Career options for Health and Safety Professionals

In every speaking or training opportunities related to Health and Safety that I am invited, I often asked the participants what picture appears in their mind when they hear the word safety officer. Majority of their answers are those persons wearing high visibility clothing, helmets, safety shoes and those who are manning the constructions sites.

Well it’s quite understandable to hear those answers because we often associate that safety officers are only needed during construction projects. That safety officer exists in construction sites because it is the most hazardous place to work and it’s where the greatest potentials for injuries are present.

While it is true that serious accidents and fatalities mostly occurred in construction sites but a significant number of accidents and ill health occurs in the workplace and industries where you and I are working.

In short, being in the health and safety profession, we are not only limited to construction sites and related activities. Following are some career options of a Health and Safety Professional.

OTHER CAREER OPTIONS

1. Health and Safety Professional in the Manufacturing and allied Industries – some of the world’s largest manufacturing industries and food manufacturing companies also need highly trained and highly qualified health and safety professionals. Even heavy industries, automotive industries etc.;

2. HSE Specialists in Oil and Gas and Shipbuilding Industries – another specialized field of health and safety professionals are in the oil and gas and/or shipbuilding industries – from offshore to onshore and even logistics;

3. HSE Professionals in the Consultancy and/or Government sector – there’s also a demand for high caliber and highly experienced HSE professionals in these fields. They are the ones who are responsible for the strategic planning and programs implementation in certain sectors where they worked for;

4. HSE Training and Teaching – training centers are in itself a highly profitable business because more and more people are interested in shifting their careers to Health, Safety and Environment. So there’s a demand for HSE trainers.

5. HSE and IMS Auditors – ISO and/or OHSAS certifications are also slowly becoming a pre-requisite for some major projects such that you cannot enter into a bidding process if the company is not ISO 9001 or an OHSAS 18001 certified. With such trend, an HSE professional can also be a lead auditor either internally hired by the company or again from a consultant or 3rd party company;

6. Industrial or Occupational Hygienist – industrial hygiene is the science of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling workplace conditions that may cause workers injury or ill health. The industrial hygienists use environmental monitoring and analytical methods to detect and determine workers exposure and then they employ or recommend engineering controls to eliminate if not control the hazards.

7. Fire safety officers – this is also another branch where you can be employed especially if you have a good engineering background on structural & mechanical design plus a sound knowledge on fire safety codes and other relevant laws

Lastly, I knew that still a number of career options can be added to this list but my point is just to give our current league of HSE professionals as well as those who are planning for a career shift a picture that HSE is not only about construction. An HSE professional can wear not only those helmets, safety shoes and vest but they can also wear corporate attires and can also sit as a top executive in a corporate world.

The 10 Commandments of Workplace Safety

Just shared it from other source and I know some of you will want to make this Health and Safety list up to 1000 but there can only be 10 in the 10 Commandments of Workplace Health and Safety.

Others would say that they have been to enough trouble complying with all of the “other commandments”!

You may come up with your own list but have a look at this recent list put together by certain George Robotham and Rob Long to inspire us to come up with our own list suitable and appropriate for our organization. This is 10 Commandment of Workplace Health and Safety is good to display on a workplace noticeboards or any place that can be easily seen by the workers and NOT just on the Safety Person’s office wall or at the company entrance.

Here's the list:

1. Always be responsible for the health and safety of yourself and others.

2. Always remember all accidents are preventable.

3. Always follow company rules, regulations and procedures.

4. Always assess the risks; Stop and Think.

5. Always be proactive about safety.

6. Always avoid from situations (operations) you’re not trained to handle.

7. Always manage the lift.

8. Always Be prepared.

9. Always practice good housekeeping.

10. Always take the safest path, never take shortcuts.

Lastly, as i've said you may come up with your own Health and Safety commandments for your organization - the challenge is on you now.