Working in OHS is a huge responsibility, because the health and even life of the employees employed by the company depend on it. Knowledge of the regulations is extremely important here, but in order to deal with OHS, it is also necessary to have appropriate education and experience in the industry. When planning such a professional path, you should carefully familiarize yourself with the specifics of work in OHS, which does not have much in common with typical office work, and is marked by a number of extremely important duties.

You can’t become a health and safety employee overnight. One of the factors that allows you to recruit candidates is directional education. This is determined by law – specific laws and regulations.

Education of ohs services in Poland is carried out, among others, by post-secondary schools intended for this purpose. Their graduates can apply for a job in OHS, but immediately after the matura exam you can also go to studies related to OHS, which are offered by many Polish universities. Their program is perfectly suited to the performance of responsible duties in the future by graduates of these faculties. Some of these universities offer candidates engineering studies aimed at preparing them for work in health and safety services. Graduates receive the titles of engineers in the field of OHS. The third solution is postgraduate studies related to occupational health and safety. They also prepare for work in this industry.

The possibility of taking up individual positions in the OHS industry is also determined by the length of service. The regulations clearly define how long experience is required to take up a given position. Interestingly, the length of service is calculated regardless of the length of the full-time position. It is worth remembering that the internship does not include work based on a civil law contract, because such specialists, regardless of their duties, from the point of view of law, are specialists from outside the workplace. Experience in the OSH industry is very important. The candidate must not only know the applicable regulations perfectly, but also practical issues, know how the exemplary operation of platforms is carried out, and how the forklift is carried out.

Candidates who have a future in the OSH industry can take up the positions of occupational health and safety inspectors, as required by:

• Occupational health and safety inspector – such a position can be taken by a person who has at least the profession of occupational health and safety technician. In this case, an internship is exceptionally not required.
• Senior occupational health and safety inspector – such a position can be taken up by an OHS technician after at least 3 years of experience in the OHS service. The second option is to have a higher or postgraduate education in the field of occupational health and safety. In this case, an internship is not necessary.

People associated with the OSH industry may also take up positions of specialists in this field. There are three potential career levels, each with specific requirements:

• Occupational health and safety specialist – higher education or postgraduate studies in the field of OHS and at least one year of work experience in the services are required;
• Senior occupational health and safety specialist – in this case, higher or postgraduate education is also required, as well as 3 years of work experience in the service;
• Chief specialist for occupational health and safety – higher education or postgraduate studies are necessary, and the required seniority is at least 5 years.

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.