Practical Health & Safety Support for UK Businesses

Qualified, plain-English health and safety consultancy and technology working as an extension of your team, nationwide.

Health and safety consultancy that works the way you do

Many businesses need to manage health and safety properly but do not have a full-time in-house specialist. Safety Assistance Limited works alongside you as a practical, responsive partner helping you understand what you need to do, put the right arrangements in place, and keep improving over time.

Our team are members of IOSH. The company is led by Stephen Shields, a Chartered Member of IOSH (CMIOSH) who holds the NEBOSH Diploma, NEBOSH Fire certificate and Lead Auditor qualifications for ISO 45001 and ISO 9001. You get qualified, experienced support without the overhead of a permanent hire.

We cover the whole of the UK and work with businesses across a wide range of sectors. We keep things plain English no unnecessary jargon, no scare tactics and we fit around the way your business actually operates.

What we can help you with

Health and safety management and ongoing advisory support
Health and safety management systems design and implementation
Risk management procedures and hazard identification
HAZOP studies for higher-hazard processes and operations
Risk assessments and method statements (RAMS)
Fire risk assessments for a range of premises types
COSHH assessments for substances and hazardous processes
Accident and incident investigation
Health and safety auditing and inspections
Construction and CDM advisory support
Contractor support and management
Accreditation support — CHAS, SMAS Worksafe, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SSIP, RISQS
ISO 45001 and ISO 9001 support

Our consultancy services

Risk Management and RAMS

We help you identify hazards, assess risks and produce clear, practical risk assessments and method statements. Whether you need a single document or a full risk management framework, we can support you.

Health and Safety Management Systems

A well-structured management system gives your business a solid foundation for consistent safety performance. We help you design, implement and maintain systems that work in practice, not just on paper.

Fire Risk Assessments

The law expects employers and those responsible for premises to ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is carried out by a competent person. Our qualified team carries out fire risk assessments across a range of premises types, including offices, warehouses, licensed premises, HMOs and construction sites.

Accident and Incident Investigation

When something goes wrong, a thorough investigation helps you understand what happened and prevent it happening again. We provide independent investigation support, including liaison with enforcing authorities where required.

Health and Safety Auditing

Regular auditing gives you an honest picture of how your safety arrangements are performing. We carry out thorough, structured audits against recognised frameworks and provide clear, actionable reports.

COSHH Assessments

If your business uses or produces substances that could harm health, the law expects you to assess and control those risks. We carry out COSHH assessments covering chemicals and other hazardous substances, and provide practical control recommendations.

CDM and Construction Support

We provide practical health and safety advisory support for construction projects, including CDM advisory services, site audits and contractor support. We work with principal contractors, contractors and clients across a range of project types.

Accreditation Support

Achieving accreditations such as CHAS, SMAS Worksafe, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SSIP and RISQS can open doors to new contracts. We help you prepare your documentation and work through the application process.

Industries we support

Construction

Health and safety support for contractors, principal contractors and construction businesses of all sizes.

Mechanical and Electrical

Practical support for M&E contractors managing complex site risks and compliance requirements.

Logistics

Helping logistics and transport businesses manage vehicle, manual handling and workplace risks.

Agriculture

Straightforward health and safety support for agricultural businesses and rural operations.

Arboriculture

Specialist support for arboricultural contractors working with high-risk tasks and environments.

Hospitality and Events

Helping hospitality and events businesses manage safety for staff, contractors and the public.

Consultancy and technology - together

A consultant visit or audit is valuable, but managing health and safety well happens every day not just when an adviser is on site. That is why Safety Assistance also offers practical software tools that help your team stay on top of safety between consultancy engagements.

Safety Mate® is a health and safety management platform that brings risk assessments, audits, incident reporting, COSHH records, training records and more into one place. It is designed for managers, supervisors and frontline workers not just health and safety specialists.

Common questions

How does the discovery call work and is it free?

Yes, the discovery call is free of charge. It is a short conversation to understand your business, the risks you face and what support you need. From there we can put together a transparent proposal based on your actual requirements no generic packages, no hidden costs.

Do you work with businesses of all sizes?

We work with businesses ranging from small contractors to larger organisations with multiple sites and complex operations. If you have meaningful health and safety risk and want to manage it properly, we can help. We are equally comfortable supporting a sole director who needs a competent person as we are working with an operations team managing several sites.

Are your consultants qualified?

Our team are members of IOSH. The company is led by Stephen Shields, who is a Chartered Member of IOSH (CMIOSH) and holds the NEBOSH Diploma, NEBOSH Fire certificate and Lead Auditor qualifications for ISO 45001 and ISO 9001. Advisors hold relevant safety qualifications and experience in the fields they are assigned to.

What does competent person support actually mean in practice?

The law expects employers to appoint a competent person to help them meet their health and safety duties. In practice, this means having access to someone with the knowledge, skills and experience to give sound advice on the risks in your business. As your appointed competent person, Safety Assistance provides ongoing advice and support, helps you stay on top of your obligations and is available when you need guidance — without you needing to employ a full-time specialist.

How quickly can you respond?

Our office hours are Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 16:00. We also offer extended support hours where required, and active clients receive an out-of-hours emergency contact number. Specific response time commitments are set out in client contracts.

Do you offer ongoing support or one-off projects?

Both. Some clients need a specific piece of work a fire risk assessment, an audit or a set of RAMS and we can help with that. Others want ongoing retained support as their competent person or health and safety adviser. We are happy to discuss whichever arrangement suits your business.

Ready to talk through your requirements?

Book a free discovery call and we will put together a transparent proposal based on what your business actually needs.