Employers hire occupational health nurses to promote good health and safety practices in their workplaces. These types of nurses can work for large companies, private consultancies or as part of a large team dealing with occupational health and safety issues. Occupational health nurses may eventually establish their own successful consultancies.
These nurses inspect their workplaces for any safety or health problems, develop occupational safety policies, help to create health promotion initiatives, handle first-aid screening, follow up on any workplace accidents, maintain health records of employees and update employees on disability issues
Nurses in such a role must first become registered nurses before specialising in this field. At least two years of nursing experience in addition to an occupational health nurse specialist qualification are recommended to begin working in this sector. Any work in an emergency setting is an especially significant advantage
Most entry level positions in this field are with large services, and average salaries range from £23,780 to £37,642 per annum.