‘Ik vin‘I like that fact that my work supports other people’s enjoyment of their job, because I’ve experienced for myself how important that is. I trained as an agricultural technician at WUR and was then a Barn Climate and Emissions researcher for 17 years. A reorganization resulted from a shortage of assignments, and I was a candidate for redeployment. There wasn’t much work in my field anywhere else either, so I decided to retrain. That was a very dark chapter in my life because as a dedicated researcher, my work was a big part of my life. I then gave some serious thought to what I was looking for in my next job. In the course of some career guidance, I realized that my strong points were my analytical and technical skills, and that I wanted to use those. I could use those qualities within quality management, and I took a course in that.
I got an internship with the Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Service and gained a knowledge of safety and environmental issues there. Combined with my knowledge of quality management, that enabled me to stay on at WUR: quality management is usually combined with health, safety and environmental issues in a QHSE department.
Although that reorganization period was a very hard time, I seized all the opportunities I got. And that worked out well, because using my technical and analytical skills is still what I like best about my work – especially the analysis of health and safety risks and how you arrive at recommendations for limiting those risks. I do that preventively as a Quality and Health & Safety advisor, and in response to situations as an emergency response officer.
I now use the experience I gained during the reorganization in working towards my work goal: I try to prevent health and safety problems wherever possible so my colleagues can continue to enjoy their job to the full.
As a dedicated researcher, my work was a big part of my life
Attention to health and safety is often given less priority than teaching, doing research or cutting costs. So I sometimes meet with resistance to my recommendations, and that can be difficult. But my work matters, and I like that. I’ve been working in Zodiac for 15 years now, and fortunately with great pleasure.’
Turning points: sometimes you recognize them at once, and sometimes only in retrospect. In the series The Moment, WUR folk talk about a moment they’ll never forget. This time, Quality, Health & Safety and Environment consultant and head of Corporate Emergency Response Martin Wagemans. A reorganization taught him the importance of enjoying your job.