HSE People is proud to be working with a team of Champions to raise the profile of the HSE industry and to support our members. Today we speak with Jenny Darlington, a Health and Safety Consultant for Ridge and Partners LLP.
What is your job title, where do you work and what do you do?
Health and Safety Consultant for Ridge and Partners LLP based in the Liverpool Office. I act as Principal Designer and CDM Advisor to a multitude of Clients across the country for a variety of different schemes. It definitely doesn’t get boring!
How did you get started in HSE?
I was a project manager predominantly working on engineering and construction projects on the River Mersey and Mersey Tunnels. Due to the nature of the works, safety is a critical factor in high risk projects such as these and my interest in safety was piqued. So, I signed up for my NEBOSH General and Construction certificates back in 2017, passed them and it’s gone from there!
Why did you want to become an HSE People Champion?
I’m passionate about getting people interested in health and safety and bringing new people into the profession as a first choice career. Changing the historical ‘old boys club folk with clipboards’ image that people have is important and I want to show people what a rewarding and enjoyable career choice it can be. We don’t all have clipboards and a red pen!
Who or what inspires you?
This might sound like a cocky answer but I’m going to say me! After staying in the same company for 25 years from the age of 16 until I left in 2020, never in a million years did I expect to be where I am now at 44 years old, in a profession I love with letters after my name, people contacting me for advice and following my journey on LinkedIn. I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved and it’s not stopping there. My new mentor and I have just agreed to publish our mentoring journey on LinkedIn for people to follow in the hope that it will inspire others. So yeah, that sounds like a big headed answer but my answer is me 🙂
What are you excited about for 2023?
After being in my current job for only 3 months, I’m really looking forward to continuing developing my role and also continuing to promote safety across social media, with the added help of a HSE People Champion Badge!
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
Flying – beats getting stuck in traffic but as long as I could have a magic bag to take all of my PPE to site with me too
Describe yourself in three words.
Confident, supportive, influencer (well I try my best anyway!)
Thank you for your time Jenny, we’re looking forward to getting to know you even more!
