Andrew Wilkinson, of Secure Safety Solutions, has a busy April happening!

It’s April, the second month of Spring and does this mean April showers or will it be a time of sunshine end to end? We’re catching up with some business owners this month to see how things are looking for them during April.

Today we’re talking to Andrew Wilkinson who is a senior safety consultant at Secure Safety Solutions Ltd. Andrew and his team support businesses with all of their health and safety needs.

April is the first month with lighter evenings. How are you making the most of this? 
The lighter evenings that we are now starting to enjoy also bring some added benefits to the health and safety of our teams. Mental wellbeing increases during the spring months as employees find themselves finishing work in daylight hours and able to travel home in daylight. 

Another benefit which I am personally making the most of is enjoying the lighter evenings with the family. Rather than tucking ourselves up nice and early we are finding ourselves out and about and making better use of our time before getting our children settled down for bed. I look forward to doing more of this as the evenings get lighter and warmer as we start to creep into summer. 

How is April looking for you in your business?
April is looking to be an exciting month for us as we have recently welcomed Linda Maskell who is a fully qualified safety consultant into the team and we have been busy out and about meeting existing clients and conducting proposals for potential new clients. We are in a fortunate position to be able to move into industries we previously, as a business, didn’t have any experience in however now are able to fully support. 

As we move through April we look to build our client base and continue to attract clients who are serious about safety management in their teams and want to partner with the wealth of expertise we hold. 

This month it’s Stress Awareness Month, what does stress mean to you? 
As a business which helps to support teams who may be suffering from stress or training clients how to conduct stress risk assessments, it's important that we practice what we preach. Having regular checks-ins is important to ensure that we remain at the top of our game and we don’t let overwhelm creep in. It can be a hard thing to do in this day and age especially when you consider all the non-work stressors which are a part of life, financial worries, birth of a child, illness, bereavement etc can make what would normally be a good day, into a stressful one and you don’t always know what is going on for someone outside of work. I think my key message for managers and directors here is just be kind and always have an open door.

Is it your business’s birthday this month or an anniversary of any kind? 
We have just had our company year end (which feels a bit like a birthday) and especially this year it feels like more of a celebration as we have exceeded all expectations from a financial perspective. Being able to deliver for our clients, network with some amazing people and train with some of the industry leaders has meant that people we know, are confidently recommending us to people safe in the knowledge we will take good care of them and their safety needs. This is a reputation that is important to the team and I and as we move into Q2 we look forward to building on these achievements before we hit our next “birthday”. 

Some key awareness days/weeks/months in April include; 

National Pet Month
Allergy Awareness Week – April 22 to 28
National Scrabble Day – April 13
World Heritage Day – April 18

There are many more – are there any awareness days/weeks/months which are particularly important for your business?
As previously mentioned, April is Stress Awareness Month, where we try to shine a bit more of a light on the causes of work stressors and how managers and supervisors can help with potential home stressors than can affect how someone performs in the workplace. 

We also have a biggie on the 28th April which is World Day for Safety and Health at Work where the theme will focus on exploring the impacts of climate change on occupational safety and health. Changing weather patterns have notable impacts on the world of work, particularly affecting workers safety and health. Examples of occupational risks exacerbated by climate change include excessive heat, UV radiation, air pollution, major industrial accidents, extreme weather events, an increase in vector-borne diseases and increased exposure to chemicals. Keep an eye on our socials for more information as we get closer to this world recognised day of awareness. 

Have you got any special offers for April or May that you’d like to mention?
For the next 2 months we are offering free consultations for any businesses who are increasing their staffing levels to above 5 employees. We know that this is an exciting time for many business owners as it shows a great level of growth, however it also comes with additional health and safety responsibilities and many more documented processes and policies are required. Delaying the implementation of or getting safety management wrong at this stage can be detrimental to any business and we want to be able to give business owners in this position the right advice and guidance to set them off in the right direction. 

Anything else you’d like to say? 
My final plea is for everyone reading this to not think of health and safety as just a “work activity”. We see minor injuries, major injuries and fatalities occurring in domestic settings where homeowners use ladders incorrectly, climb on roofs, “play” with electrics and sustain musculoskeletal injuries through improper lifting. Look at the task that needs to be done, is it being done in a safe way or does a specialist person need to be brought in to help? Will it cost a little bit extra, yes! Is it worth risking your health and risk not being able to enjoy all the normal hobbies and activities due to injury or worse? No! 

For more information visit www.securesafetysolutions.co.uk