r/SafetyProfessionals • u/Responsible-Sea-3662 • 4d ago

EU / UK Questioning career path in H&S

Context: I was an arborist, broke my leg, landed a health and safety role at the same company.

A common theme that I keep seeing on this subreddit is burnout! With me just getting into this industry (done my NEBOSH general and FA instructor) I did some digging. From what I can see, those who have posted about burnout are working directly for a company as their health and safety spokesperson. To avoid this, should I get into consultancy?

If yes, what qualifications are required/recommended.

Thanks in advance!

3 Upvotes

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8

u/Docturdu 4d ago

Experience

3

u/blackbeardcutlass Consulting 4d ago

While I'm on the other side of the pond, I would imagine it's the same where you are. Consulting is great! But experience is really important, companies are paying for your expertise and experience. If you are lacking in that, it's hard to sell yourself to a consulting company. I would suggest experience first and foremost. Work with companies as their boots on the ground safety person, involve yourself with as many aspects of ES&H as you can.

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u/mrsic187 3d ago

All you need is an OSHA 510 and experience. Safety you have to grow or you will burnout. I lean more into the psychology aspect. The OSHA shit you can look up on Google. So the old school memorizing has lost value. Truthfully it's more about people skills. You can have 8 years of college and still suck. It's interesting to watch.

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u/eftresq 2d ago

Yep. I know 21 year old who's a health and safety grad.  His grandfather was a LEO, his Dad was a LEO and his two brothers are LEO. His personality shows it. Everyone regards him as a cop on site. 

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u/mrsic187 2d ago

I typically let those guys go. They bring a toxicity. Without trust with the men you cannot execute a real program. You get people just hiding everything. Open and allowing some tolerance builds a better program. I'm here to remove road blocks and help not be a safety pigeon. I have zero college, but years of Field experience on my tools. I use that experience to craft my program

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u/eftresq 1d ago

Yup, he has zero empathy 

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u/mrsic187 1d ago

Yeah. My company we weed them out. I'm with a large gc , top 5 type of thing and they understand that approach is cancer

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u/soul_motor Manufacturing 2d ago

First, not sure if the pun was intended, but it's great (landed). Second, you've unlocked the "Traditional Way of Becoming a Safety Person" achievement. Unfortunately, it was your injury that likely made them realize they should have a safety person, but are they willing to change their culture? If not, I'd recommend using the experience to grow your knowledge in what safety is (and isn't), and use this position as a sandbox of sorts for trying things (like influencing leaders, etc.). Chances are, you'll eventually want to move on to another company for professional growth (and that's OK). I'd look for a company with an established culture, so you can see what you want to grow towards in the next job move.