“The NEBOSH International General Certificate was the first milestone in my OHS career that helped me land a job in a construction company.”
Case Study: Saravanakumar Natarajan
We recently spoke with Saravanakumar Natarajan, one of our Alumni members, NEBOSH Examiner and Independent OHS Consultant, about his experience of working in health and safety as a young person.
How old were you when you started your career in health and safety?
I was just 21 when I started my career in health and safety. I began my studies in 2018 and within three years I had completed the NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (IGC), NEBOSH Level 6 International Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals(IDIP), MBA Safety Management, Diploma in Labour Laws with Administrative law and Certified Safety Professionals (CSP) and attained Chartered Membership.
As a young person, what attracted you to a career in health and safety?
During my undergraduate studies, I aspired to join the armed forces, but personal reasons prevented me from doing so. Instead, I started to focus on health and safety. My interest in both careers is similar: to protect people and have the utmost job satisfaction in the day-to-day care of others.
Can you tell me a bit about health and safety in India?
India has the world's largest youth population, and with rising occupational health and safety awareness and the establishment of occupational health and safety (OHS) institutions and OHS programs in universities, the country has the potential to become a global supply of health and safety professionals as well as a hub for OHS technological developments.
Despite progress, Indian Occupational Health and Safety faces several challenges. India has a large and dynamic migrant workforce, both internally and internationally, and they are often more vulnerable to OHS risks due to their precarious employment status and limited access to social security benefits.
What made you choose NEBOSH qualifications?
The NEBOSH IGC was the first milestone in my OHS career that helped me land a job in a construction company. I chose NEBOSH qualifications because I thought they were the most prestigious in the OHS field, and I also thought that companies in India, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and in Europe, recognised them the most.
Additionally, I discovered that the NEBOSH syllabus is well-structured and offers solid safety and health knowledge to excel in the career.
What do you enjoy most about working in health and safety?
I find job satisfaction in this profession most rewarding. Directly and indirectly, the OHS profession is also the major reason behind the smiles of many families by making the workplace safer and sending family members safely to their homes. There is nothing more important than being alive and healthy, so here, the HSE profession makes the bigger change.
As safety professionals, we need to have multi-domain knowledge. For example, we need technical knowledge to understand workplace issues, psychological skills to understand workers' behavioural issues, knowledge of legal requirements to ensure workplace compliance, good communication skills, training knowledge to provide health and safety training and more.