Three amigos

Following the feature on graduate careers in September 2008, Luke Blewett, Chris McCarthy, and Marcus Butcher, who met while studying for HS&E-related degrees at the University of the West of England, look back at the choices they made and the experiences they have had, post-university. 

Name: Luke Blewett
Age: 27
Current role: District council EHO

“I left school and went straight to college and then on to university — with, to be honest, not a clue about what I wanted to do with my life. What I did know was that I didn’t fancy a full-time job, and certainly didn’t want to go into the forces, as regularly suggested by my father.

“During my four years of study for a qualification in the hospitality sector I came across environmental health officers on a few occasions. The job seemed more interesting than what I was studying at the time but I persevered and finished my training. I worked in the hospitality industry for a few more months but quickly realised it wasn’t for me.

“I took a year out and went back to university, eventually gaining a degree in environmental health and, of course, I met Chris and Marcus. As time went on, I found I was more interested in Chris’s course than my own, as it was based more specifically on the health and safety elements rather than the broad surface we seemed to skim.

“I managed to get a placement the same year as Chris and Marcus — a stroke of luck, as they were hard to come by, and paid ones were rarer than hens’ teeth! Fortunately for me, Bristol City Council received some late funding, which helped to half-pay for a year’s worth of training with them.

“This year out was invaluable. I learned a whole host of things about environmental health that hadn’t been touched on at university but, most importantly, thanks to a superb team, I was shown how health and safety really works within local authorities. The officers showed me how they worked with local companies, and how to react in sometimes difficult circumstances.

“Consequently, I returned to university with renewed vigour and set about completing my final year in 2007.

“I got a job at a district council in its environmental protection team but, not long after, I was offered a secondment to the food and health and safety team. Suddenly, the teachings from Bristol and Mr Bove returned and guided me through even the most difficult inspections.

“My role involves participating in routine workplace health and safety inspections and accident investigations, and I am always striving to improve employee conditions and trying to make a difference to those working in unsafe conditions. To people in Marcus and Chris’s roles I am the ‘big, bad man’ that comes around, always at the most inconvenient time, who is always picking up on things that aren’t really relevant, or nit-picking!

“The real reason I enjoy meeting up with Chris and Marcus (the careful sampling of alcohol beverage levels, checking of light fixtures in clubs, and occasional close-up inspection of the underside of toilet rims aside) is that they have a fresh approach to health and safety that I often don’t see when I am out at work. They genuinely care about the improvement of health and safety in their workplaces, and we can often discuss with each other new developments and how ideas can be implemented within our different sectors. It also helps my physical work development, as we often discuss their personal interaction with visiting officers, and what is good and bad about alternative approaches.

“For the future, I would like to work for the private sector at some point — Marcus and Chris make it sound easy! — as it will give me the opportunity to see both sides of the fence. It would also be nice to be able to make changes and not just enforce them all the time.

“The only issue I have with this line of work is it is too hard to get into. I have found so many barriers to leap and hoops to jump through that I don’t know anyone who, at some point, doesn’t question if it’s all really worth it. For me I owe most of what I have achieved to a very supportive group of officers that has trained me along the way.”

Name: Chris McCarthy
Age: 23
Current role: EHS manager, HJ Heinz Co Ltd

“I originally became interested in a career in safety when I did my A Level business studies project within HJ Heinz on the employee perception of risk management across Europe. When it came down to choosing my degree options some 12 months later, I decided to go for the safety degree.

“At the University of the West of England in Bristol I met Marcus and Luke, and we soon discovered it’s a tough life being a safety student when you find yourself staying in most nights, unable to resist the temptation of checking that fire exits are clear in the halls of residence, and being careful to be never seen out on the town, of course!

“As part of my degree I did a sandwich year, alongside Marcus, as a student EHO in Wiltshire — an experience that confirmed that the government/enforcement side of things probably wasn’t going to be for me. Throughout the rest of my degree I was lucky enough to work on small projects and obtain holiday work with the risk management team at the Heinz plant in Wigan. This is where I got my first real taste of what it would be like working in a factory EHS team, completing audits and risk assessments, and generally observing how a factory of that size runs, from a safety point of view. At the time, Heinz was implementing its safety management system, the Heinz Risk Management Process (RMP). As a result, I gained good insight into how Heinz ‘do safety’.

“After university, and a short stint within the EHS team at GE Aviation, I took on the health and safety manager role at the Heinz factory in Kendal. One of my main tasks was to try to positively affect the safety culture and bring home the importance of reporting near-miss incidents through re-emphasisng the importance of ownership of safety throughout the workforce. The site had a good management team, which really helped me achieve our short-term goals. More importantly, I feel the guys on the shop floor re-evaluated their efforts regarding safety and, when I left, we were at the point where issues were not just being openly reported and raised but a solution was also offered from the guys, which was great to see.

