"I have known Kate for the past two years. I have found her to be extensively knowledgeable in her field of expertise and entirely professional in her delivery of service. Kate recently delivered a lively and exciting presentation to a group of facilities professionals and received a wide range of positive feedback from attendees. I look forward to working with Kate in the future." Samantha Bowman FBIFM
"I have known Kate as a client and as a fellow business owner and although I have not hired Kate for her professional services I have attended several of her 4 sights and discussed on many occasions what she does and why. I have found Kate to be exceptional in her knowledge of her specialist field and has a unique work ethic that many people in her profession should sit up and take notice of, not to mention that Kate is a wonderfully nice person and I would not hesitate to use her if and when I need her services." JD
About me
I didn't grow up wanting to be a health and safety professional. In fact I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do but given that I'm something of a risk taker, I don't think anyone would have placed a bet on me ending up in health and safety.
I get frustrated when people say 'elf n'safety'gets in the way and stops you doing things. I'm living proof that isn't the case. Being an adrenalin junky I'm not opposed to managed risk. I've sky dived, kite buggied, white water rafted, surfed, done fly by wire and my day to day hobby is horse riding. Life is for living and you can't do that wrapped in cotton wool!
I've been working as a health and safety professional for over 13 years (and training in one form or another for longer than that) and have 'sat on both sides of the fence'having worked as a Health and Safety Executive Inspector before moving into the private sector.
Having worked for the Health and Safety Executive for 8 of those 13 years, I have a unique insight into the world of health and safety. It means that not only do I understand what the law actually requires, but I also have experience in implementing and enforcing the law. This means that I have a thorough understanding of what the law requires and as importantly, what it doesn't.
I set up Sah Sen Consulting in April 2010 because I wanted to help businesses understand that good health and safety not only saves lives and stops you getting in trouble with 'the law' but actually brings real business benefits. I was also concerned about the growing belief in the claims culture and the negative impact that was having; people and business becoming more risk adverse and more unscrupulous consultancy businesses playing on those fears and selling unnecessary services and creating unnecessary bureaucracy. Neither of these reflects good health and safety practice, and it is certainly not what health and safety law is about.
... and a word on the name
'Sah Sen'is a word used amongst several of the indigenous peoples of America to describe hummingbirds. These birds are associated in their lore with balance and control, two elements which are key to effective health and safety management. (Happily for Sah Sen Consulting, they are also considered good luck!) Of course Sah Sen is also an acronym for:
Safety
And
Health
Sensible
Economical
Normal, not risk adverse, no nanny state nonsense!
