new boss has asked (told) me to be the health and safety officer-help!

hampsterpoo

okay so my boss of my new job (less than two months) has asked me (told me) to be the health and safetly officer of were I work.
I have no training in this role what so ever and want to know , how , where and what training I need to get.
The place I work is open to the public so do I also have to work out h&s issues for the public as well as staff ?

Also on a DFWB side of it , how much extra is this worth as I dont wanna be doing this for free now do I.

As well as that today there was a minor incedent were a member of the public needed medical assistance, I was called upon to help , as the guy who was listed as the first aider quit on Friday.
Is it worth me getting trained up and again on a selfish DFWB side of things how much is this worth.

I feel that to be given these responsabilities over staff who have been there a few years hopefully shows Im doing OK but I also don't want to be taken for a mug and sell myself sort like I feel like happened before.

If its only worth and extra tenner a week fine but if its a lot more I feel I should know because he's obviously not going to tell me.
Any thoughts or advise is welcome.

And Im not even going to ask about how much I should get now I've been given the quitters job on top of all this as well.
As for the quitters extra responsabilites thats another post.......someone else said they wouldn't do it for less than £35k.

Lorian

Here is pretty much everything you need to know. Policies, forms, regulations, advice, training etc.

>http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.l1=1073858799&topicId=1074402480&r.s=tl

How much is the extra responsibility worth? I don't know for sure but my opinion is it ranges from an extra grand a year for a small company, and depending on your current duties right up to £50K a year fulltime for a multinational.

hampsterpoo

Hi Lorian , thanks for that I've book marked it ready for 9am tommorrow, to busy watching & learning some man management skills of Gorden 'f***in' Ramsay to read it tonight

also what does 'houd altijd de kerk in het midden' mean ?

Lorian

hampsterpoo wrote: »

Hi Lorian , thanks for that I've book marked it ready for 9am tommorrow

It will help for sure.

hampsterpoo wrote: »

also what does 'houd altijd de kerk in het midden' mean ?

Literally translated "(he) who keeps the church in the middle" which means, someone who is moderate and good at keeping the peace. It reminds me.

ohreally

hampsterpoo wrote: »

I have no training in this role what so ever and want to know , how , where and what training I need to get.

The TUC run exellent H&S courses, however they are for accredited trade union H&S reps and i suspect this is not what your remit will be?

For starters as a bare minimum, i'd suggest NEBOSH general cert followed by the diploma...http://www.nebosh.org.uk/awardsnew.asp?ID=1 http://www.nebosh.org.uk/awardsnew.asp?ID=5

For reference material try Croners; Hughes and Ferrett: Introduction to HASAW
http://www.croner.co.uk/productDetails/category/health_safety/managing_health_safety/product/CRONER-i_Health_and_Safety

Andy_L

It's your bosse's responsibility to ensure that you are "competant by virtue of training and/or experience" to perform the role of H&S officer

More money - depends. Are you doing this as well or instead of your "day job". In my experience it's either a full time job itself or an extra task in which case no exta money unless overtime is needed.
Obviously once you've got the full set of qualifications you may be more employable and can (gently) threaten to leave nless you get a payrise.

Zoetoes

I would expect that work pay for you to gain the qualifications and also I would expect a lot more money. NEBOSH would be best to start with I would think. I am hoping to start this myself in September.

Sounds like a brilliant opportunity.

Congratulations and Good Luck!

tanith

My OH is in the same boat as you in that he has just been asked to take on this role at his workplace, he is happy to do so provided they send him on relevant courses which they are arranging for him, he is already fire officer and first aider with relevant courses arranged by his company, this has not necessarily led to wage rises but has improved his CV and the company have on several occasions given him a bonus for being a willing and helpful member of the staff, also got an above average wage rise last year.. so although he has gained in both knowledge and monetarily the money was not a condition of his doing these extra duties as they were not compulsory and he could of said no....but he has in the end gained financially...

Just a point about being first aider, you won't necessarily gain financialy from this but its so worth knowing what to do in a crisis not only in the work place but in other situations also....

Jarvisma

This all depends completely on the size and nature of your company and the scope of your role. I've seen two ends of the spectrum.

In a small company of roughly 30 people and no dealings with the public, there was a guy who was 'appointed' the H&S rep. There was no payment, I think he just liked having a Hi Vis jacket on the back of his chair and being able to prance around with it on carrying a clipboard when we had a fire drill!

In a large company with several sites, anyone who underwent a full 5 day first aid training course was listed as a first aider and received approx £20 per month in addition to their salary, all the time their course was in date. We also had a full time Health and Saftey manager or risk manager on around £50k. But this was a large company that put on large scale events for the public which is what warranted his role and salary.

If your company deals with the public, you definitely need some kind of official training - I would have thought this would be a necessity of your company's public liability insurance if nothing else. I would also expect some kind of remuneration element as well, even if it is only small.

It might be worth approaching your boss and just saying you would be much more comfortable doing the role if you had some kind of training for incidents such as the other day as an example, as you would hate for the company to be left open to any kind of prosecution on the grounds that you weren't properly trained. You could then just politely ask if there is going to be any additional payment for this as you will be taking on a certain degree of responsibility.

ranger1066

try asking your boss directly then you will find out

hampsterpoo

Thanks everyone for your help , I've already printed of the info to show the boss and will have to wait for his reply to see how serious he really is about this. As for the first aider course , if he doesnt pay I'll probably do one anyway as its always helpful to know.