1. January 2011 health and safety at work
Know-how
20
Pay survey
2010“HEALTH and safety professionals
work really hard to gain qualifica-
tions and the roles are very demand-
ing with a lot of responsibility; salary rarely
reflects this,” said one of the respondents to
HSW’s annual pay survey.
The comment is typical of those we re-
ceived from practitioners who clearly feel that
they were never properly valued, and that two
years of economic recession have done them
no favours. Since around three in five have
had their pay frozen or cut and a third feel their
jobs are insecure, they have a point. And it’s
far from clear that the private sector is out of
the woods yet, while for the public services
the recession is just beginning.
The questionnaire for our annual sal-
ary poll, conducted with recruiters Attwood
Burton, was open on the web in October and
the start of November and was publicised in
HSW’s weekly e-newsletter, on our website
and via email to health and safety profession-
als registered with Attwood Burton. Details of
the geographical and industrial make-up of
the sample are on page 26.
Respondents gave us salary details by
placing themselves in £2500 bands rang-
ing from £20,000 to £60,000. There are 32
practitioners (almost 5% of the total) who
said they are paid below £20,000. Most of
these are health and safety assistants, co-
ordinators or advisers in the Midlands and
the north of England.
Our incremental salary scale used wider
steps above £60,000, and there are 58 re-
spondents (8.5%) who fit into these upper
grades, two-thirds of them directors or heads
of function. Around two in five of these higher
earnersarefromorganisationsbasedinsouth
east England and East Anglia, slightly higher
thanthegeographicaldistributioninthewhole
poll. Few of those at this higher level (eight of
the 58) work in the public sector.
At the very top are 18 respondents (eight
in construction and another five in manufac-
turing) with annual salaries between £80,000
and £100,000.
Figure 1 (left) shows the median sal-
ary band for all those job titles in the public
and private sector where we have enough
participants to produce a reliable figure. The
median is the average produced by placing
all the results in ascending order and finding
themidpoint.It’smorerepresentativethanthe
mean average, which can be distorted by a
few high or low earners in the range.
Louis Wustemann finds salary
movements mirroring the weather
in our annual snapshot of UK
practitioners’ remuneration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
£000’s
Private sector Public sector
n=681
Fig 1. Median salary by job title
£25,000–£27,499
£27,500–£29,999
£27,500–£29,999
£32,500–£34,999
£30,000–£32,499
£40,000–£42,499
£40,000–£42,499
£37,500–£39,999
£52,500–£54,999
£50,000–£52,499
Healthandsafetycoordinator
Healthandsafetyofficer
Healthandsafetyadviser
Healthandsafetymanager
Healthandsafetyconsultant
Headofhealthandsafety
Healthandsafetydirector
£000’s

2. health and safety at work January 2011
Know-how
21
We asked practitioners to find the job title,
from health and safety assistant to health and
safetydirector,whichwasclosesttotheirown,
ignoring other areas of responsibility, such as
quality or environmental management.
Since the construction, manufacturing
and general services sectors are so well rep-
resented in our survey (see box on page 24
for details), we have reliable data to calculate
the following:
� health and safety advisers in construc-
tion and manufacturing earn £30,000
to £32,499 at the median, below the
average for advisers across the whole
of our private sector sample.
� health and safety managers in construc-
tion and general services are paid an
average £40,000 to £42,499, in line with
the whole of the private sector in our
sample, but those in manufacturing and
transport and logistics are under the
average at £37,500 to £39,999.
There are regional as well as sectoral differ-
ences. Health and safety managers in both
the East Midlands and West Midlands came
in lower than the average for the whole sam-
ple at £40,000 to £42,499, while managers in
the north and south of England and Scotland
were in line with the UK average in Figure 1.
Study bonus
Figure 2 shows the average salary for
respondents, according to their highest
qualification. As in previous years, the pay
escalation for higher qualifications is clear,
only levelling off at the postgraduate level,
where our average for respondents with post-
grad diplomas is no higher than those who
have gained masters degrees. The numbers
who reported holding a British Safety Council
(BSC) International Diploma in Occupational
Safety and Health, a BSC Level 6 diploma or
a postgraduate certificate were too small to
calculate dependable average salaries.
Before he resigned recently, the govern-
ment’s adviser on health and safety issues,
Lord Young of Graffham, made great play of
the fact that anyone could set themselves up
as a safety consultant with only an entry level
qualification. In our survey this year, there
were 73 consultants. Of these, seven had
the NEBOSH (National Examinations Board
in Occupational Safety and Health) National
General Certificate in Occupational Health
and Safety as their highest qualification and
another nine had the NEBOSH construction
certificate. The remainder all hold degrees
or degree-equivalent qualifications and
almost one in three has a postgraduate
qualification.
Across all job titles, only a tiny proportion
of our poll sample — eight respondents or just
over 1% of the total — have no health and
safety qualifications. Almost 70% of respond-
ents (480) had at least a degree or equivalent
qualification, such as the NEBOSH National
Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.
