Talking safety with Carla Crocombe

How did you get into the health and safety sector?

I love people – I know that might sound cheesy, but it’s absolutely true. I like teaching people something new and making complicated concepts as simple as possible, which is part of why I started Safety Rocks in 2015. My original ambition was to be a forensic pathologist, and I’m still fascinated by healthcare as a sector, so one of the most interesting opportunities I’ve enjoyed via Safety Rocks was being present during a knee replacement operation. I never knew that there would be quite so many people in surgery at the time of an operation, or how brutal the procedure would be. 

I’ve been privileged to work with and alongside some amazing people over the years who have influenced and shaped my deep love for the job I do.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? 

There are more than a few people who have influenced my career. I’ve worked for some amazing people, one being Mark Westerman, who gave me a big opportunity at a very young age. Mark’s trust and faith in me has never been forgotten. Another person is June Butcher, whom I met when she worked at Smith and Nephew. I’ll never forget her words, her passion and drive, as well as all the laughter we have shared together over the years.

Back in 2012, I went for a job interview (I won’t say where!), and I vividly remember the CEO asking me why somebody like me wanted to be in health and safety, because I had “too much energy and life in me”. I wanted to strike out and start Safety Rocks because health and safety was, for far too long, associated with tweed-jacketed men with patches on their elbows, being rushed in when things went wrong. 

I’m so proud that health and safety is now recognised as an integral part of everything we do in organisations. Safety Rocks was founded on the idea of quashing the “health and safety is boring” stereotype and focusing on people, culture and straightforward, inspirational messaging. 

What do you enjoy most about your role? 

It’s probably the sheer variety of people I meet and the places I get to go, thanks to the increasingly widespread range of sectors in which Safety Rocks operates. Motor racing is a sport I love, and Safety Rocks has now entered the second year of our partnership with Motorsport UK, bringing meaningful change and improved risk management standards to four-wheeled motorsport in the UK.

Or I might be at Luton Airport, building a positive health and safety culture in a high-pressure, high-stakes environment. Or working with the amazing team at diary giant, Müller Milk and Ingredients Distribution, creating training that triggers behavioural modification for their teams. Because Safety Rocks puts people at the heart of everything we do, I get to interact with so many amazing brands across a variety of industries.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your role? 

Getting people and organisations to understand risk and making organisations aware of their choices and liabilities is a daily challenge that drives me forward. In motorsport, you might think that risk is foremost in people’s minds – after all, they are surrounded by messaging. However, I’ve rapidly learned that the wider aspects of risk – protecting team members, volunteers and spectators from hazards associated with events, for example – aren’t always front and centre. 

And of course, as safety professionals, we regularly find ourselves talking to senior management teams about proportionality. By embedding a positive safety culture into an organisation’s ethos and teaching people how to perceive and manage risk, these conversations do get more straightforward over time. After all, it’s a journey.

What more can be done to encourage women to choose health and safety as a career? 

Back in the day, health and safety certainly was not seen as a career for women, which is why I’m so passionate about reframing the narrative and creating a positive image of the health and safety profession. As part of our partnership with Motorsport UK, Safety Rocks is heavily involved in Girls on Track UK programme. This initiative opens doors for young women into the high-pressure, technical world of motor racing. The girls aren’t only learning about motorsport – they’re also learning how to identify hazards, assess risk, and communicate what they see. I’m on track to show these women that you fit in, you belong, and you can do what I do. 

When I first started delivering training, I was often surprised to see another woman in the room. Thankfully, there’s been a huge increase in the number of women becoming health and safety professionals, but we need programmes like Girls on Track UK across a wider range of sectors to encourage greater diversity in our profession overall.

What more can be done to help women progress within the sector? 

Put simply, it’s time to smash the barriers that prevent women from progressing within health and safety. Get them young – none of this “it’s a second career”. I mentioned the men in tweed jackets with elbow patches… thankfully, we don’t see too many of them anymore, but women are still significantly underrepresented in health and safety leadership. Not because they lack the skills. Not because they’re not interested. But because the industry hasn’t always felt like a place where they belong. If we want more women to take up directorial or managerial roles, we need to ensure that pay levels are aligned and that organisations employ women who are visible, positive role models.

What I will say, though, is that focus on the “health” aspect of health and safety has really ramped up in recent years, and women are finding niche roles here, as well as in adjacent wellbeing-focused positions.

Why do you feel health and safety is a profession others should consider joining? 

Health and safety isn’t a career that’s going to disappear down an AI black hole – identifying and managing risk will always need people like me. Industry and technology are evolving rapidly, and therefore any sector that requires human input also needs a responsive, proactive safety culture. While the world re-evaluates the elements of practical expertise that AI can’t swallow up, the role of safety professionals becomes even more important: we will be the guides for a new generation of truly skilled workers. 

What are the main challenges currently facing your organisation?

Safety Rocks has such a unique position in the market, which means that we’ll no doubt need more amazing people to meet the demands of its expanding client base. The problem is, a lot of the traditional “safety professionals” don’t fit for Safety Rocks as a business. So growing new talent internally will be our key focus. We know that different generations learn in different ways, so refining what is meant by truly tailored® will be a constant, ongoing journey for Safety Rocks and the ever-expanding team.

What are your key focus areas for the next 12 months? 

Over the course of the upcoming year, Safety Rocks will continue to deliver relevant, truly bespoke H&S training to all our clients and partners – helping to create and maintain positive safety cultures that become integral to the way organisations operate. We always love talking to people and companies about their safety needs and how they perceive risk as we advance. 

We are sponsoring the first Women in Safety and Health (WISH) awards (look out for a British F4 car at the launch in October).

And then… an exciting development, we’re rolling out more firsts with a double world’s first! On 17 June, which will be the first UK Motorsport Safety Day, Safety Rocks will launch Essential Risk Management in Motorsport, the first course of its kind. It’s NEBOSH-verified and will give participants an understanding of why and how need to manage risk in motorsport, an overview the way things work during events, the knowledge to identify key areas to focus on and how undertake a risk assessment, tailored specifically to motorsport events.

Carla Crocombe is founder and managing director of Safety Rocks. For more information, visit www.safetyrocks.co.uk