Health and safety is considered one of the most important jobs you can get in the NHS. The role of a healthy and safety office is to minimise any risks to the patients, healthcare staff, as well as visitors. Health and safety officers have to ensure that safety regulations and being complied with. They also actively promote safety awareness to prevent workplace accidents. If you’re passionate about health and safety, this might be the right healthcare career for you. This article is to guide you on how to become a health and safety officer in the UK.
First things first, in case you aren’t familiar with health and safety officer responsibilities and duties, we’re here to guide you on what kind of job description your health and safety officer position will have.
Health And Safety Officer Roles And Responsibilities
As a health and safety officer, your job description is focused on ensuring that security standards are being complied with and that any risk to the patient, staff and visitors is minimised. The NHS has made a list of roles and responsibilities of a health and safety officer; take a look:
- Inspecting buildings.
- Developing health and safety policies and procedures.
- Providing necessary training to the staff.
- Ensuring that the staff follows the safety procedures.
- Investigating various incidents regarding health and safety.
So, these are the various roles and responsibilities that a health and safety officer has to fulfil.
You might’ve noticed that one of the responsibilities of a health and safety officer is investigating incidents, what is a health and safety officer tasked with investigating?
- Infection control
- Safeguarding vulnerable people
- Implementing protocols to deal with a hazardous substance
- Violence and abuse
- Lifting or carrying something
- Food hygiene control
This is what a day in your life as a health and safety officer will look like. Now that you’re familiar with what the job is, you might be wondering about what kind of qualifications you need to become a health and safety officer.
Health And Safety Officer Qualifications
In order to become a health and safety officer, you will need a qualification in health and safety; this is often a degree-level certification. The NHS has provided a list of all the various certifications that qualify you as a health and safety officer. Take a look:
- NEBOSH international diploma in occupational health and safety.
- Level-6 diploma in applied health and safety from NCRQ.
- Occupational safety and health or environmental health degree.
- Postgraduate Diploma or Masters’s degree.
If you have either one of these certifications, you possess the qualifications to apply for a health and safety officer job.
Qualifications are not the only requirement that is asked from a health and safety officer; you also need a set of skills that the NHS has listed:
- Passionate about health and safety
- Willingness to follow protocol
- Ability to train staff, no matter the level
- Ability to prioritise tasks
- Willingness to work under pressure
- Staying calm in stressful situations
- Writing reports
- Managing time
- Skilled in planning and organising
If you possess these skills, being a health and safety officer is the right career path for you!
At this point, you might be wondering about what kind of benefits and salary you’re looking at as a health and safety officer.
Benefits and Salary
Working for the NHS, you’ll be starting on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay structure as a band 5 healthcare professional. Senior health and safety positions can get up to band 6.
You’ll be working 37.5 hours a week in different shifts and, of course, 27 annual holidays.
Conclusion
Health and safety officers have a lot of important responsibilities, and if you’re passionate about safety and want a career in healthcare, this is the perfect job for you. We have done our best to answer your question about how to become a health and safety officer, and we hope that you now know the various qualifications and responsibilities of a health and safety officer. If you need help finding the perfect health and safety officer job for you, we can help you look for the right one! Primus Recruitment has years of experience in healthcare placements. Get in touch with us now!
