Health and safety - what's your job title?

In May, Norwich Union Risk Services (NURS) asked 91 visitors to Britain's biggest health and safety event - Safety and Health Expo - which person in their organisation managed health and safety? When it came to job title as many forty one different replies were received!

While 20% of those questioned mentioned their "health and safety manager" the rest came up with titles ranging from "compliance officer", "operations manager" and "human resources director" to "manager occupational hygiene", "head of risk and emergency planning" and "health, safety, environmental, quality and IT manager".

"The study suggests that in many places of work, people managing health and safety have a broad range of other responsibilities," said John Phillips, NURS training and consultancy manager.

"Although some may interpret this as meaning UK employers don't see health and safety as important enough to warrant the attention of a dedicated person, I'm not sure this is the case.

"To begin with, we found a significant proportion of those managing occupational safety and health were operating at director level. Also, when asked if a member of the board was ultimately responsible for health and safety, only 6% said no."

What qualifications?

The research also revealed that almost three quarters of those responsible for health and safety had a relevant professional qualification such as a NEBOSH Diploma or Certificate.

"It was clear from the study that others were on the path to receiving higher level qualifications. However, a significant minority - around 10% - had no health and safety qualifications to speak of," said John Phillips.

At the same time, 70% of those questioned said their organisation asked for proof of occupational health and safety training among their contractors and suppliers.

"Recent research commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) found that companies with managers who were poorly trained in health and safety had eight times more accidents at work," said John.

"Investing in training for anyone with health and safety responsibilities is not only a good way of demonstrating competence to others, but can also reduce injuries or the likelihood of fatalities at work."

NURS is one of the country's leading providers of health and safety training courses, offering introductory seminars right through to NEBOSH National Diploma level qualifications. Click here for more information.