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.Qualifications
You normally need a Higher National Diploma (HND) or degree, usually in occupational safety and health. There are also qualifications at a higher level for those who are clear what their career path is. To practice as a health and safety officer, you can complete either a BSc or MSc in environmental health, they are accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in Scotland, they are credited by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS).Just to get on these courses, however, you will require other qualifications. You will need either NVQs or A-levels. Ideally, these qualifications will be one of the science-based subjects (chemistry, biology and physics) or mathematics, but it isn’t a major problem if this is not the case. However, you would need at least 5 A-C grades at GCSE level, with at least a B in maths.There are other courses available which can provide you with work experience. There are also sandwich courses, meaning that you will still gain work experience in your chosen field, but whilst the majority of your studies will be at one college, the rest of your time will be spent at another university.Don’t worry however if you don’t have a degree. Many careers paths see people evolve into different roles and health and safety officer is one of those. Probably the most sought-after qualification required for this role is the National Examination Board for Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) Certificate and Diploma. NEBOSH and IOSH another qualification in health safety appears on most job descriptions. NEBOSH courses are generally studied at college, and can be taken both full and part-time and require the student to take examinations at the end. However, it is increasingly more common now that NEBOSH courses can be studied intensively over 10-14 days which can really help those looking to fast track their career.What Employers Are Looking For
Health and safety are important areas that all organisations must always take into consideration. Therefore, as a HSO, you will be required to ensure that all environments you come into contact with are safe and healthy, or if not, suggest the ways that they can be improved. As a result, there are a number of key skills that employers are looking for in a health and safety officer.Communication skills are very important; you will often have to suggest potential flaws, so being able to explain the problems, the possible consequences if they are not fixed, and how to remedy them in a well-spoken, considerate and calm manner is vital. If not, it could have the opposite effect, and the suggested changes will not be made out of spite, which could then lead to danger.You must also be calm. There will be moments of extreme pressure and high stress. For example, should you have to report on an incident wherein due to a failure to comply with health and safety regulations, a worker has been injured or even killed, you may have to advise and create a case for prosecution, which could involve gathering photographic evidence and speaking with those most closely linked with the incident. Although you are not at fault, it will still be stressful and hard to deal with, so being able to remain cool under such pressures is of great significance, to you, the organisation and the people involved.There are other traits that an employer will want to see. You will have to be self motivated and well-organised, as you will usually have to build and maintain your own inspection records. You must be able to think on your feet; if you see a potential hazard, knowing quickly how to address the matter means that it will be dealt with more quickly. And you should always be open to the advice of others; you may suggest a course of action that may be wrong, or perhaps there is a better way of dealing with a problem. Being able to listen to others will help you to improve, and make you a better health and safety officer.How Much Money Will I Make as a Health & Safety Officer in the
UK?
For those just starting out within health and safety, as well as graduates, the starting salary is likely to be around £25,000. Depending on the size of the organisation, and its location, however, that figure could be higher, possibly as high as £40,000 for a major company in a heavily populated part of the country. When entering a management role, the starting salary for a health and safety officer will be even higher, with some earning upwards of £60,000.In addition, there may be opportunities to work for private sector companies, who advise on health and safety issues and work on a consultancy basis earning £250-£1000 per day. Salaries will be roughly the same as those for a “regular” health and safety officer, but those who reach senior consultancy positions generally earn more than £100,000. So, one can understand why, if the option to work as a consultant for health and safety becomes available, most would take it.Pros and Cons of Becoming a Health & Safety Officer in the UK
There are benefits and drawbacks to being a health and safety officer. Although being able to spot and avoid hazards may seem logical, there are potential problems which can make the job a stressful one to have.The list below shows the main pros and cons of being a health and safety officer.PROS
• High annual salaries once qualifications are earned
• Much of the learning is based on logic
• Helping others will make your own working environment safer
• You will spot potential hazards quicker than others & prevent them easilyCONS
• A lot of pressure to ensure you do your job well & help to avoid danger
• Can be stressful when dealing with cases involving injury and/or death
• Possibly poor conditions in factories, roof spaces or outdoorsHelpful Contact Information
For further information on the qualifications accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, contact:
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
Chadwick Court
15 Hatfields
London
SE1 8DJ
http://www.cieh.org/For details on the qualifications accredited by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, contact:
The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland
19 Torphichen Street
Edinburgh
Scotland
EH 3 8HX
Telephone 0131 229 2968

http://www.rehis.org/

Charcot’s foot is one of the many problems which might occur in those with diabetes mellitus. The higher blood sugar levels that stem from all forms of diabetes have an affect on numerous body systems including the eyesight, renal system as well as nerves. In long standing cases, particularly if there has been an unsatisfactory control of the blood sugar levels, you can find problems with the nerves supplying the feet. This will make the feet in danger of issues as if something fails, you don’t know it has gone wrong as you can not really feel it due to the harm to the nerves. This might be something as simple as standing on a rusty nail and that getting contaminated and you are not aware that you’ve stood on the nail. Should it be a blister or ingrown toenail which gets infected and you do not know that it is present on the foot unless you have a look. This is why foot care can be so necessary for those with diabetes and why it will be provided a great deal of emphasis. A Charcot foot is the destruction occurring to the bones and joints if you have an injury and you do not know that the injury has happened.

A way of looking at it could be to consider this way: pretend that you sprain your ankle horribly and you also are not aware that you have simply because you do not experience the pain from it. You then carry on and walk around on it. Picture all of the additional harm which you do by walking about on it. The earliest you may possibly discover that there may be something wrong happens when you take a seat and look at the feet and you observe that one is a great deal more swollen compared to the other foot. This is exactly what occurs in individuals with diabetes who develop a Charcot’s foot. There may be some destruction, such as a sprained ankle or maybe a progressive failure of the arch of the foot and as no pain is sensed they carry on and walk around on it. It should be apparent simply how much more injury that gets done to the original injury prior to the problem is finally observed because of the swelling. At times there is not much swelling, but the Charcot’s foot is picked up from the difference in temperature between the two feet as a result of inflammation related process in the damaged foot that generates more warmth.

The development of a Charcot foot really needs to be dealt with as a bit of an urgent situation since the further it advances the much more serious it’s going to be and the more challenging it can be to handle. The individual definitely needs to quit all weightbearing without delay or at least obtain a walking support so that the damage is protected. For the not too major instances and those conditions which were serious and have improved a really supportive orthotic in the footwear is required to support the feet and the injuries. Sometimes surgical procedures are required to straighten the subluxed and dislocated bones. By far the most critical situations can end up with the foot and/or leg required to be amputated as the trauma has been doing an excessive amount of impairment.