If you work in QHSE long enough, this feeling creeps in:

“I stop bad things happening… but no one seems to notice.”

No applause. No thanks. Sometimes not even agreement.

That doesn’t mean your work isn’t valuable. It means the way QHSE value shows up in a business is fundamentally different from sales, ops, or finance - and most organisations aren’t wired to recognise it.

Let’s unpack why this happens, and what you can realistically do about it.

1. Success in QHSE Is Invisible by Design

In most roles, success produces something:

• Revenue goes up

• Projects get delivered

• Outputs are shipped

In QHSE, success often looks like:

• An accident that didn’t happen

• A prosecution that never occurred

• A shutdown that was avoided

The problem? Humans and businesses struggle to value non-events.

When nothing goes wrong, it’s easy for leadership to assume:

“Things are fine anyway.”

This is not a reflection of your competence - it’s a cognitive bias.

What to do: Translate prevention into business language:

• “This change removed a £250k shutdown risk”

• “This control reduces exposure to personal liability for directors”

• “This saved ~40 hours/month of rework”

If it can’t be felt, it must be framed.

2. QHSE Is Still Seen as a Cost Centre

Despite decades of evidence, many organisations subconsciously place QHSE in the same bucket as:

• Insurance

• Legal

• Compliance paperwork

Necessary, but not value-generating.

This mindset creates two issues:

1. Your recommendations are treated as opinions, not decisions

2. You’re invited in after key business choices are already made

What to do: Anchor safety to outcomes leaders already care about:

• Operational continuity

• Reputation

• Investor confidence

• Contract eligibility

Safety doesn’t compete with the business. Poor safety does.

3. QHSE Advice Is Often Abstract, Not Actionable

Phrases like:

• “Ensure suitable and sufficient”

• “Review as necessary”

• “Manage risk appropriately”

make sense to professionals - but to management, they sound vague, defensive, and optional.

When advice isn’t concrete, it’s easy to ignore.

What to do: Make recommendations binary and specific:

• “Approve £6k guarding upgrade or accept a high likelihood RIDDOR risk”

• “Delay project by 2 weeks or proceed with uncontrolled lifting operations”

Clarity forces decisions. Ambiguity kills influence.

4. You’re Competing With Short-Term Pressure

QHSE tends to protect the future. The business is often focused on this quarter.

That tension can make you feel like:

• The blocker

• The pessimist

• The person who “doesn’t get commercial reality”

In truth, you’re often the only one thinking long-term.

What to do: Acknowledge the pressure - then reframe:

“I understand the deadline pressure. My concern is that this choice creates a risk that could stop delivery entirely.”

You’re not anti-progress. You’re anti-regret.

5. Feeling Undervalued Doesn’t Mean You Are

Many QHSE professionals internalise this lack of recognition as:

• “Maybe I’m bad at my job”

• “Maybe I’m overreacting”

• “Maybe safety isn’t that important here”

That’s rarely true. More often, it means:

• The value is real but poorly communicated

• The organisation lacks safety maturity

• You’re solving problems leadership doesn’t fully understand

That’s a system problem - not a personal failure.

The Bottom Line

Good QHSE work rarely gets credit because:

• Its wins are invisible

• Its language doesn’t match business priorities

• Its impact is long-term, not immediate

The solution isn’t shouting louder. It’s translating safety into consequence, choice, and commercial reality. When leaders see the trade-offs you’re managing, respect follows.