‘I love safety, but there’s one thing I don’t like!’
Case Study: Swapna George
Almost all professions seem to have their annoying clichés and stereotypes. Try asking a construction worker if they’ve ever finished a project on time, a firefighter how many kittens they’ve rescued or an aircraft pilot if their plane ‘just flies itself’ and see what reaction you get.
Swapna George has a genuine love of health and safety, but there’s one thing she says you won’t ever see her doing. “I’ll never be the one with a clipboard,” she told us, laughing.
It’s this kind of self-deprecating sense of humour that has helped Swapna develop quickly into an effective Environmental Health Safety (EHS) Adviser. She believes in building strong connections with her colleagues and feels it’s essential to be friendly and approachable in her role.
“It’s about influencing not laying down the rules,” said Swapna. “One of the things I’ve learned is to try and position happiness alongside safety and health. People often talk about how everyone wants to be safe and healthy at work. I can see they also want to be happy, so why not make that a big part of what we do as well?”
Swapna has an intuitive emotional intelligence when it comes to health and safety. One of her first involvements was being asked by a previous employer to support the safety of around 60 delivery drivers. Her instinct was not to ask what rules they should follow, but whether she could go out and accompany them on their deliveries so she could understand the kind of challenges they faced.
At the same time, Swapna recognised that she needed to develop her technical knowledge and how to apply it, which is why she chose to take the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.
“This two-pronged approach helped me to build trust in two different ways. It gave people confidence in my understanding of health and safety and showed I was also genuinely interested in their needs. It showed that I really wanted to help and make a difference.”
After passing the NEBOSH General Certificate, Swapna went on to take the National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management. Holding these two qualifications and ambitions to take the National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, have recently helped Swapna secure a fascinating new role with a technology company which focuses on defence, aerospace and cyber intelligence with sites across the UK..
“NEBOSH really opened my eyes to the possibilities and opportunities within health and safety. Just a few years ago, when I started out on this career, I would never have imagined I’d be working somewhere as interesting as this. It’s incredible.”
The move has also helped Swapna’s parents appreciate her role more. She came to the UK from India and says health and safety among the older generation there is not so widely understood. “Of course things have moved on significantly in India in recent years, but it’s been tough at times explaining to my parents exactly what I do, but they get it now. I keep very important people, which in my book is everyone, safe, healthy and happy. That’s how I’ve summed it up to them and they seem proud of that. And there is not a clipboard in sight.”