Lessons in safety - May 21

AS NEBOSH announces the launch of its new construction qualification – Health and Safety Management for Construction – experts from the industry share their advice for working and succeeding in this rewarding profession. 

James Irwin from Irwin & Colton Recruitment Experts, advises: “There’s a baseline expectation that you’ll have a relevant qualification – normally a NEBOSH certificate – plus some relevant industry experience to help you get your foot in the door for junior positions.”

For Carly Hughes, group health, safety and environment advisor at Persimmon Homes, she was able to gain both and her experience in other industries was transferrable to construction. “At 18 years old, I started off in an administration role for an oil and gas company. My employer supported me through a NEBOSH certificate, and I then moved into manufacturing; it was here that I picked up some of the experience I would need to demonstrate in my current job for a housebuilder, for example, scaffolding, plant and equipment. Just because you haven’t worked in construction doesn’t mean you don’t have some of the experience or skills they might be looking for.”

Non-technical skills

James adds: “What separates great candidates from good candidates is non-technical competences. The ability to communicate, influence, engage and get buy-in for health and safety are what clients are crying out for when they’re recruiting.”

Group HSE leader at O'Keefe Group and NEBOSH Diploma holder, Lucian D’Arco agrees: “Soft skills are key. Conflict resolution is particularly important in our industry where there are lots of different power structures. You need to be able to appreciate and listen to all viewpoints and turn that to your advantage. It’s not something that can be taught (although you’ll have management support) – you learn on the job and you have to be quite robust, especially in the early days, to learn these new skills quickly.”

Career progression 

Lucian advises: “Some of the best ways to advance is to do a lot of networking but also to choose your early roles wisely so you can maximise your experience. For example, groundworks, RC frames, temporary works, scaffolding. These types of things show scale ability, so when you’ve worked on a project that’s £50million you can apply those skills to a project of £100million, and so on. That tells a prospective employer you know what you’re talking about. Develop relationships in the industry and with recruiters (like James) who will help you find these opportunities.” 

Rachel Butler holds a NEBOSH construction certificate and is head of risk and compliance at Bruntwood. She believes existing practitioners have an important part to play in providing opportunities and guidance to people starting out in the industry: “I’ve been lucky enough to work for some inspirational leaders. They believe in themselves, but they also believe in you. They want to better other people. As health and safety professionals we have a responsibility to help others out, whether that’s as a mentor, line manager or even just supporting the development of others in our profession. 

“My advice to junior practitioners is to just ask questions – you never know where those questions will lead you and, quite often, they can lead to learning, innovations or different ways of doing things.” 

Lucian adds: “Let’s not forget, training and upskilling is something everyone should take very seriously as part of their progression. It’s also exciting – what’s not to like about education!” 

The advice in this article is taken from the NEBOSH: health and safety in construction roundtable. You can watch the full roundtable video – which covers a broad range of topics – at: https://youtu.be/5EgKuTJn_D4

The NEBOSH Health and Safety Management for Construction is available in UK and International variants. For more information about the new qualifications visit: www.nebosh.org.uk/construction-uk or www.nebosh.org.uk/construction-international

Matt Powell-Howard is head of learning & partnerships at NEBOSH. For more information, visit www.nebosh.org.uk