According to Alistair Attwood of Attwood
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
£000’s
Fig 2. Median salary band by highest health
and safety qualification
NEBOSHcertificate
NEBOSHconstruction
certificate
NEBOSHdiploma
BSCdiploma
S/NVQLevel4
Degree
Postgraduatediploma
MSc
n=672
£27,500–£29,999
£35,000–£37,499
£37,500–£39,999
£37,500–£39,999
£40,000–£42,499
£45,000–£47,499
£45,000–£47,499

3. January 2011 health and safety at work
Know-how
22
Burton, this finding reflects well on practiton-
ers’ professionalism. “If you consider it’s an
industry a lot of people have traditionally
blown into, it’s impressive so many make the
commitment to get a higher qualification,”
he says.
Our survey shows affiliation to the profes-
sional membership bodies remains strong.
Almost 70% of practitioners polled (453) are
associated in some way with the Institution of
Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and
around one-third (225) can use the letters
CMIOSH after their names.
HSW’s affiliate body, the International
Institute of Risk and Safety Management
(IIRSM), was also well represented; 195
respondents — almost 30% of those who an-
swered the question about professional mem-
berships — are either affiliates, members or
fellows. Almost one in five respondents (120)
have hedged their bets and signed up to both
IOSH and IIRSM. The only other body with
substantial levels of membership among our
poll sample was the Institute of Environmental
Management and Assessment (IEMA).
As in previous years, there is a clutch of
non-joiners (101 practitioners or around 15%)
who are ploughing their own furrows outside
any professional safety body.
“That’s a noticeable minority with no
professional affiliation,” observes Mark Bur-
ton, of Attwood Burton. “From a recruiter’s
point of view, those people are putting a big
hurdle in front of themselves when they look
for new positions.”
Figure 3 (above left) shows the preva-
lenceofcommonemployeebenefitsforpracti-
tioners in our sample. Arguably, for health and
safety professionals responsible for multiple
sites, a company vehicle is more of a work tool
thanabenefit,soit’snotsurprisingthataround
half the sample (342) are furnished with a car
or an allowance to use their own.
The last decade has seen many private
sector employers abandon final salary pen-
sion plans (also known as defined benefit
schemes), rather than face an open-ended
commitment to fund retirement incomes cal-
culated as a percentage of employees’ pay.
Only 13% of private sector respondents say
theyaremembersoffinalsalaryschemes.An-
other 128 (25% of private sector participants)
say they are enrolled in defined benefit money
purchase schemes where their employer
contributes a fixed amount which will go to
buy an annuity on their retirement.
Around one in six private sector re-
spondents (81) said their employers have
share incentive schemes and a third (174)
are eligible for an annual bonus on top of
their salaries.
Frozen over
Lastyear’spollfound10%ofrespond-
ents had suffered pay cuts and half
saw their salaries frozen. Figure
4 shows this year’s findings are
little changed. The proportion
whose pay had been reduced was only
slightly lower at 8% (54 practitioners) while
the number with no increase was level at
almost 50% (341). Practitioners in construc-
tion suffered worst: 85% (138) reported a pay
cut or a freeze.
The median for all pay awards in our
sample was therefore nil in the 12 months to
October. The nearest comparator across the
whole economy is a survey of awards in the 12
months to August by pay specialists XpertHR,
which recorded a 1.4% median rise.
Both the common measures of price
inflation, the Consumer Prices Index (the gov-
ernment’spreferredrate)andtheRetailPrices
Index (which includes housing costs) have
been at or above 3% throughout 2010. This
means that only the minority of respondents
whose pay rises were at or above 3% (124
or 18% of the sample) received a real–terms
pay rise in 2010.
As in previous years, we asked practition-
ers whether they think they are paid enough
and whether the health and safety profession,
as a whole, is fairly remunerated. Given the
scale of pay cuts and freezes this year, it
would be understandable if the proportion of
practitioners feeling they are underpaid had
risen. In fact, Figure 8 (on page 24) shows it
is only slightly higher at 53% this year, com-
pared with 49% in our 2009 poll. There is no
correlation between actual salary level and
satisfaction; the same proportion of those
earning over £50,000 feel they are underpaid
as those earning less. There is also little dif-
ference between the private and public sector
respondents.
The feeling of another small major-
ity (55%, unchanged since 2009) that the
whole profession is not fairly rewarded was
reflected in many of the comments respond-
ents made alongside their answers.
“The role of health and safety manager
is severely undervalued and at this time I
am considering changing profession due to
pay constraints,” commented one manager
working for a large construction firm in the
north west.
“The level of salaries between private
organisations fluctuates dramatically,” noted
another manager in a firm in the general serv-
ices sector in the south east. “I have recently
been job hunting and found some companies
offering £28k for a health and safety consul-
tancy position and the candidate had to be a
minimum of GradIOSH.”
“It is particularly demeaning to be paid
50% less than senior managers, simply
because they have large budgets and staff
to manage,” said a manager in a south
east-based charity. “Hard won professional
expertise should be recognised for what it is;
it often reduces hidden costs/losses across
an organisation.”
A few respondents’ comments mixed dis-
illusion about pay levels with realism about the
fact they are living through uncertain times.
