A health and safety officer (also known as a HSO) monitors how an organisation complies with health and safety law, and provides advice to both companies and employers on safe working environments. A HSO will usually work for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the local government, or a similar body, specially trained to monitor compliance with health and safety regulations. Health and Safety officers also exist within private organisations, usually larger ones, and in the public sector, such as hospitals and schools etc.
Health and Safety Officers are employed in a variety of industries such as construction, manufacturing, catering, waste, IT and aerospace as well as many more. The objective is simple and that is to keep people safe when in the working environment.
A HSO has a number of responsibilities. Whenever visiting an organisation, the health and safety officer must record all information. They carry out routine inspections over the course of time, which will include collating evidence and taking any samples, when necessary. They should investigate any complaints that have been made about the work environment, and provide advice on technical and legal issues. They should collect evidence and build case files, which includes maintaining a database of inspections. If necessary, a HSO may have to present information in court, or on other public enquiries relating to injury and/or death in the workplace. More than anything, a HSO will ensure that an organisation is complying with legislation, and isn’t taking the health and safety of their staff for granted. If this was the case, the officer would suggest ways to improve the working conditions, and monitor any changes that are made thereafter. So, a health and safety officer has plenty of duties – but it is an important one, which helps to make working environments a lot safer for many companies, and can be a successful career path to follow.