Roll Call: Who’s behind the hi-vis?

General Discussion
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Hi everyone! :waving_hand:

My name’s Ian, and I’m one of the moderators here. To kick things off, I thought I’d share a bit about my journey in the H&S world.

My Professional Background: I’ve been working in Health and Safety since 2003. I cut my teeth as an Environmental Health Officer at Birmingham City Council, primarily in the H&S enforcement team. I also spent some time with their internal safety team, which gave me a really balanced perspective on how rules work in practice.

The Consultant Years: I’ve been a consultant for just over 10 years now. I started out with Southalls, and I’m currently part of the team at Opus Safety.

I consider myself a bit of a ‘generalist’—I love the variety of helping different clients improve safety outcomes for their staff and customers.

Outside the High-Vis: I live in Birmingham and have a great, supportive family who keep me busy when I’m not thinking about risk assessments.

I’m going to be dropping in on this community regularly and will try and engage discussion.

:microphone: Over to you!

We’d love to get to know you. If you’re up for it, tell us something about yourselevs. If it helps you could copy and paste these prompts in a reply:

  • How long have you been in H&S?

  • What’s your “specialist” subject (or are you a generalist like me)?

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Welcome to Health & Safety UK! :wave:
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More ‘behind the computer’ (and as many monitors I can fit on my desk!) than behind Hi-vis here.

I’ve been involved in H&S software for a decade now. I love all things tech and gadgets (as long as they provide real use benefit).

Before then, and what feels like a lifetime ago, I was a Police Sgt with a varied career ranging from running control rooms, to dodging missiles at Birmingham City vs Aston Villa matches, to learning how to undress and dress properly into my CBRN equipment. Thankfully I never got the call to go on a live deployment!

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I am Angelino. In a recent past, I worked as an Ambulance Care Assistant. Transporting patients requires good safety knowledge. And, in life we learn every day.

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Thanks Angelino25. I used to advise a large local authority on care home safety. This was a significant challenge for them too.