Health & Safety Recruitment Agency
Health and safety recruitment across construction H&S, general industry, built-estate compliance, HSEQ leadership, occupational health and behavioural safety. NEBOSH, IOSH and IIRSM-aligned, CDM 2015 literate, ISO 45001 fluent. Permanent, contract and interim across the UK.
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Average time to shortlist
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Placement retention at 12 months
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Years of health and safety recruitment expertise
Our Expertise
our expertise.
Our H&S desk briefs by specialism because employers do. Construction H&S under CDM 2015 looks nothing like manufacturing EHS, which looks nothing like logistics warehouse safety, which looks nothing like HSEQ leadership roles now carrying ISO 45001 certification and ESG reporting crossover. We recruit the way the market actually hires.
We place H&S advisors, managers and directors across construction, general industry, built-estate compliance, HSEQ leadership, occupational health and behavioural safety. We verify NEBOSH qualifications, IOSH Chartered progression (CMIOSH and CFIOSH) and IIRSM membership. Fluent on CDM 2015 Principal Designer and Principal Contractor duties, HSG65 Managing for Health and Safety, ISO 45001:2018, COSHH, LOLER, PUWER, DSEAR, RIDDOR and the Building Safety Act 2022 overlay where it intersects with H&S competence.
Why It Matters
the UK health and safety hiring reality in 2026.
The competent-person bar in UK H&S has moved faster than the qualification pipeline, and the penalty for mis-hiring it is regulatory. A specialist desk is how you keep every shortlist credible against the regime the role actually operates inside.
“Moston understood the difference between CDM 2015 Principal Designer competence and the newer BSA 2022 role, and screened every CV against live delivery, not just training certificates.”
Health & Safety
72hrs
Average time to shortlist
Two Principal Designer roles, two competence regimes
UK regulation now carries two distinct Principal Designer roles. CDM 2015 covers pre-construction design coordination on any construction project. BSA 2022 Part 2A covers design leadership on Higher-Risk Buildings. Competence, liability and scope are different. Cross-qualified practitioners with live evidence on both sides are scarce, and briefs are routinely miscast between the two pools.
Find H&S Talent →NEBOSH Diploma and CMIOSH supply cannot keep pace with senior demand
Manager and director-level H&S hiring is growing faster than the NEBOSH National Diploma and IOSH Chartered pathway can feed it. Senior CMIOSH-qualified practitioners with genuine large-estate or tier-one contractor experience are the hardest band to fill in 2026. We verify Chartered route and active progression, not claimed status.
Our Approach
what UK health and safety hiring takes in 2026.
Six specialism tracks, NEBOSH and IOSH-literate assessment, and genuine coverage from site-based H&S advisor through to group HSEQ director. The baseline a health and safety recruitment agency has to meet.
Sector-specific H&S expertise
We are not generalists who happen to cover H&S. Every consultant works an H&S desk and reads briefs against the specialism and competence regime the role actually sits under:
Specialism tracks
construction H&S under CDM 2015, general industry EHS, built-estate compliance, HSEQ leadership, occupational health and behavioural safety. Six distinct candidate pools.
Qualification fluency
NEBOSH General, Construction, Fire Safety and Environmental certificates, National Diploma, IOSH Managing Safely through CMIOSH and CFIOSH, IIRSM Member and Fellow.
Regulatory literacy
CDM 2015 duty holders, BSA 2022 Part 2A Principal Designer on HRBs, HSG65 governance, ISO 45001:2018 certification, COSHH, LOLER, PUWER, DSEAR and RIDDOR reporting.
Sector context
tier-one contractor scale versus regional builder, manufacturing and process industry versus logistics, NHS estates versus higher education campuses. Different specialisms, different shortlists.
Real H&S networks
Fifteen years in the market and the relationships are how this works. Active conversations with CMIOSH and GradIOSH practitioners, CDM advisers and the HSEQ directors they report into:
Construction H&S
site H&S advisors, regional and divisional H&S managers, CDM advisers and consultants, Principal Designer (CDM 2015 and BSA 2022) practitioners.
General industry and built-estate
manufacturing H&S managers, process safety engineers under DSEAR and COMAH, FM contractor H&S managers and landlord estate compliance advisers.
HSEQ leadership
Heads of HSE, HSEQ Directors, Directors of Safety and ISO 45001 certification leads, often placed before they are actively looking.
Occupational health and behavioural
OH advisors (SCPHN-qualified nurses), OH managers and physicians, wellbeing leads, safety culture programme managers and human factors specialists.
