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Consultant Talks: Prevention and Safety Adviser Younous
At Pauwels Consulting, we have in-house consultants with expertise in life sciences, engineering and IT. Today, we’ll be talking to Younous El Haddouti. He talks about his role as a prevention and safety adviser in high-voltage projects. Younous shares his experience, the challenges he faces and his plans for the future as a consultant.
Working as a prevention adviser
Part of my work is as a prevention adviser. The rest of the time I primarily provide advice and consultancy on safety in the context of high voltage. The customer involves me when third parties are involved in projects, for example with cranes or other equipment for construction or maintenance. I’ve been doing this for over four years, and it’s never boring. On the contrary, there is more and more to consider as I expand my field of expertise. Different sectors, ways of working and contexts make my work extremely interesting. That’s why I like working as a consultant. You learn quickly because of the great variety involved.
First-line consultants
Major utility companies are flooded with work requests, making it impossible for them to assess every situation immediately. This is where consultants come in: we can intervene quickly and evaluate the urgency of each case. Our role is to ensure that the most critical projects receive the attention they deserve, whether in the short or long term.
Passion for prevention
Earlier in my career, I wanted to be a site manager, so I trained for that. After working at a company for HVAC, electricity, plumbing and building management systems, I completed another qualification that sparked my interest in prevention. To give you an idea, I completed training to become a level 3 prevention adviser and later received my level 2 qualification. This is where I am now active. I’m already looking forward to specialising further in this.
At Pauwels Consulting, you have the opportunity to keep developing as a consultant. There's a huge wealth of in-house knowledge among fellow consultants, which you simply have to take advantage of.
Safety in practice
One recent project that stands out for me is when I was given an essential role in safety management at a major contracting company for industrial projects. A data centre was built where a thorough risk analysis and prevention plan was made for the infrastructure. The main objectives in such projects are to maintain a safe working environment as well as the relationship between the customer and their customer, in this case, Microsoft. We achieve this by carefully managing method statements, using BIM 360 and often explaining and defending safety protocols during daily site meetings.
New opportunities
The customer was satisfied with my contribution and the successful trajectory of the project. This led to new opportunities and gave me a very positive feeling about my work. It made me realise my job is useful and helps people achieve their goals in a safe way. In addition, there are more and more data centres, so the experience I gained from them is still crucial.
Lifelong learning
My current job is the result of my earlier decision to seize opportunities and challenge myself. Taking advantage of training opportunities and finding your passion are the things that turn a job into a career. I also learned new skills as part of the data centre project. I found it challenging to present the method statements in English to an entire team, but thanks to positive feedback on my efforts, I was motivated to sharpen my presentation and documentation skills.
Growing with Pauwels Consulting
At Pauwels Consulting, you have the opportunity to keep developing as a consultant. There’s a huge wealth of in-house knowledge among fellow consultants, which you simply have to take advantage of. This is why I’m delighted to see we are offered training opportunities and mentoring, and that we can present our own suggestions. Together we are stronger and achieve more.
QHSE within the company
In this way, I have also contributed to knowledge sharing within the company. Together with Luc Marivoet, the QHSE Manager of Pauwels Consulting, I designed the internal safety guidelines. We call this the QHSE toolbox. It contains regulations, advice, step-by-step plans for checks and more. Our goal is to raise awareness of risks in environments where risks are present, which we also communicate as part of information sessions to consultants. In addition, I help to keep the job cards up to date, which contain the risks per job.
ISO certification and audits
ISO standards are inherently linked to safety and prevention. I have also conducted ISO audits at customer sites and even carried out daily audits for one customer. Throughout our projects, I always attach great importance to documentation that is in accordance with the practices on the site and to correctly informing all colleagues about recommended working methods and risks.
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