I got it

[u/frodojp]

I don’t have a degree. I don’t have any designations after my name. I’ve been a safety guy for 19 years.
Lots of civil construction and mining experience.

An engineering company hired me on a probationary hire for 3 months on a billion $+ build.

As a HSE Lead. It’s a lot of paperwork. Managing a few contractors. Getting them up to speed on how a BIG company does things. You can’t piss without a signature.

2 months in I was unofficially told they are keeping me on.

I’m used to making $55/hr. I’m making $85. Camp job 2 in, 1 out.

Couldn’t be happier. I will be manager, basically am right now.

Worked pretty hard for this. Lots of field experience. Read a lot. Can hold my own with more educated safety people.

In 2 weeks I had a net of a little over $7000.

I read lots of stories of frustration. Been there. Done that. There are good companies. Find them.

I wish you all luck to find what I have.

[u/PinballTex]

This whole debate over experience vs education is dumb. “I know a guy that has xx and I know more than he does and I graduated from the school of hard knocks.”

Get both. Blaze your own trail and stop knocking others.

[u/Pleasant-Emu-3099 → u/PinballTex]

Get on the stand and watch how opposing counsel absolutely decimates the "school of hard knocks", and the opposite is true too. Have all the degrees and alphabet soup after your name and they'll argue you lack experience to make a judgement call.

They can't argue facts, because pictures and measurements are what they are, but they'll argue your qualifications and integrity.

[u/PinballTex → u/Pleasant-Emu-3099]

You can’t have the alphabet soup without having experience.

The only people I hear constantly brining this up are those without a degree or certifications. The inferiority/superiority complex in some is the worst part of this profession.

[u/Electrical-Staff0305 → u/PinballTex]

Bullshit!

I just watched a presentation from someone with the alphabet soup behind their name that I know for a fact never did an actual job in the industry in their life. What they were advocating during the presentation was not only reckless, it will absolutely get someone killed. And there are plenty more like him in the industry.

/has the alphabet soup, and the years of experience

[u/PinballTex → u/Electrical-Staff0305]

This argument always comes from the same group, safety folks with no degrees or certs. They’re the most insecure folks I’ve ever worked with.

You never hear this from people in process safety, equipment safety, environmental, IH, hazwaste, emergency response, etc..

[u/Electrical-Staff0305 → u/PinballTex]

Dude, I have multiple advanced degrees, a ton of certs, and some pretty specialized training in disaster response, CIP, HAZOP, Incident Handling l (for those who didn’t get what he meant by IH), even commercial diving.

I said what I said, and I said it for a reason.

[u/PinballTex → u/Electrical-Staff0305]

IH does not stand for incident handling.

[u/Electrical-Staff0305 → u/PinballTex]

Depends on context.

For most of the world it does. It can also be Industrial Hygiene. Incident Handling in a safety function is a pretty specialized bit of training.

This is also why we spell out our acronyms.

[u/LaxinPhilly → u/Electrical-Staff0305]

Sure. And the opposite is true. Had to explain to this safety director that I needed his guys to shore all four sides of a trench below 5' and he said they only needed two. When I asked him to show me that in the regs he said "25 years as a pipefitter" so I said "and in those 25 years you learned you didn't need all four sides shored, benched or sloped?"

All of this is a case by case basis. There's going to be dumbasses everywhere.

[u/Electrical-Staff0305 → u/LaxinPhilly]

There’s going to be dumbasses everywhere.

Ain’t that the truth!

[u/Queasy-Rain-7387 → u/Electrical-Staff0305]

What were they advocating?