Why Choose a Career in Health and Safety

If you’re considering a career where you can make a difference daily, a career in Health and Safety might just be one of the best career choices you could make.

In this article, we review the benefits of a career in health and safety and show you how to get started.

Learn how to become a Health and Safety expert

The benefits of a career in health and safety

Do you want to make a real difference to others lives in your workplace? A career in health and safety would make a logical choice, as you can train relatively quickly, and gain all the essential skills required to succeed as a Health and Safety Officer or HSE Manager.

As with many other jobs, life in health and safety can be very rewarding, especially if you already have an interest in this sector.

A career in health and safety offers a highly rewarding profession, which involves supporting health, wellbeing, and keeping employees safe. You may even save lives!

Typical benefits that come from working in health and safety include:

• Job satisfaction – You can feel good knowing you have made a positive difference in someone’s life.
• Great career prospects – Businesses have started to invest more in the occupational safety and health, meaning more jobs are becoming available all the time (especially with the outbreak of COVID-19).
• Simple concepts and principles to learn and remember.
• There are always new challenges to overcome, and no two days will feel the same.
• A career in health and safety can open the door to international travel and working abroad.

Find out more: Should I study IOSH or NEBOSH?

What makes a good health and safety professional?

Communication - To have a successful career in health and safety, you must be a great communicator, be empathetic and trust your intuition. It’s so important to be a ‘people person’ who can understand the needs of a diverse group of employees, right through to senior management.

Analytical Skills - It also pays to be analytical and proactive, with a keen attention to detail, as risk assessments and identifying hazards are a fundamental part of organisational health and safety.

Drive - You must have the drive to keep learning. Throughout your career you will face many different challenges, so it’s essential to have the right skills and knowledge to handle any situation.

Empathy - You must understand how people feel and think. You will need to be a great communicator and engage with people at all levels.

How to start a career in health in safety

Whether you’re just starting out or considering a career change into another area of health and safety, there are a few good routes for you to take to get started.

Option 1 – Earn a university degree. This option is not a necessary requirement for a career in health and safety, especially as you are likely to study an IOSH or NEBOSH qualification during your studies, which you can take on its own (see below).

Option 2 – Use a training provider to study an IOSH or NEBOSH qualification (Recommended). As a training provider, we can offer you high quality IOSH and NEBOSH training courses, held in Virtual Classrooms, so you can attend from anywhere in the world.

Our training options include:

• IOSH Working Safely
• IOSH Managing Safely
• NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety
• NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health & Safety

Option 3 – Start in an entry-level job role that doesn’t require any formal qualifications and work your way up. As you start to progress, you will need to undertake some formal studies to earn your industry-recognised certificates, to be accepted for more senior job roles.

Find out more: What is IOSH?

Find out more: What is NEBOSH?

Typical job roles and salaries

Once you have earned your professional qualifications, you can apply to work in one of the below job roles:

• Health and Safety Co-ordinator - £23,000
• Health and Safety Officer - £30,000
• Health and Safety Adviser - £34,000
• Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Inspector - £35,505
• Health and Safety Manager - £37,000
• Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Specialist - £37,600
• Environment, Health and Safety Manager - £41,000
• Senior Health and Safety Adviser - £45,000

(Source: Payscale)

To see if a career in health and safety is right for you, contact our Health and Safety Course Consultants on +44 (0) 20 3198 7700, and they will talk you through the different training options based on your career goals. Alternatively, fill out our contact form and someone will get back to you shortly. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do you want to work in safety?

One of the main reasons why you might consider a career in health and safety is if you have a desire to help those around you. No matter what industry you work in, accidents happen, and it would be your job to help prevent these accidents. You can gain a huge sense of achievement and pride in your work, knowing that you have the potential to save lives. Salaries also tend to be above average in this industry and there is the chance of international travel and working abroad, which also makes it an appealing career choice.

Is health and safety a good career choice?

Absolutely! Even if you go into this career without a keen interest in helping people or for other altruistic reasons, this is a great career choice for many people irrespective of your background.

Why is health and safety important?

Having a dedicated health and safety professional in your business, you can help protect your colleagues, reduce absences, and ensure your workplace is more productive and efficient. Helping to reduce down-time caused by accidents or illness ultimately means less disruption, which will save your business money.