“I have not had a pay rise in three years,
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Companycar29%
Carallowance29%
FinalSalary
pension33%
Moneypurchase
pension28%
Annualbonus29%
Privatemedical31%
Share
scheme12%
Fig 3. Employee benefits
n=681
Pay cut
Pay freeze (nil)
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%-10%
11%+
Fig 4. Pay movements October 2009 to
October 2010
Fig 5. How secure is your job?
n=831
Not at all
Not very
Quite
Very
Public sector Private sector
n=163 n=519

4. health and safety at work January 2011
Know-how
23
Fig 8. Salary satisfaction
Are you paid enough?
Is the profession paid enough?
Too much 1% Not enough 48% Enough 51%
Too much 1% Not enough 45% Enough 54%
The 2010 survey sample
From 720 respondents to the online questionnaire, we removed 31 who were based
outside the British Isles or in the Republic of Ireland, leaving a base of 689 to give
a picture of the pay and conditions of UK practitioners.
The private sector dominated our final sample, accounting for more than 70% of
the total (501 respondents), while 165 practitioners are employed in the public services
and another 23 in the charitable/third sector. The private sector component broke down
as follows:
� construction 32% (162)
� manufacturing 24.5% (123)
� general services 16.5% (84)
� utilities 7% (36)
� retail and wholesale 7% (36)
� transport and logistics 4% (22)
� hotels and restaurants 3.5% (18)
� finance 2% (10)
Mining and quarrying and agriculture contributed the remaining handful of private
industry respondents. More than a third of all respondents (255) worked in organisa-
tions with fewer than 250 employees — the level under which private sector employers
are officially classed as small or medium-sized enterprises. But these were almost
exactly balanced out by the 266 with workforces of more than 1000, three out of five
of whom were in the private sector.
The south east of England and East Anglia was the region most heavily rep-
resented in the poll, accounting for 30% of participants (211 respondents). The
north east and north west between them contributed 25% (173), the east and west
Midlands 23% (160), 6% (42) came from Scotland, 5% (36) from Wales and only
just over 1% (9) from Northern Ireland.
Fig 6. Private sector
trading conditions in the
past year
Improved
Worsened
Stayed
the same
n=499
Fig 7. Predicted private
sector trading conditions
next year
Better
Same
Worse
n=499
n=681
however, I see the big picture and fully
appreciate the financial situation of the com-
pany, so I am not complaining too much. If it
were not for the current climate, I would have
expected to be earning more like £50k,” said
the director of a construction firm in the north
west whose salary is between £42,500 and
£44,999.
Tale of two sectors
The uncertainty of the times is reflected in
respondents’ perceptions of their job security.
In Figure 5 we have split the private and public
sector responses in recognition of their vary-
ing circumstances.
Inprivateindustry,therecessionbitinmid
2008 and it’s still biting for many organisa-
tions. Figure 5 shows that only just over one
in four private sector respondents say trading
conditions improved in the past 12 months,
while more than a third say they deteriorated.
Looking ahead, the fears of a second reces-
sionary dip in some sectors and sluggish or-
der volumes in some others mean that though
slightly more think conditions will improve in
2012, almost 29% still think things will get
worse. This is about the same proportion of
private sector respondents who say their jobs
are not at all or not very secure.
It’s a different story in the public sector.
Once, public services jobs were largely insu-
lated against economic contraction, and even
the efficiency reviews in central government
earlier this decade did little to curb a steady
expansion over the 20 years. That’s all set
to change. The planned cuts as a result of
the government’s Comprehensive Spending
“The government squeeze on
public budgets is drastic and has
taken no account of the impact on
health and safety within the emer-
gency services,” said a police health
and safety officer who believes his
job is quite secure. “It’s easy to tell
a police force to make a £45million
budget cut, but the impact on the
service that can be delivered —
and more importantly, how safely
it can be delivered — is enormous.
Quite honestly, it makes me want to
walk away and go and teach people how
to play the guitar instead.”
“That’s the sort of conversation I am
having with an awful lot of people in the pub-
lic sector,” adds Mark Burton, “even people
who haven’t been affected so far are very
concerned about next year.” �
Attwood Burton is the leading
health, safety and environment re-
cruitment specialist working alongside
organisations in every industry sec-
tor to recruit the best professionals,
www.attwoodburton.com
Review was announced while our survey was
still open, but even before chancellor George
Osborne put flesh on the bones, it was clear
there would be hefty public sector job losses.
No surprise then that the 30% of public
sector respondents who said their jobs were
unsafe safe in our last survey has swelled to
46% in this year’s poll.
“Myagencyneedstosave£750millionby
March 2011,” said one health and safety man-
ager in central government. “This can only be
achieved through redundancies, which will
put staff safety at serious risk.”
Another in a local authority in the north
west complained of “job cuts, no pay rise for
at least two years, no promotion prospects.
Benefit of a pension is not much cop if you
haven’t been in local government all your life.
No perks, no appreciation.”
Even among those who do not feel im-
mediately threatened, there is a sense that
the coming cuts will be hard to swallow.