I worked for Chiltern Consulting for three and a half years during which time I was involved with the majority of their major clients.  My role was wide and varied but included working with the customers from ‘the ground up’ in respect of their individual requirements.  The business concerned itself mainly with the leisure industry within the UK but also spread its customer base into other areas such as catering and retail outlets. My responsibilities there included initial site surveys where there may be little or no established policy in place, working with clients to develop a Health and Safety policy of their own along with devising and implementing risk assessments and monitoring systems. I was involved in some areas of construction during my last year with Chiltern and decided to complete my NEBOSH Certificate in Construction Health and Safety.  I was also undertaking staff training courses in Health and Safety to clients, which included Food Safety and Hygiene, for clients preparing for their City and Guilds Level Two in Food Hygiene, maintenance training and a general introduction and awareness to Health and Safety.

I was responsible for a full range of Health and Safety audits comprising Fire Safety, Health and Hygiene and Workplace Hazard inspections in all aspects of the hotel, travel and tourism industry including the safety of excursions for holiday makers.  My geographical area of responsibility has included the Caribbean Islands, Mexico and Mainland Europe.  I was required to meet tight deadlines and respond to emergency situations ranging from natural disasters, e.g. hurricanes, to guest incidents sometimes at short notice.  Additionally, the wide geographical areas covered required flexible and efficient communication skills and excellent interpersonal abilities.  The nature of my job required me to be self-motivated, organised, and capable of ‘thinking on my feet’ to provide the best levels of service to my clients.

I am currently working for Personnel Health and Safety Consultants (PHSC).  This involves carrying out detailed audits, gap analysis reports, risk assessments, fire risk assessments, accident investigations, DSE assessments, pregnant worker assessments and occupational health assessments.  I am involved in a lot of training, which I enjoy. This includes fire awareness, fire marshal training, general safety, DSE Assessor, risk assessment and manual handling as well as bespoke courses to suit clients. Accredited courses are IOSH Working Safely, IOSH Managing Safely, IOSH Managing Safely Refresher and a two-day IOSH accredited course for School Business Professionals. I have recently decided to take on the challenge of NEBOSH training and have been covering certain subjects on days where I am required. I have a particular interest in the two-day School Business Professionals course as I feel it really helps the schools to go back to school with the knowledge and tools to help them put a good safety system into place. This is especially important now a lot of schools are academies and do not have the support from the Local Authority. I have now been given the responsibility of having several of my own clients within the company, so they have one point of contact. One of these clients is a charity with 32 shops who I have a close working relationship with as well as working two days a month with them advising them of all aspects of health and safety including arranging external inspections such as electrical, fire alarm and asbestos and fire risk assessments, contractor vetting and putting together a schedule of works to ensure they are working within the law. I also have a Hospice who I visit monthly to assist and give advice.