A methodology that earns its 72 hours
Most H&S shortlists land in 72 hours. That is because the work happens before the brief rather than during it:
Duty-holder calibration
we scope the brief against the regime it actually sits under, CDM 2015 or BSA 2022 Part 2A, HSG65 or ISO 45001, before a search opens. The wrong regime is the fastest way to a wrong-pool shortlist.
Proactive search
consultants work candidates directly. Most CMIOSH senior placements never appear on generic job boards.
Qualification verification
NEBOSH Diploma, CMIOSH and CFIOSH Chartered status, IIRSM grade, SMSTS and SSSTS currency, CDM 2015 versus BSA 2022 Part 2A evidence. All checked against live delivery.
Curated shortlists
four candidates properly qualified for the specialism, not twenty who happen to list NEBOSH. The 94% twelve-month retention rate starts here.
Roles We Recruit
health and safety roles we recruit for, by specialism.
Construction H&S and CDM 2015, general industry H&S, built environment compliance, HSEQ leadership, occupational health, and behavioural safety, culture and audit. Six dedicated areas because UK H&S practitioners self-identify by the sector and context they serve.
Construction H&S & CDM 2015
Specialist construction h&s & cdm 2015 roles we recruit:
6 roles in this category
- Site Health & Safety Advisors and Managers
- Construction H&S Coordinators (SMSTS, SSSTS)
- CDM Advisors and CDM Consultants
- Principal Designers (CDM 2015 pre-construction duty)
- Principal Contractor H&S Leads
- Tier-One Contractor Regional and Divisional H&S Managers
Can't see your role? We recruit across all Health & Safety disciplines.
Hire NowProof in Practice
the work, not the pitch.
Why Clients Partner With Us
the reasons clients stay with us on H&S hiring.
We recruit into UK health and safety every day. NEBOSH and IOSH qualification pathways, CMIOSH and CFIOSH Chartered progression, IIRSM membership, CDM 2015 Principal Designer and Principal Contractor duties, HSG65, ISO 45001:2018, COSHH, LOLER, PUWER, DSEAR, RIDDOR and the BSA 2022 overlay. You will brief us, not explain the competence regime.
- Specialism-literate from the first call: Construction H&S is a different candidate market from manufacturing EHS and different again from FM built-estate compliance. Our desk knows the pool each brief sits in and screens accordingly, rather than treating all H&S hiring as a single commodity market.
- NEBOSH and IOSH verification-led screening: NEBOSH Diploma, IOSH Chartered route (CMIOSH and CFIOSH), IIRSM membership and CPD currency are verified at shortlist stage. Live evidence of delivery under HSG65 and ISO 45001, not just certification attendance, is the bar we screen to.
- CDM 2015 and BSA 2022 Principal Designer separation: The two Principal Designer roles are distinct in law and competence framework. We brief for one and screen for the other correctly, rather than treating them as interchangeable. That distinction alone saves clients weeks of wrong-pool shortlisting.
- Occupational health and HSEQ leadership coverage: Our desk covers occupational health (OH advisors through to physicians) and HSEQ leadership (Head of HSE through to Director of Safety) as well as tool-kit H&S advisor and manager roles. Team build and succession mandates are briefed accordingly.
Latest Opportunities
live UK health and safety jobs.
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Get In Touch
brief our UK health and safety recruitment desk?
Most health and safety recruitment shortlists are delivered within 72 hours. CMIOSH senior, Principal Designer (CDM 2015 and BSA 2022) and HSEQ Director briefs take longer, and we will say so on the first call.
Or speak to us direct
+44 (0) 1234 567 890hello@mostonrecruit.co.ukMon–Fri, 8am–6pm GMT.
Confidential conversations welcome.
FAQs
common health and safety recruitment questions.
Direct answers on NEBOSH, IOSH, CDM 2015, ISO 45001, HSG65, RIDDOR and the Principal Designer role distinction between CDM 2015 and BSA 2022.
NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) is a UK awarding body issuing formal qualifications across occupational safety and health. Its National General Certificate is the most widely-held introductory H&S qualification, with Construction, Fire Safety and Environmental variants alongside. The National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety is the senior qualification. IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) is the UK professional body for safety and health, awarding Managing Safely and Working Safely as introductory short courses and operating the Chartered membership pathway (CMIOSH and CFIOSH). The two are complementary rather than competing: NEBOSH qualifications are commonly held alongside IOSH membership.
