Safety Industry | Safety Industry Advice & Career Guide

At Safety@Work, we believe that safety is of utmost importance in every home and workplace. As Guardians of Safety, we aim to Inspire People and Protect Lives, ensuring that our clients are well-equipped with the best resources in helping them maintain optimal safety standards across the workplace.

We have grown from strength to strength from the provision of expert witness services for legal claims, development & delivery of training, provision of HSE Specialists to integrated HSE Services.

Our staff strength currently boasts of over 35 HSE Specialists and envisioned to grow exponentially each year across the following industries:

· Oil, Petroleum & Gas Industry

· Marine Industry

· Construction Industry

Mr. Raj Singh, Founder and Director of Safety@Work Consultancy, shares about his passion for Workplace Safety & Health, and forecasts an ever increasing demand for well trained and qualified Health and Safety professionals in Singapore.

Raj, what inspired you to set up Safety@Work Consultancy?

I’ve always been working in the Safety industry across a variety of industries including Marine, Construction, Oil and Gas, so for me this was a natural extension of my passion.

To me, safety is a very crucial and important factor that every company must focus on, regardless of the industry that it is in. And I also believe strongly that there is great potential to further develop well-trained safety professionals in Singapore.

Furthermore, I also studied for an MBA to better equip myself to understand how companies operate, to learn about the operational challenges that managers constantly face, so that Safety@Work Consultancy is able to tailor useful and specific Workplace Health and Safety training programmes to help our clients.

Through Safety@Work Consultancy’s year long TSAP –Trainee Safety Advisor Programme, in collaboration with SHELL, we groom and train fresh individuals into safety professionals. Our first batch of 76 trainees will be graduating in December and I’m pleased to share that they have all secured employment even before they have finished the programme.

What is it like being a Safety Professional?

Many people have a misconception that safety professionals only go around policing the worksite, monitoring staff to see if they are breaching safety rules, and catching them in the act.

The truth is there is so much more involved. As a safety professional, one has to be 100% involved all the time and be aware of any potential hazards in the workplace. There is also a lot of planning and ground work to be done – daily meetings with managers, supervisors, foreman, interviewing staff for their feedback, so that all the dangers and working constraints can be taken note of and dealt with effectively.

One of the key responsibilities of a safety professional is to make the workers aware that we are there to help make a safe and conducive working environment for them so that they can go about their work without any hazards. The ultimate aim is to utilize positive psychology to groom people to take ownership, think, and be proactive about their and their colleague’s safety.

	What are qualities that make a good Safety Professional? I believe that these are the key qualities that make a good Safety Professional –
	A strong desire to learn and upgrade Knowledgeable about their area of expertise Passionate about their profession Motivated to perform beyond the normal course of duty Good interpersonal skills to interact with people from different levels and walks of life

What are the career prospects of being a Safety Professional?

The government has already projected that there is a need for at least 18 000 safety professionals by 2018, so there is definitely good demand and great career prospects, to say the least.

My advice to jobseekers who are keen to consider becoming a safety professional is to do their research first, talk to people in the industry, and also look at the various industries to see where they want to work in.

I personally believe that it’s good to start off as a safety professional in the Marine industry first as it can be tough at times, but it will give you a good foundation to become a proficient safety professional as you are exposed to many different aspects and elements.

What are some of your career highlights so far?

There are many highlights that I can share, but one in particular is a recent series of one-day leadership workshops that I’ve organized for a client, and it’s called “Awakening the leader within”.

The workshop aims to impart leadership skills for about 300 senior supervisors and managers to motivate them so that they can perform effectively. Many of participants who attended the workshop were very inspired and it really struck a chord with them as it affirmed all their sacrifices and hard work that they put into their jobs.

It is positive feedback and experiences like this that really keeps me going as well.

Find out more at www.safetyatwork.com.sg

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