HSE People - Health and Safety Community

hi all . just looking for a bit of advise from some of you senior h&s pros ,

ive just come out of the building game ,20 years on site experience .
so decided to put my self through the nebosh construction cert
passed in jan 11 , ive gone straight into the nebosh diploma which im
finding no real problem . probably thanks to the grounding i got from the
general .

question is guys , would you recommend the training route ive gone for ?
i would like to get away from construction if possible ,
but having said that ,its all i know .
would like to be a profesional h&s safety practitioner .

could do with some reassurance really thats all .

cheers paul

Paul

Obviously with your background in construction, working in H&S in construction would be a natural fit with your work experience. However if you wish to broaden your horizons then you need to get experience in an industry that interests you. This can be a chicken and egg affair.

Having said that have you considered a sideways move (for starters) into Facilities Management, this is allied to construction and has many similar trades. Similarly the Oil & Gas industry has a construction sector. This involves modifications to exisiting platforms, installing new accommodation modules, process plant, or utilities (power, water production, compression turbines). Getting experience here would enable you to move across into oil & gas proper.

Each industry wants people with experience of that industry, they don't want to employ someone who is going to take 6 months to a year to understand what is going on around them, learn the industry jargon etc. You have to look at your career and see how it can be made relevant to the jobs you apply for.

Lastly, on completing your diploma you need to be in work, even in the construction industry, to convert the Diploma to CMIOSH. I think this takes about 2 years. This is relatively rare professional qualification and will put you at the top of the pile for the rest of your career in H&S.

Good luck with the Diploma.

Regards

Richard Brown

richard .
thanks very much for your reply , ive been looking up your ideas and these have opened my eyes to further options , again thanks ,
I will be looking into these options in detail , but in the imidiate term im just glad ive chosen the diploma to get firstly . in the meantime its knocking down doors to get speak to people .

thanks paul