Placement Experience: Health and Safety Intern at BSH Home Appliances

As my placement is meeting the halfway mark, I would like share what I have been lucky enough to experience and learn in the past 6 months at BSH Home Appliances Group

During this time, I have had the privilege of contributing to our organisation’s commitment to safety, compliance and wellbeing. My main responsibility in this placement has been managing and conducting a full evaluation of compliance of our legal register and executing comprehensive research to ensure that all of our internal policies are up to date.

Having this opportunity has allowed me to collaborate cross functionally between different teams and departments, learning from their expertise and perspectives. I have especially enjoyed working with our legal department, broadening my understanding of the role and responsibilities of in-house solicitors and barristers.

I'm grateful for the guidance and support I've received from my colleagues, and I would like to specifically thank Steven Cox. MSc, MSyl and Donna O'Brien who have supported me since I started. Their expertise and encouragement have empowered me to take on new responsibilities and continue growing in my role.

I look forward to the upcoming experiences while I continue my last 6 months of placement; I am committed to making a positive impact, and I am eager to build my knowledge.

Why did you decide to take a placement year?  

When going into second year, I kept asking myself the same question most people probably ask at this time: ‘Should I take a placement year?’ and the answer ‘yes, you should!’ was not obvious to me until I started my placement. I knew I wanted to gain some practical experience and put my studies into use, however the question as to whether this was right for me was always in mind. I thought that there would be no harm in applying for placements, in the hope that I would make my mind up in the meantime. With the time I dedicated to research, interviews and working with the placement office, I decided to accept an offer; a decision which in hindsight, was the best decision I could have made.

How did you find the placement search/the support on offer?  

When going through the placement application process, a setback I found hard to accept was rejection. Prior to applying for placements, I had never experienced rejection, and especially not for something I was working so hard towards. I decided to start attending the meetings that were set by the placement office to help with the applications, to which I learnt that rejection is a part of success, it is a way to learn and it is not something to take personally. With the support from the placement team, I managed to submit some amazing applications and receive a placement offer, which makes all the hard work and previous rejection worth it!

Describe your company/your role, what you learnt, skills developed, highlights of your placement.

I am the Health and Safety Intern at BSH Home Appliances Ltd and during this time, I have had the privilege of contributing to our organisation’s commitment to safety, compliance and wellbeing. My main responsibility in this placement has been managing and conducting a full evaluation of compliance of our legal register and executing comprehensive research to ensure that all our internal policies are up to date. 

Having this opportunity has allowed me to collaborate cross functionally between different teams and departments, learning from their expertise and perspectives. I have especially enjoyed working with our legal department, broadening my understanding of the role and responsibilities of in-house solicitors and barristers.

How have your studies supported your placement year? 

When at University, the work being produced is primarily theory: a question could consist of a made-up situation to which we are asked to apply the law to the facts. On a day-to-day basis, my role consists of reading through legislation and applying it to the company – it is a real-life law assessment question. By studying at university, legal terms have been made familiar to myself, helping me understand the wordy legislation and therefore, being able to apply it to our company; evaluating its compliance has been made significantly easier.
 

Any achievements you wish to mention? 

In March 2024, I assisted my manager in the organisation of a comic relief event. This event consisted of seeking out volunteers to have ice cold water dunked on them. The organisation of this involved advertising, setting up donation pages and setting up IT equipment to have the event live streamed for employees who could not attend in person. After many weeks of preparation, the event turned out to be a huge success; the atmosphere was amazing, with an enthusiastic audience present in person, and many others tuning in via the live stream. Hundreds of pounds were raised for Comic Relief, and everyone shared their excitement for the next event. 

Would you recommend a Placement Year and why? 

For me, taking a placement year was the best decision. Learning through theory and academia is a good start but putting your experiences and knowledge from this into practical, real-life settings allows you to broaden your knowledge and understanding of the field, and you notice the impact you are making. Law is a highly competitive field, full of aspirational people doing whatever they can to be successful; put yourself a step ahead by getting these experiences early on. 

During my placement year I have learnt and experienced things I never thought I would, I have met and connected with different people; learning about their roles and responsibilities