Learning at Work Week

12th – 18th May 2025

A career in health and safety comes with significant benefits, both professionally and personally, the strange thing is that many Health and Safety professionals will have fallen into their career by pure chance.

This has changed over the last 6 or 7 years with introduction of the Safety, Health and Environment Technician apprenticeship programme from 2017 when the Levy was introduced into England.

What are the benefits to anyone taking up this career either as a young school or college leaver or as someone making a change in their career pathway.

1. Making a Positive Impact – Health and safety professionals play a crucial role in supporting businesses to protecting people from harm. You get to assist management in providing a safe working environment, prevent incidents , and even save lives through effective risk management.

2. Strong Job Stability & Demand – Safety regulations are essential in every industry, from construction and manufacturing to healthcare and logistics. This means there will always be a need for qualified safety professionals, offering long-term job stability, with transferable skills.  This also leads to competitive salaries particularly for those who are highly qualified.

3. Diverse Career Opportunities – You can work in various sectors, including construction, manufacturing, education, transport, and corporate environments. This diversity allows you to explore different industries while applying the same fundamental safety principles.

4. Continuous Learning & Development – Legislation and safety best practices are constantly evolving. As a health and safety professional, you’ll be continually learning, whether it is through new regulations, case studies, or professional certifications.

5. Leadership & Influence – Health and safety professionals often take on leadership roles, guiding teams to implement workplace safety policies. Your ability to foster a proactive safety culture can significantly improve an organisation’s risk management approach.

RHG deliver both the Safety, Health and Environment Technician (SHE) and the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practitioner (CRS) apprenticeship programmes.  We were delighted to support one of our alumni from the CRS programme Mitchell Smith at A&O Shearman, with a charity he is involved with, called ‘Future Frontiers’ an award-winning education charity that exists to ensure young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds fulfil their potential at school and when transitioning to education, employment or training at the age of 16.

They do this through an intensive programme of 1:1 coaching delivered by business professionals and giving students access to professional role models in their chosen industries. By working with a volunteer career coach, pupils discover careers they could be great at, research top careers, and build an academic plan to achieve GCSE success.

Mitchell says “A&O Shearman have supported this initiative for many years, and I’ve managed the partnership on the business side for the last few. This time around I was also lucky enough to have the capacity to volunteer as a coach myself. As part of the programme, the role of the coach is to find a Sector Role Model (SRM) in their student’s desired career for them to speak to. Both of my students wanted to take on apprenticeships and one had a particular interest in Health & Safety.

Our sector role models are powerful drivers of social mobility. By sharing their lived experiences and career journeys, they help young people from low-opportunity backgrounds see what’s possible, often in industries they might not have otherwise considered. They challenge limiting stereotypes, build aspiration, and make success feel achievable – not just for the few, but for anyone with potential and ambition.

RHG put me in touch with Bryn Rigarlsford (from Eurovia) and Dylan Tomkinson-Burden (from Taylor Woodrow) who kindly volunteered as SRM’s to speak to my students on a call, detailing their unique experiences and career paths. They are both Health & Safety Technician apprentices with RHG and were able to give my students an interesting insight into the varied life of an apprentice, providing them with key benefits of the course, and tips and tricks for what skills they can start developing now in preparation – these included effective time management and communication. It was an excellent experience for my students to speak to professionals close in age to themselves, particularly on the H&S side about how varied the role can be, in the construction industry alone. This conversation boosted their confidence and solidified their desire to take on an apprenticeship after their school studies are completed.

Mitchell Smith (Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Assistant, A&O Shearman)