What needs to change for health and safety profession

The health and safety professional’s role is expanding fast. Strategy, technology, culture, frontline operations and data analysis – often they are now expected to be experts in all of it. Our revamped Thought Leadership Panel, with seven new members, have started asking the hard question: is this realistic?

Stop expecting expertise in everything

Daniel Harrison CFIOSH points to an uncomfortable truth: “Some of our competencies are perhaps more valuable than others and we could concentrate on identifying and amplifying some of those.”

The danger is clear. Unrealistic expectations create two problems: professionals burn out and organisations lose credibility when practitioners can’t deliver across impossible breadths of knowledge.

The solution isn't doing more. It’s doing better by creating specialist roles. A data analyst approach to safety. A culture specialist. A technology governance expert. These aren’t fragmented functions – they’re focused expertise that speaks the language of boardroom decisions and frontline reality.

Bringing in the next generation

Michelle Stark CFIOSH raises the barrier that's quietly deterring young people: “Can we provide better occupational safety and health education and training to help young people before they enter the workplace?”

Right now, entry into the profession feels high. Qualifications, experience requirements, specialist knowledge – they stack up. IOSH has an opportunity to reshape this. Mentoring, accessible career pathways, practical development support – these lower the friction without lowering standards.

The profession needs fresh thinking and different perspectives. Making the entry point clearer removes an invisible gate.

Frontline supervisors are the glue

Steven Osborn is direct about influence: “Who can influence safety? For me, it’s about the people who put people to work: team leaders, supervisors and people at the front-line.”

These aren’t roles without power – they’re roles without recognition. Supervisors balance organisational policy with worker reality every single day. They spot what actually works and what doesn’t. They maintain engagement when change initiatives fail. They’re critical.

The gap is practical support. Better training. Toolkits that work in real environments. Resources that acknowledge the pressure they carry. When supervisors are equipped, safety systems hold together. When they’re not, even good policies fall apart.

Getting technology governance right

Rob Bullen CFIOSH warns against blind adoption: “The emergence of technology is a re-education for our profession. At the same time, we need to understand its merits and pitfalls so that we can manage it from a governance perspective.”

Technology transforms data collection, analysis and decision-making. But only when it’s adopted responsibly. The profession needs frameworks that prevent technology becoming another tick-box exercise. It needs practitioners who understand data ethics, algorithmic bias and what automation actually solves versus what it obscures.

Better use of data should measure what matters: are interventions working? What's the return on investment? Where are the gaps? That requires collective learning, not knowledge locked in one team's spreadsheets.

Turning strategy into outcomes

Simon Naish CFIOSH identifies a persistent disconnect: “How do strategic central campaigns and policies translate into tangible outcomes at operational levels?”

This is where many safety systems fail. Boardroom policy becomes procedure manual becomes disconnected from what workers actually experience. Credibility dies in that gap.

Effective safety professionals must become better at demonstrating impact. Understanding what drives success. Recognising when approaches aren’t working. Ensuring policies reflect lived experience, not just best-practice templates.

Close that gap and safety systems actually work. Leave it open and strategies fail in practice.

Who is on the Thought Leadership Panel?

The Thought Leadership Panel is working to develop practical insights for the profession. These aren’t abstract recommendations. They’re grounded in challenges practitioners face every day. The panel’s work over the next year or so will be to try and find practical actions in response to the issues they raise.

The 12 panel members are:

Andrew Morris CFIOSH
Craig Foyle CFIOSH
Daniel J Harrison CFIOSH
David Thomas CFIOSH
Kieran Doona CFIOSH
Michelle Stark CFIOSH
Nick Bell CFIOSH
Rob Bullen CFIOSH
Shelley Stiles CFIOSH
Simon Naish CFIOSH
Steven Osborn CFIOSH
Tina Morgan CFIOSH.

Join the conversation

We are inviting health and safety professionals to share their own views: what challenges are you thinking about? What’s working in your organisation? What’s broken?