Risk and safety management professional (L7)

Risk and Safety Management Professional: In highly regulated industries where the impact of loss is high, risk and safety management professionals work collaboratively with other disciplines. They establish the context of the problem, identify all hazards including those with the potential to cause a major accident, analyse the associated risk, evaluate the risk against acceptance criteria and propose ways of treating the risk such that it is eliminated or reduced and maintained as low as reasonably practicable. They are required to address means of monitoring and reviewing the actual risk and safety performance, and communicating and consulting risk issues with all relevant stakeholders. Whilst the emphasis on specific aspects of the risk profile and use of specific techniques may differ slightly between industries, the overriding risk management process is the same for all. Whether practitioners work in ‘systems’ sectors such as nuclear, defence, rail and aviation, for example, or in ‘process’ industries such as oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical, the risk management processes, safety management systems, and organisational and human factors are all fundamentally the same. This apprenticeship creates rounded professionals capable of working competently in their chosen industry but with the risk and safety management knowledge, skills and behaviours that are transferable across all highly regulated industries. Such professionals typically work in the fields of technical safety, safety and reliability, nuclear safety, chemical and process safety, rail safety, product safety and air safety.

Risk and Safety Management Professional
A Risk and Safety Management Professional leads the identification, assessment, and control of risks within engineering and manufacturing environments, ensuring compliance with health, safety, environmental, and regulatory standards while promoting a strong safety culture and sustainable operational performance.

Airbus, Alstom, Risktec, Aspire Consulting, BAE Systems, DSTL, Ebeni Ltd, EDF Energy, Lockheed Martin, Maersk Oil North Sea, MoD Defence Safety Authority, NEBOSH, Network Rail, NNL, NuGeneration, Rolls-Royce, RSSB, Sellafield, Siemens, Thales, Transport for London

K1: Principles and practice of risk management, including frameworks for embedding risk and safety management into the overall organisational management system, and the application of structured risk management processes.

K2: Selection and effective use of systematic risk assessment techniques appropriate to different contexts, including understanding preferred methods and levels of assessment for specific applications within the chosen industrial sector.

K3: The structure, purpose, and operations of the chosen industrial sector, and how risk and safety management functions within organisations, interacts with other disciplines, and integrates across supply chains and dependent sectors.

K4: Specialist knowledge and domain-specific expertise required to meet employer needs, including areas related to emerging technologies, regulatory developments, and current or future key risk and safety focus areas.

S1: Apply knowledge and understanding of risk and safety management across the full lifecycle in practical situations. Recognise context and accurately select and apply systematic methods for hazard identification, risk analysis and evaluation, and the development of proportionate risk treatment solutions. Manage wider professional responsibilities, including compliance with relevant regulations and emergency planning.

S2: Critically observe and evaluate risk and safety leadership behaviours in self and others, reflecting on their effectiveness and recognising the importance of influence alongside formal authority.

S3: Identify stakeholders and clarify their needs. Analyse influencing factors and communicate risk and safety issues effectively to relevant stakeholders. Approach problems from multiple perspectives, collaborate across disciplines, and apply appropriate risk and safety tools to generate solutions.

S4: Communicate risk and safety information clearly, accurately, and appropriately to diverse audiences using a range of professional communication methods.

S5: Identify, frame, and address complex risk and safety problems through critical thinking, problem-finding, and creative problem-solving approaches.

B1: Demonstrate healthy scepticism regarding the effectiveness of systems and processes. Challenge and test assumptions, avoiding both over-simplification of complex risk issues and unnecessary over-complication, while applying a proportionate level of analysis. Show courage and conviction in the face of adversity, supporting conclusions with robust evidence.

B2: Recognise and assess change within risk and safety management contexts, including engineering, organisational, and procedural environments. Reflect on change and adapt personal approaches accordingly. Remain open to abstract concepts as well as real-world systems and processes, communicate ideas visually, and assess the feasibility of practical solutions.

B3: Show a strong drive to improve designs, solutions, and processes from a risk and safety perspective. Collaborate effectively with teams to hypothesise, research, innovate, and clarify improvements. Act cooperatively, seek stakeholder feedback on proposals, and evaluate benefits and trade-offs to achieve effective enhancements.

B4: Plan, review, and undertake continuous professional development (CPD). Regularly reflect on personal competence and behavioural development, comply with the obligations of the relevant professional institution, and demonstrate a strong commitment to high standards of professional conduct, including reliability, honesty, integrity, and ethics. Actively contribute to forums that advance risk and safety management as a profession.