and Safety work within this industry and/or advice on how to get qualified it would be much appreciated. I look forward to your responses.

Paul

Posted By Diane Thomason
Paul

My job is Biological and Chemical Safety Officer in a university. Most uni's have a similar position and so do biotech companies, pharma, crop protection etc.
BSOs usually have a life science degree plus experience (usually research experience) as a minimum, and very often these days have MIOSH level safety qualifications as well.
Often a big part of a BSO's work is to do with genetic modification, so knowledge and experience of this is needed.

If you don't want to specifically work as a BSO but want to be a general safety adviser/officer/manager in a life science industry, the requirements are generally the same as for anywhere else - they will want H&S qualifications at an appropriate level plus experience of the type of work they do. I would suggest your first step is to find out what the safety "structure" is in the companies or organisations you are interested in - often you can get the info from their web sites.

Then find out what level of quals they need for their H&S staff - some employers want people with MIOSH, others take on staff with NEBOSH Certificate qualifications (or none!) and train them. Opportunities for people with an interest in H&S but no qualifications or experience do seem to be very limited. I would recommend getting a qualification if you can. There is quite a big difference between H&S as an occupation, and providing some H&S information to customers as part of your job.

You can get info on qualifications and IOSH membership from this web site or the IOSH Membership dept.

Good luck - you're welcome to email me directly if you'd like to talk.

Diane