Becoming a health and safety consultant is a career built on freedom, variety and the satisfaction of genuinely helping businesses stay safe. Whether you are just starting out, ready for a change or thinking about coming back from retirement, it is never too early or too late to retrain. Here is what the job involves day to day, the traits that suit it, the value you would bring to your clients and the qualifications that will get you started.

Are you looking for a job that will take you places, last for the long run, give you flexibility and pay the bills? Training to become a health and safety consultant can do all of that, and more.

Do not let the idea of trying something new put you off. You have probably picked up a lot of the skills the role needs already, from education or previous jobs, including communication, teamwork and time management, to name a few.

To see why this career could give you the freedom and independence you have been looking for, keep reading.

Consultancy: Freedom and Independence

As a health and safety consultant, your job is to give businesses expert advice that improves the way they work.

If you have only ever been in education or employment, setting out on your own might feel daunting. It needn’t be. The right health and safety training gives you the knowledge and recognised qualifications to make a success of it. Knowing some of the benefits of consultancy helps too.

  • Flexible working. Once you are set up, you choose when you work to fit the life you want, so you can build a proper work-life balance.
  • Choose your people. As your consultancy grows, so does your client base. Working for yourself, you get to choose who you work with and when.
  • Work that is valued. The businesses you support will value what you have to say, because you are the expert in the room.
  • Better control of your income. When you work for yourself, you have more say over your rates and your earnings. A look at what others charge helps you pitch it right, so you never come up short.
  • High demand. Any large, high-risk or complex business, from manufacturers to construction firms and warehouses, needs expert health and safety advice to reduce risk. You will rarely be short of work.

What Traits Suit a Career as a Health and Safety Consultant?

People skills are a must. Your whole purpose is to keep people safe, so you need to enjoy working with them. You will also need to be adaptable, working alongside all sorts of individuals, each with their own way of doing things.

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People skills matter more than almost anything else in this job. Your whole purpose is to keep people safe, so if you are not a people person, it probably is not the role for you. Most of the technical side can be taught, but being trusted is what wins the work.

Some of the other traits that suit the role include:

  • Self-motivation. If you want to build a successful consultancy, you are the one who makes that happen.
  • Vigilance. It is your job to spot the areas of a business that need improving, so you cannot afford to let things slip.
  • Attention to detail. A good consultant looks closely at the details to make things as safe as they can be.
  • Confidence. People may question what you tell them, so believing in your own judgement keeps you on track.
  • Curiosity. When you dig beneath the surface to investigate properly and solve problems, you build a reputation for being thorough.
  • A level head. Being able to work under pressure helps you stay calm and focused when situations get stressful.

The Life of a Health and Safety Consultant

Which days and hours you work is up to you, but when you are working, expect to be busy. Manage your workload well and that is a good thing. It keeps you motivated and makes you more productive.

The role is equal parts paperwork and practical work, which makes for a varied week. A typical one might involve:

  • Running your office, including admin, marketing and the day-to-day of a business.
  • Speaking with clients, current and potential, to understand their needs and make sure you are meeting them.
  • Managing your schedule, from client meetings to site visits and everything in between.
  • Visiting clients, because properly assessing a business’s health and safety means seeing it in person.
  • Delivering training to give staff the health and safety knowledge they need.
  • Creating documentation, as every consultant has their own branded policies, procedures and protocols.

What Types of Organisation Might You Work With?

A start-up might call on you to make sure they have everything in order before they open. An established business might need you to put things right after something has gone wrong.

Larger companies often bring in a consultant for a single project, or to oversee their in-house health and safety team. As an outsider with fresh eyes, you are more likely to spot processes that need refreshing, or that are missing altogether.

Smaller businesses without their own health and safety team may take you on for the long term to act on their behalf, keeping the right paperwork and procedures in place, looking into issues as they arise and handling their compliance records.

There are also opportunities to join a team of like-minded consultants on larger events, working together towards a shared result.

The Value You Bring to the Businesses You Work With

Understanding the difference you make for clients is what turns a good consultant into one who is always in demand. When a business brings in a health and safety consultancy, here is the value you deliver.

  • Fewer accidents and injuries. A proactive approach cuts how often accidents happen and how serious they are. By carrying out thorough assessments, you find hazards in a workplace’s layout, equipment and processes, then recommend fixes and tailored procedures to reduce the risk. That protects people and reduces the cost of accidents, from medical bills to lost time.
  • Stronger morale and engagement. People care about feeling safe and valued at work. You help build a positive safety culture by getting staff involved in safety initiatives, opening up conversations about hazards and providing ongoing training, so employees take ownership of their own safety and their colleagues’.
  • Higher productivity and lower costs. Accidents disrupt operations and cost time. By preventing them and supporting a healthy workforce, you help clients keep things running smoothly. The cost of safety improvements is usually small next to the potential losses from a serious accident.
  • Expertise and objectivity. You bring a fresh perspective and real expertise, spotting the blind spots internal teams miss and giving objective recommendations based on best practice. That is especially valuable for smaller businesses that cannot dedicate a full-time person to health and safety.

Qualifications and Certification

A few different training routes can kick-start your career as a consultant. Some of the most sought-after include:

  • NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety
  • NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety
  • Highfield Level 4 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace
  • IOSH Managing Safely

If you are wondering where to begin, the IOSH Managing Safely course and the Highfield Level 4 Award in Health and Safety are two of the most recognised routes in. IOSH qualifications in particular are widely respected across UK industry, as you can see on the IOSH website.

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Get IOSH Managing Safely or the Highfield Level 4 Award under your belt first. One of those gives you a solid, recognised foundation to build a consultancy on, and it reassures clients from the very first conversation.

Ready to Take the First Step?

Becoming a health and safety consultant gives you the freedom, independence and variety that so many careers cannot. If you are ready to take the first step, our health and safety training courses will give you the knowledge and recognised qualifications to build a career you will love.