Non Executive Director Health & Safety Advisor

The Non-Executive Director of Health & Safety is a Critical Governance Role.NED

A Non-Executive Director (NED) – Health & Safety Advisor is a senior governance and assurance role designed to provide independent oversight, strategic challenge, and subject-matter expertise in relation to occupational health, safety, and wellbeing. The position is not operational or managerial in nature; rather, it exists to strengthen board-level accountability, ensure legal compliance, and embed a mature safety culture aligned with organisational strategy and risk appetite.

Purpose of the Role

The primary purpose of a NED Health & Safety Advisor is to support the Board in discharging its statutory and fiduciary duties relating to health and safety. This includes ensuring that the organisation complies with applicable legislation (for example, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in the UK), meets recognised standards of good practice, and manages safety risks in a manner proportionate to its activities, scale, and complexity.

The role exists to provide independent challenge and informed assurance, not to replace executive management or the appointed competent person. The NED acts as a critical friend to both the Board and senior leadership, helping them to see beyond operational blind spots and avoid complacency.

Governance and Legal Context

At board level, health and safety is a governance issue, not simply an operational concern. Directors are collectively responsible for ensuring that risks are identified, assessed, and controlled, and that adequate resources and systems are in place. A NED Health & Safety Advisor supports this responsibility by translating regulatory and technical requirements into clear governance insights.

In the UK context, the role supports compliance with:

  • Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
  • Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
  • Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
  • Sentencing Guidelines for Health and Safety Offences

The advisor helps the Board understand not only legal duties, but also the personal and organisational consequences of failure, including enforcement action, reputational damage, and business disruption.

Strategic Responsibilities

At a strategic level, the NED Health & Safety Advisor typically contributes in the following areas:

  1. Board Assurance
    • Provide independent assurance that health and safety management systems are suitable, sufficient, and effective.
    • Review performance data, audit findings, and incident trends to identify systemic weaknesses.
    • Confirm that assurance mechanisms are robust, credible, and not overly reliant on self-reporting.
  2. Policy and Framework Oversight
    • Review and challenge the organisation’s Health & Safety Policy and strategic objectives.
    • Ensure alignment with recognised standards such as ISO 45001 and integration with other management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 where applicable).
    • Advise on proportionality and risk-based decision-making.
  3. Risk Appetite and Culture
    • Support the Board in defining and articulating its health and safety risk appetite.
    • Evaluate whether leadership behaviours and decision-making are consistent with stated values.
    • Assess the maturity of the organisation’s safety culture, including workforce engagement and leadership visibility.

Advisory and Challenge Role

A critical aspect of the NED Health & Safety Advisor role is constructive challenge. This includes:

  • Questioning assumptions behind reported performance.
  • Challenging overly positive narratives unsupported by evidence.
  • Highlighting gaps between policy, practice, and reality.
  • Ensuring that lessons from incidents, near misses, and external events are properly learned and embedded.

The advisor should be willing to provide uncomfortable insights when necessary, while maintaining credibility, professionalism, and trust. Independence is essential; the role must not become operationally embedded or compromised by conflicts of interest.

Performance Monitoring and Reporting

The NED Health & Safety Advisor reviews and challenges the organisation’s approach to monitoring performance, including:

  • Leading and lagging indicators.
  • Incident and near-miss reporting.
  • Enforcement action and regulator engagement.
  • Workforce consultation and safety representation.

The emphasis is on quality of insight, not volume of data. The advisor helps the Board move beyond basic accident statistics toward meaningful indicators of control effectiveness, leadership engagement, and organisational learning.

Incident Oversight and Learning

While the NED does not manage incidents, they play an important role in post-incident governance by:

  • Reviewing investigation quality and root cause analysis.
  • Challenging superficial or blame-focused conclusions.
  • Ensuring that corrective and preventive actions address systemic issues.
  • Confirming that lessons learned are shared and embedded across the organisation.

For serious incidents, the advisor may support the Board in engaging with regulators, legal counsel, and external specialists.

Interface with Executive Management

The NED Health & Safety Advisor works closely with:

  • The Chair and Board members.
  • The Chief Executive and senior leadership team.
  • The Health & Safety Director or competent person.

However, the relationship is advisory, not executive. Clear boundaries must be maintained to avoid role confusion. The advisor should not direct staff, approve operational controls, or assume management accountability.

Competence and Experience

Effective NED Health & Safety Advisors typically bring:

  • Extensive senior-level experience in health and safety leadership.
  • Strong understanding of governance, risk management, and assurance.
  • Familiarity with regulatory environments relevant to the organisation’s sector.
  • Ability to communicate complex issues clearly to non-technical audiences.
  • Confidence to challenge at board level with credibility and authority.

Professional recognition (such as Chartered Membership of IOSH) and experience with management system standards are commonly expected.

Value to the Organisation

When effectively deployed, a NED Health & Safety Advisor delivers tangible value by:

  • Strengthening board confidence and decision-making.
  • Reducing the likelihood of serious incidents and enforcement action.
  • Enhancing organisational reputation and stakeholder trust.
  • Supporting sustainable, ethical, and resilient business performance.

The role signals that health and safety is treated as a strategic priority, not merely a compliance obligation.

Summary

The Non-Executive Director Health & Safety Advisor is a critical governance role that bridges the gap between operational risk management and board-level accountability. By providing independent assurance, informed challenge, and strategic insight, the advisor helps ensure that health and safety is embedded into organisational leadership, culture, and long-term success. When clearly defined and properly respected, the role is a powerful enabler of effective, responsible, and legally compliant governance.