CMIOSH stands for Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. It is the Chartered professional status for UK health and safety practitioners, requiring an IOSH-accredited or equivalent qualification (typically the NEBOSH Diploma), demonstrated competence through the Initial Professional Development (IPD) route and a Peer Review interview. Chartered Fellow (CFIOSH) is the senior grade. Senior H&S manager, HSE Director and Head of Safety briefs in the UK now typically require live CMIOSH status as a shortlist criterion.
CDM 2015 (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015) is the UK regulation governing health and safety on construction projects. It applies to all construction work in the UK and places duties on clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors and contractors. The Principal Designer under CDM 2015 is the designer appointed by the client to coordinate pre-construction health and safety matters. This is distinct from the Principal Designer role created by Part 2A of the Building Safety Act 2022, which applies only to Higher-Risk Building projects and carries different competence and liability requirements. We screen candidates against the correct regime for the brief.
ISO 45001:2018 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, published in 2018 and effectively replacing the older OHSAS 18001. Many UK H&S manager and HSEQ leadership roles are scoped against ISO 45001 certification maintenance, audit and continual improvement. Candidates with live ISO 45001 transition or certification delivery experience are commonly preferred on tier-one contractor, manufacturing and corporate HSEQ briefs. We verify live certification scheme delivery, not just standard awareness.
HSG65 is the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) guidance document titled Managing for Health and Safety, setting out the UK regulator's framework for leadership, workforce involvement and planning for H&S management. Its Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle aligns closely with the ISO 45001 management system. Many UK organisations run HSG65 as their governance framework and ISO 45001 as their certification standard in parallel. H&S manager and HSEQ director CVs are commonly scoped against fluency in both.
Four core UK occupational H&S regulations. COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002) governs exposure to hazardous substances. LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) governs lifting equipment safety. PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998) governs work equipment more broadly. DSEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002) governs risk from flammable or explosive substances. Manufacturing, process industry and construction H&S advisors are expected to be fluent in all four, with DSEAR depth becoming increasingly important in energy, hydrogen and industrial gases applications.
RIDDOR is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It places a legal duty on UK employers, the self-employed and those in control of work premises to report specified workplace injuries, occupational diseases, and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive. RIDDOR reporting is a routine part of the H&S manager and advisor role and lead indicators drawn from RIDDOR data feed both internal safety KPIs and external ESG disclosure. H&S managers with a track record of effective RIDDOR process management are the baseline expectation.
Yes. CDM Advisors, CDM Consultants and Principal Designer (CDM 2015) roles sit within our Construction H&S specialism and are briefed regularly on tier-one contractor, regional contractor and consultancy pipelines. Where the role is a BSA 2022 Part 2A Principal Designer (HRB projects only), we brief separately and screen against the BSA 2022 competence framework. Our Fire Safety & Building Compliance page covers the BSA 2022 Principal Designer market in detail.
Broad 2026 market ranges. H&S Officer 28 to 38 thousand. H&S Advisor 35 to 50. H&S Manager 50 to 72. Senior H&S Manager 65 to 85. Head of Health & Safety / HSE Director 85 to 130 plus. CDM Advisor 38 to 55. CDM Consultant 45 to 65. Principal Designer (CDM 2015) 50 to 80. Occupational Health Advisor (nurse) 38 to 55. Occupational Health Manager 55 to 75. Occupational Health Physician 80 to 130. HSEQ Director (group-level, large corporate) 100 to 160 plus. London, tier-one construction and major manufacturing premium apply. Day rates for contract roles run 300 to 750.
Yes, across every major UK H&S context. Construction H&S under CDM 2015 is one specialism. General industry H&S covering manufacturing, process industry, logistics, warehousing, transport and utilities is another. Built-environment compliance H&S for FM contractors, estates and landlords is a third. HSEQ leadership and occupational health are cross-sector. The same desk covers all of them because UK H&S careers regularly cross these boundaries and our screening and shortlisting approach is specialism-led, not sector-siloed.
Yes. Occupational Health is a distinct specialism within our desk. OH Advisors (typically OH Nurses with SCPHN or equivalent qualification), Occupational Health Managers, Occupational Health Physicians (with the Society of Occupational Medicine Diploma or equivalent), Wellbeing Leads and Mental Health Specialists are all briefed regularly. Large corporate, manufacturing, healthcare and infrastructure employers lead the UK OH hiring market.
Yes, across all three. Permanent placements are the majority of our volume. Contract cover is common on construction scheme peaks, ISO 45001 certification transition, audit programmes and manufacturing shutdown-support assignments. Interim H&S Manager and HSE Director placements are used on post-acquisition integrations, regulatory intervention response and senior turnaround mandates where permanent hire is in progress or under review.
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