Keith Hole says it’s okay to get lost while navigating the modern profession.
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In a world where the role of the safety advisor has morphed into that of a generalist, covering everything from traditional health and safety to the environment, sustainability, governance, wellbeing, quality and more, how do you make sure you are giving your employer or clients the right advice and staying up to date with all the advancements in each of these fields? Just as it can be easy to get out of your depth when swimming at sea, how do we make sure we know when we can deal with something ourselves and when it’s time to call in reinforcements, whether it be just to act as a sounding board or to provide more detailed technical or specialist advice, and how do we know who we can trust to keep our head above water?
If you are just taking your first steps into the field of health and safety the first step is to get a good foundation. This will include a combination of technical learning and obtaining qualifications as well as getting your hands dirty a little. There is only so much you can take from text books and course material, the real development comes with experience and practice, and this is where my first piece of advice comes in. Start building your network early and try to include professionals from different aspects of your role.
Talking to those who are experienced in particular fields and provide great insight into the realities of what their roles are about and it will give you insight into which areas you may wish to focus your own development on. After all, we can’t all be great at everything. The other key aspect of getting to know key professionals is it will help build your network and will provide you with a range of people who you can get in touch with if you need help, support or just some good old fashioned advice, even if it’s just a sounding board to check you are on the right path.
If you’ve already set down some roots and are more experienced in your role then there is always scope to learn and develop. You may decide that you wish to focus more on a particular area and become one of the specialists that you had previously looked up to or; you might be happier in a general health and safety role and are keen to make sure you stay current and understand the changing landscape that little bit better.
Whichever route you follow, one of the core aspects of being a health and safety professional, in common with many other specialisms, is focusing on your Continued Professional Development or CPD. I tend to describe this as a combination of the two broad fields of CPD, passive CPD and active CPD.
Passive CPD comes in a few flavours but these tend to focus on accessing information that has been put into the public domain. This could include signing up for updates from key regulatory bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK as this will help you to keep abreast of changes in health and safety legislation and associated guidance. This can also be supplemented with other resources such as online journals and articles which can help translate these changes into real world examples. In addition, there are many professional organisations and membership bodies which you can join where you will have the opportunity to access specialist materials such as articles and training material. Some organisations will also facilitate you benchmarking your current knowledge and skills to see where you can continue to improve, such as the Blueprint CPD programme from the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
It doesn’t have to stop there either. Your passive CPD can also take the form of online videos and TV programmes which can help you broaden your knowledge, learn, grow and develop and whilst I’m on the topic, of would be remiss of me not to mention the wonderful SHP back catalogue which can provide you with historical context, showing how safety practices have evolved over time, case studies of past incidents and successes to identify potential hazards and effective prevention strategies, and what can happen when things go wrong as well as discovering proven methods and techniques that have been successful in various industries.
My counsel to you would be definitely use all of the passive resources noted above, but don’t forget the active CPD resources that are out there too. These are the ones that will challenge what you think you already know and gain different perspectives and insights into familiar and unfamiliar topics. We spoke at the beginning of this article about the need to build your network early and develop strong foundations; well, this step of active CPD is one where you can continue to grow your network and make sure that existing links remain strong.
Active CPD also comes in a variety of options, from one to one mentoring where you can learn from experienced professionals who can provide guidance and share their expertise or buddying up with another professional in a similar organisation to your own, through to attending conferences and networking events where you can meet a range of professionals from all sorts of backgrounds and specialisms. If you’re familiar with the concept of Johari’s window, you will know that you don’t know what you don’t know, and this is where active CPD can really help you develop as a professional.
The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) are particularly active in face to face meetings providing a great opportunity to network and ask questions in a safe environment over a coffee.
There’s no need to panic! My first piece of advice would be to reach out to colleagues and contacts who may have experience with similar situations. If you’re dealing with something it’s likely that one of your network or extended network will have had to do the same before. Safety has been around for a while and there are less and less that were born before the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act so believe me when I say someone has probably had the same issue before.
If they can’t help then it may be time to consult an expert. If you encounter a complex or unfamiliar issue, consider consulting with specialists in a particular field. LinkedIn can also be a great place to seek advice.
By combining the strategies covered in this article, you can continuously enhance your knowledge and skills as a modern safety advisor, ensuring that you are well-equipped to address the evolving challenges of health and safety in the workplace. Just remember, it’s OK to ask for help, and finding a trusted contact or contacts can help share the load.
Another great article. Some really helpful advice on where to look for trusted information and building a supportive network.
Thanks Lucy, none of us has all the answers, Safety is and always will be a team game. Hope you keep an eye out for my next article on Six Degrees of Separation