Case studies: Health and safety manager: David Housley

David is currently a senior health and safety manager with Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd. He holds a diploma in safety, health and environmental management which he received from Nottingham Trent University.

I started out as a bricklayer 12 years ago working for my fathers business. I then had to become involved with risk assessments and safety systems of work when managing other contractors who worked for our business. From this I attended a number of health and safety related courses from NEBOSH and the CITB. I then decided that this was the route I wanted to take my career in and so applied for a position at Shepherd Construction Ltd in 2002.

During the course of this employment I was put through my diploma and I also learnt valuable experience of construction health and safety working on major projects within the Yorkshire region. I believe that a combination of experience as well as me having my diploma and being a chartered member of IOSH helped me greatly in obtaining my current position.

There is no typical day when it comes to health and safety! Every day is different; be it visiting sites to carry out inspections or attending health and safety meetings at site level as well as in the main board room with directors. There is also the task of carrying out accident/incident investigations as well as training.

My career has developed over time, so my ambitions are to continue to learn and play a positive part in the health, safety and environmental culture of a business. I really enjoy working with different people, visiting different places and using my experience and knowledge to make a difference. But, getting up as 5:30am is a challenge! Seriously speaking though, my challenge is to try to influence and create a positive culture and attitude of others towards good health and safety management, especially given the stigma and bad press that it gets in the media.

The best things about working in this sector are the people and the environment; despite having a career in health and safety I’m a builder at heart and I love the construction site environment.

To any students or graduates who are interested in this type of work, I would say it is a great career and industry to work in and it is very, very diverse where no two days are quite the same.