Safety, Health, Environment & Quality (SHEQ)
What do they do?
Safety, Health, Environment, and Quality (SHEQ) professionals play a vital role in ensuring the safety of workers, protecting the environment, and maintaining high-quality standards within the nuclear industry.
Typical duties and responsibilities in SHEQ include:
- Safety Management: To avoid mishaps, injuries, and workplace dangers, they create and carry out safety policies and procedures. To find any dangers and reduce them, this entails carrying out safety audits, inspections, and risk assessments.
- Health Management: By putting in place health programs, offering medical exams, and attending to occupational health issues like exposure to radiation or dangerous materials, they enhance the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
- Environmental Management: They keep an eye on and control the environmental effects of nuclear operations, making sure that rules are followed and reducing emissions, waste, and contamination.
- Quality Management: To make sure that goods, services, and procedures adhere to legal requirements as well as industry standards, they create and manage quality assurance systems. To find opportunities for improvement, this entails carrying out performance reviews, inspections, and quality audits.
Skills and knowledge required for the role:
- Solid understanding of nuclear industry best practices, rules, health and safety, and environmental management concepts.
- The ability to recognise and solve complicated health and safety, environmental, and quality issues using analysis and problem-solving techniques.
- Interpersonal and communication abilities to engage stakeholders at all levels, work with cross-functional teams, and convey safety and quality requirements.
- The ability to properly manage paperwork, data, and compliance records through attention to detail and organisational abilities.
- The ability to lead and manage projects for quality, health and safety, and environmental improvement as well as to promote a continuous improvement culture.
what are my next steps?
University Degree
Pursue a degree in Health and Safety, Environmental Science, Quality Management, or a related field. Many universities offer programmes specifically tailored to the needs of the nuclear industry, such as nuclear-specific safety, radiation and environmental protection, and quality assurance.
Apprenticeship
Pursue an apprenticeship in a related field like engineering or environmental science. Learn on the job from experienced professionals while also taking classes to deepen your understanding. Rotate through different departments to gain a broad perspective and pass exams and demonstrate your skills to become certified in SHEQ.
Working towards the role
Take advantage of internships or entry-level jobs in nuclear industry safety, health, environmental, or quality departments to obtain real-world experience. Seek out chances to collaborate with businesses or institutions that place a high priority on quality and safety.
