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  by Adrian Woon 1 year ago

  David
  
  Having just read your blog I can honestly add + 1 to that. I have been going through a similar experience. Although I have not yet reached 50, my age was definitely counting against me.
  
  I was made redundant from my CDMC role. I did have a couple of short term H&S contract roles, but eventually the work dried up and was unemployed for 15 months. I attended numerous interviews and eventually took up employment in a non H&S position with a high street retailer. Two years later I have finally managed to secure an interview for an H&S Advisors role. Here's hoping I'll be successful and be offered the position.
  
  I wish you all the best and sincerely hope that you will get a good H&S role in due course.
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  by Khawaja Azmatullah 2 years ago

  Good, so you are one of the luckiest guy to join this site, i recently come to know about this site and when join i found it very informative site.
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  by David Passmore 2 years ago

  It's a while since I have posted anything on here or indeed visited the site, and it is good to see the membership has increased with some great features to boot.
  
  I was one of the first members to join this site and I am delighted to be part of an ever increasing membership.
  
  Now some may ask (many will undoubtedly not care), as to why I have been away for so long - well..........
  
  When this site was first launched, I had recently lost my job as a Health & Safety Officer and I used the forums etc. to contact others with the aim of assisting in job searching.
  
  My sector was primarily manufacturing/warehouse/distribution, but unfortunately, it was those sectors along with construction that bore the brunt of the recession and positions in those industries were just few and far between - certainly here in the North East of England.
  
  Sure, I had interviews for safety roles that were unfortunately unsuccessful; however, some of those companies became victims of the recession and now no longer exist.
  
  I have been working in some 'non safety' roles - some bad - some truly awful, but the upshot of that is that I have met some great people.
  
  I just became disillusioned by the whole Health & Safety profession after my last experience of a job interview in a very 'soft' safety position which I obviously did not get and I decided I had just had enough. I won't bore you with the details but I just could not believe a company could treat someone with such disdain following a second interview.
  
  Obviously, not the professions fault, but I was getting fed up of applying for jobs and getting no response, I had a second interview for a safety position in which I was expecting a job offer only to be told that no job existed, I can go on with tales of woe!
  
  After one interview in particular, I was told by a very junior HR member of a large education establishment that I had only been selected for interview to 'satisfy the organisations audit on recruitment diversity'.
  
  Certainly, being the wrong side of 50 certainly does not help and I can assure you that age discrimination in recruitment is still alive and kicking.
  
  I can hear you say well why don't you improve your chances of getting a safety position instead of blaming everyone but yourself? - And that is a valid argument and one I have attempted to address.
  
  I have enquired everywhere for funding or assistance to attain NEBOSH diploma status, however, blood and stone come to mind. The course at my nearest centre would cost over five grand which is difficult to justify to my wife when after such an outlay would not guarantee me a job and would certainly put a hole in our savings when I have no regular income.
  
  Now recently I have been working for an organisation (albeit intermittently) and although it is in a non safety role, I was recently asked if I would undertake some risk assessments (COSHH & Fire) and implement safe systems of work for certain areas of the facility. I got paid the commensurate rate which was also appreciated.
  
  This incidentally was not done as a sort of consultancy arrangement, but I was employed directly and therefore I did not have issues such as PLI to address.
  
  It was then that after doing this work that I realised how much I missed my former job.
  
  I have been keeping up to date on legislation etc. since my redundancy and I read the monthly 'trade mags' that I get from a friend and I am now seriously considering going for the Diploma.
  
  Sure, if I proceed with this, it will not guarantee me a job as I have already alluded to, but I really need something to stop my brain cells diminishing and retain my sanity – those in similar positions will understand where I am coming from!
  
  I am sure there are many others in such a predicament and your thoughts would be appreciated.
  
  Update.
  
  I am currently on secondment as a Health & Safety Advisor within the catering department of Durham University. Any tips for this sector would be appreciated.

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