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Is a health & safety career dangerous in itself ?
Rank: New forum user 
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Hi all,
Whether your a health and safety administrator, health and safety coordinator, health and safety officer or manager .... no doubt you take some form of liability for health, safety and compliance. My question is , is this liability worth it? We are all human, we all make mistakes, most professional mistakes usually lead to being disaplined or sacked... however within the health and safety game.. it could go one further with a criminal prosecution and prison ?
So, my question is, from now working in health & safety myself, how do we reassure ourselves ?
We all work hard for our h&s qualifications and pay alot of money for them... we no doubt do our best. I think sometimes it can be unfair on us within this profession via scapegoating, we have extra worry to deal with etc.
So please help reassure me :)
How do we all reassure ourselves ? Tips, advice would be great.
Thankyou
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Well first of all, it's not the case that most professional mistakes lead to being discplined or sacked. Most professional mistakes either go completely unnoticed by the employer or are settled by an honest and apologetic admission of the mistake. We all make professional mistakes.
Criminal prosecution and prison is only for those who have been remarkably negligent or have knowingly done wrong. A mistake is not in itself grounds for prosecution.
Leaving the health and safety profession for another one would not protect you. It is much more often managers and business owners who are prosecuted on health and safey offences than the poor old health and safety person. So they are the ones that should be worrying, not you.
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 4 users thanked Kate for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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And I'll add this. When I first saw the heading asking if it was dangerous in itself, it didn't remotely occur to me that the danger in question was of being prosecuted.
My first thought was that it was about needing to go to dodgy places to evaluate the dangers and thereby becoming exposed to those dangers yourself. My second thought was that it could be about the stress and frustration of trying to improve workplace health and safety, which could be a danger to your own mental health. I'd say those two are much more relevant than the possibility of prosecution (unless you have done something very bad indeed).
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2 users thanked Kate for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Hi Kate,
Thanks for your response. I think you have made some valid points. :)
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Rank: Super forum user
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Hi Sean I fully agree with all that Kate has said. One comment to add.... The risk to the OSH professional gets a lot greater when they pretend that they are competent when they are not. These days there is a vogue for presenting the idea that the OSH professional should know about everything. The reality is that none of us will ever reach that pinnacle, even if we wanted to. So, understand the limits of your expertise and admit when you DON'T have an answer.
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2 users thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Good Advice Peter
Thankyou
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Originally Posted by: 6337sean  Whether your a health and safety administrator, health and safety coordinator, health and safety officer or manager .... no doubt you take some form of liability for health, safety and compliance. My question is , is this liability worth it?
Strange post.
As an employee my personal liability is by vicarious extension unless I have been specifically negligent in my own right (the point made by Kate and echoed by Peter in the comment of working within "your" limits). If I were to carry any personal liability then I would be seeking Professional Indemnity Insurance which given I do not consult is wholly unnecessary.
It is the world of consulting where the desire to earn a living is most likley to see personal risk taking as the consultant tries to keep the client happy and ventures in to areas where they have a little or no knowledge but are expected to behave like the expert. A good consultant will tell the client no and offer guidance where to find answers so avoiding liability. Outside of my employed role I politely decline invitations to "offer advice" as I apprciate that advice carries possible uninsured financial risk. As an employee the time to worry is when post a significant incident the companies legal advisors suggest you find your own solicitor - I have seen this happen to a production manager but never the H&S bod.
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4 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: 6337sean Whether your a health and safety administrator, health and safety coordinator, health and safety officer or manager .... no doubt you take some form of liability for health, safety and compliance. My question is , is this liability worth it?
Strange post.
As an employee my personal liability is by vicarious extension unless I have been specifically negligent in my own right (the point made by Kate and echoed by Peter in the comment of working within "your" limits). If I were to carry any personal liability then I would be seeking Professional Indemnity Insurance which given I do not consult is wholly unnecessary.
It is the world of consulting where the desire to earn a living is most likley to see personal risk taking as the consultant tries to keep the client happy and ventures in to areas where they have a little or no knowledge but are expected to behave like the expert. A good consultant will tell the client no and offer guidance where to find answers so avoiding liability. Outside of my employed role I politely decline invitations to "offer advice" as I apprciate that advice carries possible uninsured financial risk. As an employee the time to worry is when post a significant incident the companies legal advisors suggest you find your own solicitor - I have seen this happen to a production manager but never the H&S bod.
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4 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Insurance of course does not in any way protect you from criminal prosecution, and only comes in to play if you might be sued by your client or another party.
Even there, I tend to be more worried about "will my client pay me?" than about "might they sue me?"
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I tried to always get it RIGHT FIRST TIME and if in any doubt don't give advice until researched for the answer/s and never ever interpret regulations. HSE don't so why should we.
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Rank: Super forum user
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It’s hard to think of a any role in management, in or out of H&S, that doesn’t expose them to some degree being prosecuted /claimed against them if they get it really wrong.
In the scheme of things, very few H&as have been individually prosecuted that I recall. Companies yes, but even then the individual H& personnel have not been prosecuted - unless someone can example a few.
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Rank: Super forum user
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BBC NEWS | England | Manager denies safety charges
Only one i remeber off hand, probably because he was at university with a friend of mine - still think he was made a scape goat! In 30 years as an enforcement officer i only once looked at prsecuting a H&S advisor - but his contract with the company was so bad a barristor advised us we could not prove a case against him. His lack of knowledge and poor advice cost a young man his hand!
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Rank: Super forum user
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That's also the only case I've ever been aware of - there was a lot of publicity at the time, precisely because it was so unusual. From what I read at the time, it did seem odd to go after him.
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1 user thanked Kate for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Your right Kate. The company went into administration (surprise surprise) from memory the charge was this poor chap had spent two much time on food hygiene and not enough on Health and Safety! There are only so many hours in the day and we can only follow the instructions of our employers. Never saw a full transcript of the case but i think he was found guilty - still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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Rank: Super forum user
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My recollection of that particular case was that the defendant was in practice someone with line management responsiblities that just happened to include titular duties for H&S and food safety. Discussed previously on the Forums (a LONG, LONG time ago!!) Fatty Arbuckles (iosh.co.uk)
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1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Well found peter, before i joined the forums, would have had quit a bit to say about some of the comments at the time.
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