Rhaynukaa Soni Grad IOSH, Dip RSA, MIIRSM, RLS Consultants Ltd
A key requirement of any health and safety legislation in the UK is ensuring there are competent people to carry out the specific task or role. Equally, competency is heavily relied on when recruiting within the sector.
As I’m sure many of you will already know, competency is a three-pronged approach: knowledge, experience and qualifications. Some argue that knowledge and experience often go hand-in-hand: as you gain more experience your knowledge of that field grows.
Knowledge can also be improved through qualifications. Out of the three prongs, qualifications are usually the quickest to gain and quite often there are safety professionals with a multitude of letters behind their name before they reach 35.
It is for this reason that I sincerely believe, as an industry, we are now in a place where far more importance is being placed on qualifications, over and above that for experience or knowledge.
When studying for and subsequently teaching the NEBOSH General and Construction Certificate, I was shocked to see how many people had been sent on the course on the proviso that upon completion they would be qualified and ready to take on the role of health and safety advisor/manager within their organisation.
There was no mention of additional training, support, mentoring or even a gradual development of experience and knowledge. They believed that completing the NEBOSH General Certificate alone would be sufficient to take on the mammoth task of a health and safety advisor/manager.
Personally, I have completed a NVQ Level 5 in Occupational Health and Safety and strongly advocate it over the more commonly sought after NEBOSH Diploma. The main reason for this is that whilen the NEBOSH Diploma covers a lot of necessary theory, there is very little practical element, as opposed to the NVQ, which is entirely evidence-based.
Evidence for each and every section is required, reviewed by the trainer and then audited by an independent examiner. This, in my opinion, puts me in better stead to tell employers and colleagues that I have actual experience of carrying out the required tasks.
Equally, when I look at my peers and colleagues I find it intriguing that there are those who have been in the industry for 20/30 years with the letters CMIOSH after their name and I, within five years of joining the industry, can earn the same status as they have.
I find it slightly disconcerting when, at least on paper, it appears that I am on par with some of the more learned and experienced veterans of health and safety. Surely we should be putting more emphasis on experience rather than qualifications?
IOSH is a great organisation and I strongly believe the profession needs it. However, as industries have progressed, working practices developed, regulations reviewed and equipment improved, we should regularly look at the current criteria for these qualifications to ensure that they are relevant, and ensure both practitioners and employers are not focusing on qualifications above experience and/or knowledge.
This is especially true when looking at IOSH and the current grading structure and qualifications offered. As well as completing my NVQ, in order to gain Grad IOSH status I was required to complete my CPD. Again, most will be familiar with this as it forms the basis of progression throughout all grades.
Though initially I found the whole idea daunting, once I had spoken to someone within IOSH, I actually questioned the true value of it. At present, updating your CPD simply means keeping an informal record of your experience throughout the year. As long as this is regularly updated at least once a year and the membership fee is paid, your membership will remain intact or be upgraded appropriately.
Although in essence the CPD looks to be a diary of your experience in sorts, as long as you can put together a few sentences to convince IOSH you have been actively involved in health and safety, that will suffice. No actual evidence is required; it relies on integrity and trust. While this is no bad thing, I question the true value of this when in today’s commercial world, people are always looking for a shortcut when climbing the ladder.
Rather than reforming the entire qualification system one option would be to review and revise the current CPD system. By putting a greater emphasis on experience and demonstration of practical skills, this would prove to be a far better tool for both employees and employers. Some way of capturing what work has been done and verification from peers, senior management or potential clients would give the system greater gravitas.
Whilst everyone working towards their CMIOSH title should follow the same stringent guidelines set out by IOSH, I do wonder if it is now time to review them, to see if they completely reflect the role of our modern safety practitioner? Or perhaps the solution is to educate employers on the importance of experience?
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I have been a H&S professional for 7years, I pushed myself to gain NEBOSH General, and Construction before taking the NEBOSH Dip. I gained experience through working on the tools in construction before getting to be a General Foreman. I was headhunted into my H&S role because of this experience. It’s imperrative to have knowledge but it’s a catch 22 in some circumstances as my Son will find out on leaving the RAF to join H&S as a career path.Companies need fresh faces to mentor and mould them to thier ethics you could call it investing in the future. Like… Read more »
I guess the real question is, for those who are in the employer-position, how much do you rate experience over qualification? Experience is very important but can an individual actually do the job without the right qualifications and knowledge. You need Qualifications to get the job; and you need experience to do the job. It’s a combination of both education and experience to show employers that you are a well-rounded balanced, individual. Aren’t Qualifications seen as a way of guaranteeing knowledge? I believe employers would prefer a qualified person, usually with a preference at Chartered level or an individual aiming… Read more »
While there is relevancy to the author’s comments, I disagree that the NVQ is the correct route to take – it certainly wasn’t right for me. I think there needs to be a balance of practical skills and academic rigour. I think what is required is a qualification which encourages both. Controversial question: Some other institutes do not recognise purely vocational qualifications – should IOSH do the same?
I agree entirely with Tim’s comments. Although I have picked up qualifications along the way in my 35 years as a safety adviser, I still see young, well educated people making glaring errors because of poor judgement. Every safety professional should rely on experiences they have had. Safety is sadly an area where we can’t just learn from our mistakes. Our mistakes may maim or kill. We then come to the age old question “how can I get a job if I haven’t got experience?”. Shadowing and taking time out to supervise is the answer but… what professional has the… Read more »
A great read and some really interesting comments. From a recruiters perspective, employers want qualifications and experience. They are increasingly focused on the softer skills that allow the best safety professionals to not just know the law and how to implement it but to engage people in a meaningful way and achieve real results. These soft skills can’t be measured in either years of experience or level of qualification. How do you measure or identify them?
Not all of us are lucky enough to have landed that one H&S role which would allow us to build up our experience, despite being very well qualified. I’m also Grad IOSH, and have spent a great deal of time, money and effort gaining my qualifications. I also decided not to do the NEBOSH diploma, but instead chose to do a professional qualification which is a level 5/6 with the Environmental element being a level 7. Also, not all H&S professionals are wet behind the ears/youngsters. Some of us are of the more mature variety, so we don’t lack life… Read more »
Completely agree with these comments – I don’t think for a minute that qualifications are negative. I strongly believe they enhance knowledge and experience. I do feel though we need to reassess the importance we are putting on qualifications and instead also consider those with experience – Chris your son will have a wealth of life experience that I am sure is invaluable to the industry let’s use it!
I’m all for more emphasis on experience being given much more weight when assessing competence. Sadly, it seems that we are moving away from this as a speed that will be difficult to overcome. In construction, the major decisions are now being made by young people with lots of qualifications but precious little real experience. Even the NASC is (apparently successfully) pushing for ‘competent’ to be replaced by ‘qualified’ in the Working at Height Regulations. I fear that we will end up with a lot of ‘qualified’ people who, because of a lack of experience, are fundementally incompetent – look… Read more »