The role of a Health & Safety advisor

There is a legal duty on employers to appoint a competent person to advise them on their health and safety obligations. Within this context, health and safety advisers work with line managers, employees, safety groups and trade unions to create a positive culture of safe working practice. They are responsible for creating, maintaining and improving a safe and healthy working environment. Their duties include outlining safe operational procedures, which identify all relevant hazards, and accurately assessing risks. They then suggest workable and effective solutions.

Health and safety advisers may be involved in training managers and employees about health and safety issues and how to minimise risks. They may also carry out regular inspections to check that policies and procedures are being properly implemented and meet the requirements of the main enforcing authority, the Health and Safety Executive. They keep records of their findings and produce reports suggesting improvements.

When there is an accident, they carry out investigations, liaise with relevant authorities and produce reports and recommendations, which are then monitored. They also develop preventative and remedial programmes.

The work may involve giving advice on a range of specialist areas such as fire regulations, safeguarding machinery, construction, hazardous substances, noise, occupational health and environmental health.

Entry level
The key professional qualifications for work in health and safety are the National/Scottish Vocational Qualification (NVQ/SVQ) Level 4 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice, and the two-part national diploma awarded by the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH). There are no formal entry requirements.

When you have these qualifications and three years' relevant experience, you can apply for corporate membership of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). After a year as a member and three years' experience, you can apply to be included on the IOSH Register of Safety Practitioners.

Several universities and colleges offer first degrees in occupational health and safety or health and safety management. For degree entry, you would normally need two or three A levels/AH grades or four H grades or equivalent.

Making the grade
Training is mostly on-the-job, with additional short in-house or external training courses. These may be run by training departments, local colleges or health and safety consultants. IOSH also provides a programme of continuing professional development for health and safety advisers.

You can study for the NEBOSH diploma full-time, part-time or by distance learning. Part one requires 172 hours of tuition and about 92 hours of private study. Part two requires some 194 hours' tuition and 100 hours of private study. The course is made up of five modules, covering the same subject areas in each part: risk management, legal and organisational factors, the workplace, work equipment and safety agencies. NEBOSH also awards the Specialist Diploma in Environmental Management, while the British Safety Council awards a Diploma in Safety Management.

Personal qualities
A high standard of written and spoken communication skills is essential, as you would have to present complex information in a straightforward way, explaining health and safety processes and procedures to a wide range of people. You would need good negotiating skills, not to mention patience and diplomacy, to convince managers of the need to implement and maintain safety standards that may compromise speed or efficiency within the organisation.

An interest in the law is needed, as is an investigative mind and the ability to understand regulations and codes of practice. You should have good IT skills, both for preparing reports and for recording and analysing statistics as the basis for spotting trends.

Looking ahead
With the right blend of business, administrative and technical skills, health and safety advisers can rise to more senior management positions. In order to develop your career, you might need to move to a larger organisation or to specialise in an area such as hazardous substances. Mandatory requirements to implement good practice in the workplace, together with increased litigation by accident victims, mean that career opportunities in health and safety are growing.

You would be most likely to work in an industrial, manufacturing or processing company. However, there are also opportunities to work in the hotel, restaurant and food industries, and for public services such as hospitals and government departments. Some health and safety advisers go on to become consultants, specialising in such areas as supporting small organisations or giving specialist advice.

Alternative suggestions
You might consider training as a health and safety inspector, environmental health officer, human resources manager or trading standards officer.

Take-home pay
Salaries vary widely, ranging from £17,500 to £20,000 in local authority work to around £46,000 in the oil and gas industries. The average for health and safety advisers in the chemicals and allied industries is £32,600, in construction £31,000 and in engineering £28,000.

Effects
Although you would be office-based, you would spend a lot of time as a health and safety adviser in the factory, plant or other working premises. In large-scale processing plants, on offshore platforms, construction sites and transportation systems, this can mean working outdoors, sometimes in extreme weather conditions. It may also involve working at heights or in cramped conditions.

A 37-hour week is usual, although you might be on standby duty in case of emergencies or accidents.