The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a government body that is responsible for ensuring any risks to the health and safety of people while in the workplace are properly controlled.

It is a national organisation with offices throughout the UK, with headquarters in London and Bootle and research laboratories in Sheffield and Buxton.

Approximately 4,000 individuals work for HSE in many different roles but the main business is undertaken by teams of inspectors, while there are other in-house activities undertaken by:

• solicitors
• doctors
• journalists
• graphic designers
• administrators
• engineers.

What does the HSE do?

Every working day in the UK, at least one person is killed and 6,000 are injured. The HSE’s job is to visit a diverse range of workplaces and deal with all sorts of different people, handling complex human, technical and legal issues. The HSE also assesses health and safety problems, offers advice and helps to develop solutions to health and safety problems.

Job benefits

Some of the more usual benefits of employment are included in the job:

• a permanent contract
• choice of pension schemes
• annual leave allowance
• paid paternity and extended maternity leave.

Part-time and job-share work are also some of the flexible alternatives to working for the HSE. Yet other benefits are more political; as an employee of HSE, you hold the power to:

• influence public policy
• contribute to modernising the government
• cater for the well being of others.

The HSE also offers a very supportive environment and invests in continuously training its employees.

How to join the HSE

For the more administrative roles, there are no formal qualifications usually required.

For the inspection roles, the minimum of a degree is required (or the equivalent).

However, the HSE will accept applications from those without the appropriate qualification if they can prove that they have an equivalent level of achievement through work-based experience or academic / professional qualifications.

For the more specialist roles, the HSE requires relevant qualifications or membership of a professional body and a substantial amount of work experience in an appropriate industry. For application for inspection jobs, you must further hold a full driving licence, which allows you to drive within the UK.