Case Studies

Martin, tell me a bit about your career in the Royal Navy.

I spent eight years in the seamanship branch which played an integral part for the safety of the crew at sea. A highlight in my career was being the supervisor of the boat’s “part of ship” on HMS Queen Elizabeth and contributing to a large proportion of the seamanship safety training.

The last four years were spent as a Physical Training Instructor, which involved various safety-related roles. One of these was taking recruits on expeditions to conduct adventurous training under a controlled amount of exposure to danger. This involved thorough planning to create an expedition plan that ensured the personnel were not injured in the process.

Tell me about your transition from the Royal Navy.

After I left the military, I felt it was logical to pursue a career in health and safety. As part of my resettlement, I chose to complete the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety using my Enhanced Learning Credits. Shortly after, I took the NEBOSH Fire Safety Certificate because it allowed me to consolidate my military experience into a qualification.

With these qualifications, I was then able to gain TechIOSH, which helped me secure my first job as a civilian. Leaving the military is a difficult and daunting challenge, and if an employer has never served in the forces, it's difficult for them to understand the safety experience and skills a veteran has to offer. I believe that without completing the NEBOSH General certificate, I would have struggled to convince an employer of my competence for the role.
I then took upon the challenge of undertaking the NEBOSH Level 6 National Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Professionals over a 14-month period of online studying which I was successful in completing. This allowed me to progress to a health and safety specialist role working for an explosives and pyrotechnics manufacturing company, in which I was able to excel because of my military experience and the in-depth safety knowledge I had gained from the Diploma.

How have NEBOSH qualifications helped you progress into your current role?

Completing the NEBOSH National Diploma has not only assisted me in assessing my previous experience in the military but has also helped me increase my knowledge of a range of safety topics, which has helped me advance in my career.

Without this qualification, I wouldn’t have been eligible to apply for my current role as a Health and Safety Advisor for the Lubrizol site. This has turned out to be my best career move to date, and Lubrizol is an outstanding company to work for.

My aspiration when leaving the military was to work for a company that takes safety as seriously as the Royal Navy, and in order to achieve this, I knew I would need to prove myself a “suitably qualified experienced personnel - SQEP”, which is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the military. The NEBOSH National Diploma acted as a tool to bring all my previous experience together and foster new strategic techniques to help companies maintain ISO standards, develop health and safety culture and sharpen my skills for technical interpretation of regulations and HSE guidance.

Did you use Enhanced Learning Credits (ELCAS) funding to fund your NEBOSH studies?

Yes, as I served 12 years in the military, I was entitled to the full amount of ELCAS points. I have used two lots of my ELCAS allowance to fund my NEBOSH qualifications, which have been vital in quantifying my military safety experience into an industry-recognised standard.

Without this support from the military, I would have struggled to have paid and completed the NEBOSH qualifications in the same time period that I have. The process of using the points was straightforward, and I am always advising military personnel leaving the service to complete the NEBOSH General Certificate because it sets you apart from other candidates because it's such a highly recognised qualification in the industry and makes you a much more educated individual when it comes to workplace safety.

What is the best piece of health and safety advice you have been given throughout your career in the forces?

I haven’t got one single piece of advice that has stuck with me, but there is a phrase that gets thrown around in the military a lot, which is “safety never takes a day off”, and it's always said with humour. This has stuck with me because, at the time, I didn’t realise how deeply health and safety was drilled into us in the military. Now that I have left and have aligned with industry, I have realised that health and safety is something military personnel live and breathe daily, it’s considered in every decision made and is at the backbone of every standard operating procedure that is followed to a tee. Compliance is unmatched as everyone treats each other like a family member and doesn’t want to be responsible for hurting one of their own. It’s not until you complete the NEBOSH General Certificate that you realise how many of the systems and procedures that are in place in the military that you do as part of your day-to-day job align with industry and the role of a Health and Safety Advisor.