“After Kendal I moved to the Heinz Leamington Spa factory, where I have been for some months now. We are looking at similar challenges as those faced in Kendal but, again, I feel the structure that is in place offers a real chance to make some good progress. It is all about making sure we get some good work done at the end of the day.

“In the long run I want to keep doing what I am doing now, and continue to gain experience. In all honesty, I think that’s much more important than accreditations, qualifications and letters after your name. While you do need qualifications in many cases to get experience, they are like your passport, in a way.

“I have developed a real interest in the sustainability drive within our company, and our participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (this has also put an end to the silence between myself and Luke, as we have something to talk about now!) On the health side of things I saw a few of the guys at Kendal achieve some good times in the Great North Run this year, so there is some interesting stuff going on in all areas!

“It’s always good catching up with Marcus and Luke (again, while surveying fire exits in local bars, obviously) and discussing the differences we face in the different sectors and areas in which we have ended up working. That said, I reckon we all face the same challenges — as do most people reading this today. We should all be proud of the progress we have made in making workplaces safer in this country.

“When I opted for a safety degree, which was only a few years ago, I didn’t have that many options in terms of courses or locations. Thankfully, there is now plenty of choice, and it’s great to see young professionals purposely going into operational risk management from the start of their career. The key now is to give these graduates the opportunities they need so they can further their knowledge and understanding.”

Name: Marcus Butcher
Age: 31
Current role: Safety officer, Medical Research Council

“Although I did well at school, I couldn’t wait to leave and get a job. At that time I couldn’t think of any courses I’d want to study at university, so I couldn’t see much point carrying on with A-levels — I just wanted to earn some money.

“After working full-time for a year, I started to realise that I needed to carry on in education if I was going to get a job where I could really achieve something and make a difference. I started A-levels again but carried on working part-time — spending nine months working as a temp for a variety of food factories and warehouses.

“After completing my A-levels I carried on working full-time and, after a few years, I felt I had enough savings to pay some of the costs of university, and so looked into a subject that would be both interesting and of use in the future.

“During my time working I had developed an interest in health and safety and food safety (I’d seen several accidents and some filthy kitchens in my time, and wanted to be able to do something about them), so I looked into careers that involved both of those. This is how I found out about environmental health, which led me to a BSc in the subject (but first I had to spend a year studying on an access course, as my A-levels weren’t enough).

“During the first year of the course in Bristol I’d rather have been out doing anything other than learning about volcanoes and black holes, but I kept going. I was also helped out by Chris, Luke and a few other students, who viewed this year in a similar sardonic way as myself.

“Things improved in the second year, when we started learning the ‘real’ environmental health stuff. It didn’t take me long to realise that health and safety was my preferred topic, although I still enjoyed the food safety and environmental protection parts of the course.

“At the last moment I decided to apply for a work placement instead of going straight into the final year of the degree — the draw of work was too strong to resist! I really enjoyed working for the two district councils with whom I spent the year, but I found that there weren’t many opportunities to focus on health and safety.

“After completing the degree I found a vacancy as safety advisor with the Medical Research Council, where the possibility of working in a small team responsible for 450 people carrying out research into cures for a wide variety of illnesses was irresistible.

“As soon as I started working for the MRC I attended further courses to gain knowledge on subjects such as ionising radiation and biological safety. This has given me a better insight into the work going on there, and has enabled me to apply my general health and safety knowledge to the work environment’s specific hazards.

“Contrary to what Luke says, I don’t view a visit from an enforcement officer as ‘the bad guy’ turning up — partly owing to my prior experience in an enforcement role, and partly because the possibility of an inspection can be a useful tool when trying to achieve compliance within an organisation. I have carried out inspections with my PACE notebook in hand and, while I know it can seem intimidating, I also know that an inspector will make recommendations on improvements that can be made, and will view everything with a different perspective — this can be invaluable.

“As an advisor trying to make constant improvements in the safety and health of the employees of my organisation it can be frustrating to keep meeting resistance from a minority, who seem to think you’re trying to stop them from working, when you are actually trying to ensure they can keep working, and that nobody suffers ill health or injury due to their work.

“Within the MRC, each research group appoints a safety supervisor, who looks after the day-to-day health and safety within their group. A large part of my job is arranging training for them and regularly liaising with them — a working relationship, which, in addition to regular audits, helps ensure the research on site is carried out as safely as possible.

“Nights (or weekends) out with Luke and Chris are always a good laugh but we have to make some effort to avoid discussing health and safety too much — it can be difficult to ignore the dodgy flooring in a pub! Having said that, it is also useful to discuss ideas with people with a different viewpoint — and Chris, Luke and I certainly approach health and safety matters from different angles!

“I have found that membership of professional bodies, particularly IOSH, is essential if you want to progress within the health and safety field — there are lots of opportunities for continuing professional development to keep your knowledge up to date, and it’s a great way to network with other professionals.”