Career Profile: Keith Merrie

Profession: Safety, Health & Environmental Manager, bmi Group

Qualifications: MBE CMIOSH MIIRSM AIEMA

What career did you have in mind when you left school?

Keith Merrie: At the age of 16 I had my sights on being a chef in the British Army. However, with no military background in my family and the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland at its height, my parents did not want to take the chance that I would be sent into conflict and despite my pleas they would not sign the consent papers. Instead, I became an apprentice welder with Caterpillar.

I kept in touch with the Army Careers who advised me to join the regular Army upon completion of my apprenticeship so in the meantime at 17, I joined the 4^th Battalion Parachute Regiment (TAVR). I thoroughly enjoyed training with the TA and the experience compounded my desire to be in the military.

When I finally joined the Army, I was offered a place in the Royal Corps of Signals as an Electronic Technician, which was much better paid than a chef. I didn’t stop cooking though; I still enjoy creating recipes for friends and family, specialising in North Indian and Nepalese cuisine and sometimes when watching “Masterchef” wonder if there is a third career for me.

How did you move into Health & Safety?

KM: During the mid-1990's, the Ministry of Defence actively promoted health and safety improve-ments; in my position of Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Major (RQMS) I was appointed Safety, Health, Environment and Fire Manager more commonly known by the acronym of SHEF, so I got to be a SHEF in the end!

Do you get satisfaction from working in Health & Safety?

KM: The one word answer in yes. The longer answer is; when I left the Army after serving 22 years I was a qualified Electronic Engineer; many of my colleagues starting working for the mobile telephone companies to work on the new 3G platforms and I could have made a successful career in that direction. However, with my SHEF training, which included the NEBOSH certificate, NEBOSH Diploma, NVQ 4 in Occupational Health & Safety, Fire Safety courses and First Aid as well as environmental courses all provided for by the Army, I was very well qualified to work in health and safety training and it was that area which interested me.

Being in the Army makes you value life. I’ve seen conflict and the death and devastation it causes; that is a part of war; but I’ve also been involved in accident investigations, where an employee has unnecessarily lost their life through cost cutting or ignorance and that is wrong, it should not happen. As a health and safety professional, I am able to positively affect the risks of serious accidents and death happening and that is very satisfying.

Health and safety is about two words Common Sense. Use that and you’ll manage the risks naturally.

What would you say to someone who says that health and safety is an expensive and unnecessary outgoing in business?

KM: To anyone who questions spending money on health and safety, I would tell them about the ‘3 M’s’. That is: Morals, Magistrates and Money.

Firstly, it is an employer’s moral duty to look after their one asset, their employees. However if that doesn’t convince them, then secondly, there is a legal requirement to provide health and safety training and procedures if not they’ll end up at the Magistrates or Crown Court, which may cost more than just money. Thirdly, employers need to speculate to accumulate with health and safety providing the correct training and reduce accidents at work. Paying for injured staff and their replacements plus accident investigation costs, hospital bills will be far more expensive than investing in health and safety.

As I have proved in my current role at bmi, it is possible to introduce health and safety strategies which cut costs by reducing sickness and time off work. With the Manual Handling Strategy for example, savings of £450k were made in the first year alone and the Occupational Health Strategy which has saved £500k a year.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

KM: I felt it was a great achievement to land my present job with bmi, it is a far more strategic role than my previous job and consequently better paid, and there was a lot of competition for the job. My experience and qualifications paid off giving me the confidence to know that I could take on the role and provide strategy and support managers and senior personnel within the company.

However, my greatest achievement is being presented with my Military MBE for the work I did with the British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association (BEWSA) whose members had all suffered spinal injuries. British Service Veterans predominantly rely on charitable donations to help with rehabilitation and for the last five years of my time in the Army, I organised regular training camps for BEWSA members, culminating in the Veteran Games in the USA, where BEWSA won 26 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronze medals.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to move into the health and safety profession?

KM: I’d say that it is a very rewarding career in terms of job satisfaction and also financially. A Health and Safety Manager can expect to be paid between £25,000-35,000 and senior Safety Managers can be paid between £50,000-100,000.

Qualifications are essential; you’ll need to progress from your NEBOSH Certificate and Diploma reaching CMIOSH, as a very large percentage of jobs will ask for you to have CMIOSH or be working towards it.

However, experience in industry is just as important and when you’re applying for work’ industry knowledge counts at least as much as qualifications.

Other Health & Safety Career Profiles

Read the Career Profile of Nick Bell, Construction Safety Manager at UWE (University of West England). Nick explains how he became involved in health & safety and his experience of undergoing the NEBOSH Certificate & Diploma.
Find out about Managing Director Meurig Williams' Health and Safety career.