Non Executive Director Health & Safety Advisor Services
Business Management Systems Ltd provide Non-Executive Director (NED) Health & Safety Advisor services designed to strengthen board-level governance, provide independent assurance, and support directors in discharging their statutory and fiduciary duties for health, safety, and wellbeing. The service is structured to operate at a strategic, non-operational level, delivering informed challenge, objective oversight, and credible assurance aligned to legal requirements, recognised standards, and best practice.
The scope of services typically includes the following components.
Board-Level Health & Safety Governance Support
Business Management Systems Ltd provide structured support to Boards and senior leadership teams to ensure that health and safety is governed as a core business risk. This includes advising on director responsibilities, collective accountability, and the integration of health and safety into corporate governance frameworks. The service helps Boards demonstrate active leadership and oversight, consistent with regulator expectations and sentencing guidelines.
This support enables directors to evidence that health and safety risks are identified, understood, and managed proportionately, rather than delegated without oversight.
Independent Assurance and Challenge
A central element of the NED Health & Safety Advisor role is independent assurance. Business Management Systems Ltd review and challenge the effectiveness of the organisation’s health and safety management arrangements without assuming executive or operational responsibility.
This includes:
- Independent scrutiny of health and safety performance reports.
- Critical review of management assurances provided to the Board.
- Identification of gaps between documented systems and actual practice.
- Constructive challenge of overly optimistic or unsupported performance narratives.
The objective is to give the Board confidence that assurances are credible, evidence-based, and reflective of real risk exposure.
Legal Compliance and Director Duty Assurance
Business Management Systems Ltd support Boards in understanding and meeting their legal duties under applicable health and safety legislation. In the UK, this includes alignment with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, associated regulations, and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.
The service helps ensure that:
- Directors understand their personal and collective responsibilities.
- Legal compliance risks are clearly articulated at Board level.
- Governance arrangements reflect current regulatory expectations.
- Decisions are informed by an understanding of potential enforcement, liability, and sentencing implications.
This reduces the risk of regulatory action and strengthens defensibility in the event of scrutiny.
Health & Safety Policy and Strategic Framework Review
Business Management Systems Ltd review and advise on the organisation’s Health & Safety Policy and strategic objectives to ensure they remain appropriate, proportionate, and aligned with business strategy.
This includes:
- Reviewing policy content for legal compliance and clarity.
- Ensuring policies reflect the organisation’s actual risk profile.
- Advising on Board-level health and safety objectives and key commitments.
- Ensuring alignment with integrated management systems where applicable.
The focus is on ensuring that policies are living governance tools, not static documents.
Risk Appetite and Strategic Risk Oversight
The NED Health & Safety Advisor service supports Boards in defining and articulating their health and safety risk appetite. Business Management Systems Ltd help directors understand where risks are tolerable, where they are not, and how this should influence strategic and operational decisions.
This includes:
- Advising on risk tolerance statements.
- Reviewing how risk appetite is reflected in decision-making.
- Challenging inconsistencies between stated values and actual behaviours.
- Ensuring significant risks are escalated appropriately to the Board.
This enables clearer, more defensible decisions in high-risk or high-impact scenarios.
Health & Safety Performance and KPI Review
Business Management Systems Ltd review the organisation’s health and safety performance framework to ensure it provides meaningful insight rather than superficial metrics.
This includes:
- Evaluating the balance between leading and lagging indicators.
- Reviewing incident, near-miss, and hazard reporting trends.
- Challenging reliance on accident frequency rates alone.
- Advising on indicators linked to leadership, culture, and control effectiveness.
The aim is to ensure the Board receives information that genuinely supports informed oversight and strategic decision-making.
Audit, Inspection, and Management System Oversight
As part of the NED role, Business Management Systems Ltd provide oversight of audit and assurance arrangements, including internal audits, external audits, and independent inspections.
This includes:
- Reviewing audit programmes and scopes for adequacy.
- Assessing the quality and independence of audit findings.
- Challenging weak or repetitive nonconformities.
- Ensuring corrective actions address root causes, not symptoms.
Where organisations operate to ISO 45001 or integrated management systems, the service supports Board confidence in certification integrity and ongoing compliance.
Incident and Serious Event Governance
Business Management Systems Ltd provide Board-level oversight following significant incidents, dangerous occurrences, or enforcement action. While not conducting investigations, the NED Health & Safety Advisor role includes reviewing the adequacy of investigations and organisational learning.
This includes:
- Reviewing root cause analysis and investigation quality.
- Challenging blame-focused or superficial conclusions.
- Ensuring systemic and cultural factors are addressed.
- Confirming lessons learned are embedded across the organisation.
For serious events, the service can support Boards in understanding regulator expectations and managing post-incident governance.
Safety Leadership and Culture Assessment
Business Management Systems Ltd support Boards in evaluating the maturity of their health and safety culture and leadership behaviours.
This includes:
- Assessing whether leadership actions align with stated values.
- Reviewing workforce engagement and consultation arrangements.
- Identifying cultural indicators that may not appear in formal reports.
- Advising on leadership visibility and accountability.
The focus is on long-term cultural resilience rather than short-term compliance.
Interface with Regulators and External Stakeholders
Where appropriate, Business Management Systems Ltd support Boards in their strategic engagement with regulators, insurers, clients, and other external stakeholders on health and safety matters.
This includes:
- Advising on regulator correspondence and expectations.
- Supporting preparation for inspections or interventions.
- Providing independent insight during enforcement or improvement activity.
- Helping Boards maintain confidence and credibility during scrutiny.
Tailored Reporting to the Board
The service includes provision of clear, concise, and independent reporting to the Board or relevant Board committees. Reports are structured to support decision-making, highlight material risks, and provide actionable insight rather than technical detail.
This ensures that health and safety remains visible, understandable, and properly governed at the highest level of the organisation.
Overall Value Proposition
Through its Non-Executive Director Health & Safety Advisor services, Lee Davies of Business Management Systems Ltd provide Boards with:
- Independent, expert challenge.
- Enhanced legal and regulatory confidence.
- Improved quality of health and safety governance.
- Stronger alignment between strategy, risk, and culture.
- Reduced exposure to serious incidents and enforcement action.
The service demonstrates visible leadership commitment to health and safety and supports sustainable, responsible, and resilient business performance, please do get in touch to see how we could help you.