When Did Profit Start Trumping People? The QS vs. HSW Debate

Let’s be honest for a second: if you’re in construction or any business that builds, budgets, or balances numbers, you’ve probably noticed a shift. Once upon a time, the Health, Safety, and Wellbeing (HSW) consultant was the heart of the project team – the person reminding us why it’s not okay to send someone into a trench without proper shoring, why scaffolding checks actually matter, and why, shock horror, workers deserve to go home safe, sound, and hopefully without a limp.

Fast-forward to today, and the story feels different. Suddenly, the Quantity Surveyor (QS) has become the shiny prize of the project world. QSs, with their calculators and spreadsheets, are treated like royalty because they hold the keys to the kingdom of profit margins. Money talks, and in many boardrooms, it seems to be talking a lot louder than people’s well-being.

So here we are, in a business climate where managers are more excited about squeezing an extra 5% off material costs than they are about investing in mental health training or proper protective equipment. And it makes me wonder – have we really got our priorities straight?

The Rise of the QS: The Profit Protector

Let’s give credit where it’s due. A good QS is an absolute wizard. They’re the ones who can turn a messy pile of invoices, material costs, labour schedules, and client variations into a neat story of financial control. They keep the project within budget, and in today’s climate, that’s no small feat.

QSs are under huge pressure. Materials are more expensive, supply chains are stretched, clients want champagne projects on lemonade budgets, and margins are thinner than ever. It’s no wonder directors lean on their QSs like they’re the last life raft on the Titanic.

But here’s the thing: while the QS might be the guardian of the budget, the HSW consultant is the guardian of life itself. You can argue numbers until you’re blue in the face, but you can’t put a price tag on someone’s spine, lungs, or mental health.

The HSW Consultant: The Unsung Hero

HSW consultants rarely get the glory. They’re not flashy. They don’t roll out spreadsheets that make the finance director beam. Instead, they’re the ones reminding everyone that those extra few hours saved by cutting corners might cost someone their fingers.

They’re the people who champion toolbox talks, mental health check-ins, and site walkovers. They’re the ones who stay up at night, wondering if that subcontractor really tied off their harness or whether the stress culture on site is slowly burning people out.

And yet, in too many boardrooms, their voice is drowned out by the clatter of profit margins, tender returns, and “value engineering” (a phrase which, let’s be honest, usually means taking things away that make people safer or happier).

The False Economy of Neglecting People

Here’s the kicker: when you undervalue health, safety, and well-being, it will come back to bite you financially.

Accidents are expensive. A serious injury doesn’t just devastate a family – it racks up costs in investigations, insurance claims, project delays, and reputational damage. Stress, burnout, and mental health issues lead to absenteeism, turnover, and lower productivity. Cutting the wellbeing budget might look clever on a spreadsheet today, but tomorrow it could cost you the project.

Think of it like this: your QS might save you £50k on a procurement deal, but one major safety incident could cost you ten times that in fines, compensation, and lost contracts. Suddenly, the HSW consultant doesn’t just look like a nice-to-have – they look like your best insurance policy.

So Why Are We Here?

Why does it feel like the QS has become more valuable than the HSW consultant? A few reasons:

1. Visibility of Value

   • A QS produces tangible numbers: savings, profit margins, and cost reports. You can measure their value in pounds and pence.

   • An HSW consultant produces something harder to measure: lives saved, accidents prevented, well-being improved. Their wins are invisible because they stop bad things from happening.

2. Short-Term Thinking

   • Boards and managers want results now. Quarterly profits matter more than long-term sustainability. Safety and well-being are long games – investments that pay off over years, not weeks.

3. Culture of Profit First

   • Somewhere along the line, the message shifted: the project that comes in cheapest and fastest is “the best.” Never mind the toll on people – if the bottom line looks good, it’s called success.

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A Day in the Life – The QS vs. The HSW Consultant

Picture this.

• The QS walks into the office with a shiny spreadsheet showing how they’ve shaved 8% off the steel procurement package. The director beams. The QS gets a pat on the back, maybe even a promotion.

• The HSW consultant walks in with a report showing zero accidents this month because they implemented stricter ladder checks and daily mental health huddles. The director nods politely and moves on.

See the difference? One is seen as “value-adding” because it links to cash. The other is seen as “expected” because keeping people safe is assumed, not celebrated.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: those zero accidents are worth far more than the steel savings. They’re the reason everyone goes home for dinner. They’re the reason you don’t end up on the front page of a newspaper. They’re the reason your company’s reputation stays intact.

What Happens When Profit Wins?

When QS-led thinking dominates, dangerous things creep in:

• Corners are cut. PPE orders are delayed, scaffolding checks skipped, and welfare facilities downgraded.

• People burn out. Over time increases, pressure mounts, and workers stop speaking up about issues because they know the budget comes first.

• Accidents happen. And when they do, the finger-pointing begins, but it’s too late.

This isn’t a dramatic exaggeration – it’s happening now. Across the industry, more managers are laser-focused on cost savings, even if it means ignoring the human cost.

Flipping the Script: Making People Count as Profit

Here’s the challenge: if boards only care about numbers, we need to make people part of the numbers. That means reframing HSW not as a “compliance cost” but as a business advantage.

• Safety = Productivity. Workers who feel safe and supported are more focused, efficient, and loyal.

• Wellbeing = Retention. In an industry with skills shortages, looking after your people keeps them around.

• Good Reputation = Winning Work. Clients want contractors they can trust. A strong safety record is a selling point, not a side note.

Imagine if we celebrated HSW wins the same way we celebrate cost savings. Imagine if a month with zero accidents was given the same weight in board meetings as a £100k budget saving.

The QS and HSW: Better Together

This doesn’t need to be a battle. QSs and HSW consultants shouldn’t be rivals – they should be teammates. The smartest businesses know that the two roles complement each other:

• The QS keeps the project financially sustainable.

• The HSW consultant keeps it humanly sustainable.

When they work together, you get projects that are safe, efficient, and profitable. The problem isn’t the QS – it’s the imbalance in how we value people versus profit.

So, What’s More Important?

Let’s go back to the question: Is the financial element of business more important than ensuring the team gets home safely at the end of the day?

The obvious answer should be “no.” No profit margin is worth a life. No cost saving is worth someone’s long-term health. But the way the industry behaves suggests otherwise – and that’s the scary part.

At some point, as leaders and managers, we have to ask ourselves: what legacy are we leaving? Do we want to be remembered for shaving margins or for building a culture where people mattered?

A Personal Note

I’ll leave you with this: numbers matter, of course, they do. Profit keeps the lights on and pays the wages. But people are the reason businesses exist in the first place. If you strip away the spreadsheets, the contracts, the acronyms – it all comes down to people turning up each day, giving their effort, their skills, and their trust.

So, yes, celebrate your QSs – they’re brilliant at what they do. But don’t forget to champion your HSW consultants too. Because without them, your numbers won’t matter when the headlines hit, the regulators call, and your best people decide they’ve had enough.

The real win in business is finding the balance: profit with purpose, numbers with humanity, QS with HSW. When we get that balance right, everyone wins – the company, the clients, and most importantly, the people who get to go home safely at the end of every single day.