What is a typical day as a health & safety officer?
Asked by dj
What are the daily tasks? Do you spend a lot of time at your desk?

Best Answer:
Usually, with most companies a health and safety officer is not the only duty a person has. I am both an Accountant/Receptionist and the Health & Safety Officer in my office. I split my days in half so that I can have half accounting and half safety days. The safety portion of my day is spent like this (I'll give you about a week's overview): Monday: -Getting any meetings ready for the week (this includes topics, visuals, presentations, etc.) both for employees and management -Typing up any correspondence -Setting up training for any employees -I have a meeting once a month on Mondays for a specific department as well (the meetings usually last 15 minutes) Tuesday -I have a meeting once a month on Tuesdays for the other department -I do my weekly inspections each Tuesday (these usually take up to half an hour) -Type up the minutes for the meeting if necessary -Type up the inspection Wednesday -Meet with management regarding the inspection and meeting if necessary and discuss ways to fix the concerns -Meet with other supervisors to discuss the decisions made to fix concerns Thursday/Friday -Typing correspondence -Fixing concerns -Reviewing OH & S regulations (monthly basis, unless a specific concern pops up) -Review Transportation regulations Keep in mind that a safety officer is very similar to other managers. We use people to get things done, we don't normally do it ourselves. If there are things that I personally can do such as fixing or refilling a first aid kit, I do it, but stuff like cleaning up the shop or fixing a window is delegated. Most of what a safety officer does is paperwork and maintaining OH &S regulations. I review OH & S Regulations (Canada) monthly. As well, as a safety officer, you are the first line of communication for employees when it comes to safety. You always have to be open to concerns and questions and try to always be accepting of these suggestions. NOTE: When new employees are hired, orientations are done by a safety officer as well.