Andrew Wilkinson shares why Health and Safety is the backbone of business

Hosted by Fiona Scott, today’s podcast welcomes Andrew Wilkinson, co-director of Secure Safety Solutions which provides health and safety, fire safety and compliance support, advice and services to businesses.  Andrew joins Fiona to share with PR not BS listeners the importance of running a Health and Safety business and sheds light on his passion for protecting people. Fiona starts her chat with Andrew by asking about his journey into the world of health and safety. “I don’t think anyone chooses to go into the world of health and safety. You usually just fall into it,” he says. Andrew started at Heathrow as security manager. What started as project work turned into loving this area of his work and he fell in love with it. The kinds of issues he dealt with at Heathrow and the vast opportunities and experiences he had whilst being there. He explained how Heathrow is a little like a city with the public, high risk areas like the runway and heavy machinery. “No day was the same,” he recalls. SME businesses tend to be a little uneducated around the risks they have in their workplace and Andrew tells listeners about how every organisation has risks and responsibilities to keep people safe, regardless of home, on or off-site working. “Regardless of the size of your organisation, the same rules apply, the same legislation applies. It’s just how it applies that’s the difference,” he says. “We help to translate how that legislation applies.” Andrew shares his insight into where to start with health and safety when it comes to a small business, like Fionas, and step by step measures to help provide safe policy and making sure small business owners understand the environment they are working in and all risks that can pose. “If it’s not specific to your business, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.” Andrew also chats about his mission to provide tailored solutions that not only meet standards but also nurture a culture of wellbeing within organisations. He dives into how his approach to businesses is different from other health and safety advisors and his holistic overview of his work. “It’s about progression not perfection!” He also shares how when providing training, he is often met with challenging conversations. People questioning the role of a health and safety advisor, often seen as someone barking orders and dictating decisions. However, Andrew sees his role as more about making people aware of the risks of their decisions and advising them on next steps.  With some harrowing case studies discussed, Fiona and Andrew discuss the importance of personal responsibility and discussions of liability many businesses need to be aware of. That a lot of business owners get the brunt of it when often, middle management and managers have significant personal responsibility. Ultimately, Andrew shares his role in making sure people know their liability within health and safety in the workplace. Andrew doesn’t see himself as a businessman, much to Fiona’s surprise. Andrew shares how he fell into the trap of following his passion and realising other factors of owning business were taking over. That he’s striving for that balance of passion and business acumen.  Andrew goes personal and talks about the triumphs and challenges of working and family life, discussing how his wife, Kim, joining the business was life-changing but how they also make an effort not to become ships in the night and balance work responsibility with being a father and husband. Fiona doesn’t miss out on the important questions and asks Andrew about his relationship with marketing and PR. Andrew shares the importance of in-person networking and the impact it had on his business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.  He also shares the journey of meeting Fi and realising PR is a good option for him. Before social media and targeting on LI and broad content in-person networking. How Andrew met Fi, he saw the value in PT and in-person networking and has always done it and relationship building – especially in the pandemic. “I was seeing other people’s coverage and started thinking ‘I can do that!’”  2026-27 looks fruitful for Andrew and Kim, with their first charity of the year collaboration with local Swindon charity, Wiltshire Treehouse. Additionally, their plans for the future include looking for businesses wanting to grow, businesses who care and are not seeking health and safety support reactively. Listeners can tune in to hear all about Andrew’s world of health and safety, not the BS! To contact Andrew at Secure Safety Solutions, visit: LinkedIn at Secure Safety Solutions Email: [info@securesafetysolutions.co.uk](mailto:info@securesafetysolutions.co.uk)  Website: https://securesafetysolutions.co.uk/ To get in touch with Fiona and the Scott Media team, visit www.scottmedia.uk Join our free Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe