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A new career in Occupational Safety and Health
Stephen Ashbury Managing Director
Charles Ford
If you’re looking to hang up your boots and thinking about which career path to take, then it might be worth you checking out opportunities in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Stephen Asbury Managing Director of Corporate Risk Systems Limited provides the answers to some frequently asked questions from people looking for a new career in OSH.
Background
After studying law, Stephen joined a construction company in 1982. It was here in his first job that his interest in safety started after coming across so many work-related injuries including amputated fingers, broken bones and life-changing diseases. After discovering there was no local safety group, he started his own. During this time he studied hard and gained a NEBOSH Certificate. This qualification proved essential to providing a gateway to his career in health and safety career. Below is a list of the most commonly asked questions.
Would a career in OSH suit me?
Generally speaking you need to be a good promoter of initiatives, with broad shoulders, a love of life, and confident when speaking to management. Your experience and skills from
being a Police officer will be very helpful. Health and safety work is often driven and regulated by acts, regulations, approved codes of practice, and guidance notes.
How would you advise becoming involved in OSH?
Gain the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety. There are lots of providers including my company (see advertisement below). A full list of providers can be found at www.nebosh.org.uk. There are many formats - block release, day release, home study etc. A good course provider will have pass rates in the mid-tohigh 90’s%, so check before you enrol. The good news is that this course is eligible for ELC funding through an approved provider.
What’s next?
It’s important to know where to start a job hunt. My advice would be to join professional body IOSH (the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, based in Leicester) at your earliest opportunity - even before you start your NEBOSH course. Everyone joins IOSH as an ‘Affiliate’; and as your qualifications and experience grow, you’re re-categorised into Technician, Graduate, and Chartered grades later. You can join and pay on line at www.iosh.co.uk - you even get your membership number right away! IOSH will put you onto its mailing list, and you’ll get ‘SHP’ magazine every month When you have your NEBOSH Certificate, and with two years’ experience of working in a safety-related role, IOSH will upgrade you to a Technician, and you’ll get letters after your name (TechIOSH).
What can I earn in an OSH job?
Health and safety officer jobs are usually offered upwards of £20K, and as roles become more senior, or in larger organisations, salaries of £30-35K are more common. The highest salary advertised in 2010 was £58K for the Head of Health and Safety at a Midlands University. A member of a PLC board with responsibility for OSH might earn £100K
Where will your career take you?
I’d suggest serving eighteen months to two years in your first safety job. In this first job, you are ideally placed to complete an NVQ in OSH. Here is not the place to go into detail about this, but briefly you demonstrate your competence by building a portfolio of work evidence, much like a photographer does. It takes about a year. And when you have it, IOSH will upgrade you to the Graduate category of membership (GradIOSH). Your next job should be different to your first, so that you learn about control of different hazards. You’d not be criticised if you changed jobs every three to four years. Remember the greatest and most interesting places on earth employ health and safety advisers - Olympic Park, Wembley Stadium, Silverstone etc. In my time in OSH, I have worked on an offshore oil installation, in a Formula 1 pit lane, on the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal, and in forty-five countries on every continent except
Antarctica!
• Further details please telephone Charles Ford on freephone 0808 120 3895
or visit www.crsrisk.com
