www.nebosh.org.uk/qualifications 9 visited the University of Liverpool to seek out employment opportunities. At the time the university was partnering with a small local company developing a research and development laboratory. Maria became their laboratory manager and soon began to develop a passion for health and safety. “I decided health and safety should be my employment plan B,” Maria explained. “So that was when I discovered NEBOSH, took my National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety and achieved a distinction.” Maria became even more involved in health and safety at work and so she threw herself into the NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, studying at night at Bolton University. She gained her Diploma in 2007, which was perfect timing because soon after Maria and her husband decided to move back to London, where opportunities for his freelance interior design business were more vibrant. Thanks to her Diploma, Maria very quickly found work as a health and safety consultant in the capital. To improve her specialist knowledge she added the NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management and NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction Health and Safety to her list of qualifications. She worked as a consultant and trainer for four years and then one morning her husband spotted a job advert for a health and safety manager at the British Museum. “I’d been looking to get back into management for a while because I wanted to implement more,” Maria told us. “But I also wanted something different, something that was more of a challenge.” Following an intensive three month application process, Maria got the job and has been the British Museum’s Health and Safety Manager since 2013. “I really love working here,” she said. “As well as looking after the safety of 6.7 million visitors each year, there are all kinds of unusual risks to manage, from asbestos in some of the fabric exhibits for example, to poisonous arrows from Africa. “My time as a consultant and trainer has been invaluable, as I’ve carried on that approach here, where health and safety is now becoming embedded in every role. But I have to say my NEBOSH qualifications were a big part of me getting to where I am now, in fact I can say that for my career NEBOSH was the best decision I ever made.” “ My NEBOSH qualifications were a big part of me getting to where I am now.”