On 24th June, professionals from across the risk management and health & safety sectors gathered at the Delta Hotel in Milton Keynes for the Riskex Annual Health & Safety Conference 2025. With this year’s theme “Shifting from a Culture of Compliance to a Culture of Care”, the day was a call to action to rethink the purpose and potential of workplace safety cultures.
Framing the Day: Nikki Porter’s Opening Panel
Riskex Managing Director Nikki Porter opened the day with a panel discussion featuring the day’s speakers. The session, “Changing Organisational Mindsets: From Compliance-Driven Safety to a Culture of Care”, set the tone for the event — emphasising that compliance alone isn’t enough. True progress requires shifting attitudes, building trust, and embedding care into leadership and decision-making at every level.
Key Speaker Sessions
Rosie Russell
IIRSM Co-President & Director of EHS, MeiraGTx
Session: “Why Should the Boardroom Care About a Culture of Care?”
Rosie brought a boardroom perspective to the conversation, showing how psychological safety and wellbeing are not just ethical imperatives — they’re strategic advantages. She highlighted the cost of occupational stress and the transformative power of everyday interactions between employees and line managers. With practical takeaways, Rosie challenged leaders to embed care into KPIs and make it a board-level priority.
Kevin Barr
Chair, IOSH Chiltern Branch; H&S Procedures & Systems Manager, Lloyds Banking Group
Session: “Supporting Your Health & Safety Team Through Process Change”
Kevin delivered a masterclass on clarity and simplicity. Change doesn’t need to be complex, he argued — it needs to be human. His pragmatic session focused on keeping people informed and engaged during transitions, offering practical frameworks for inclusive, effective change management that sustains long-term safety improvements.
Becky Ray
CEO, Culture Kick
Session: “High Performance Cultures — A Piece of Cake!”
With her trademark energy and insight, Becky introduced delegates to her Culture Kick Culture Cake — a five-layered framework for creating high-performance workplace cultures. Drawing on her background in high-risk industries, she illustrated how values-driven leadership can create environments where people feel empowered, focused, and safe to speak up.
Tony Manze & Paul Davidson
Founding Directors, Team 9 Security Consultancy
Session: “Martyn’s Law: A Roadmap to Compliance and Public Safety”
Tony and Paul brought vital expertise to a pressing issue: Martyn’s Law. Their session outlined what organisations need to do to meet new legislative requirements, from risk assessments to preparedness training. They emphasised the importance of acting early — and clearing up misinformation — to protect both people and operations.
James Munton
Director of Infrastructure & H&S, CS Ellis (Group)
Session: “Near Misses Matter: Leveraging Incident Reporting to Prevent Future Accidents”
James delivered a thoughtful session on the often-overlooked value of near-miss reporting. Every near miss, he explained, is an opportunity to prevent future harm. His insights focused on cultivating a culture where reporting is encouraged, valued, and used to drive continuous improvement — not blame.
Elaine Floodgate
Risk & Governance Professional
Session: “Blueprint for the Future: Key Considerations in Crafting a Long-Term Health and Safety Strategy”
Elaine closed the speaker sessions with a forward-looking perspective. Her blueprint for long-term strategy development was both visionary and actionable, encouraging leaders to align health and safety with broader organisational goals, and to embed resilience into the very fabric of operations.
Nikki Porter’s Endnote Address: 12 Reflections on a Culture of Care
As the day came to a close, Nikki Porter returned to the stage to deliver a stirring recap — a heartfelt summary of what the day represented, and where the profession must go next.
- Compliance works — and it saves lives. When the Health and Safety at Work Act was introduced 50 years ago, there were 651 work-related fatalities annually. Last year, that figure had dropped to 138 — a remarkable improvement.
But: These numbers don’t capture the estimated 1,000 suicides a year in the UK linked to work. If we want to protect people fully, we need to go beyond compliance. - To truly progress, we need a step change. That means building on compliance to create a culture of care — where safety and wellbeing are embedded into everything we do.
- Leadership backing is critical. Research shows management support accounts for 30% of the variation in employee engagement with environmental, health and safety efforts.
- A culture of care isn’t about being soft. It’s about being firmly kind. Psychological safety must be paired with accountability. “Kindness without standards isn’t care — it’s compromise.”
- CS Ellis Group distils gin. Yes, really. Nikki learned this on the day — and noted (humorously and twice) that she still hadn’t received an invite for a site visit.
- Tone from the top is everything. Senior leaders define what’s acceptable. If care doesn’t start at the top, it won’t thrive anywhere else.
- Care makes fiscal sense. A true culture of care isn’t just the right thing to do — it delivers measurable business returns and should be a boardroom agenda item.
- Human error is normal. Rather than punishing mistakes, we must become error-trap hunters — designing environments and systems that help people get things right.
- Poorly managed change causes harm. The antidote? Involve your people. Listen with intent. Don’t assume leaders always know best — effective change comes from the ground up.
- Martyn’s Law presents a major challenge — and opportunity. One of the biggest hurdles is misinformation. Nikki urged attendees: don’t wait for the grace period to end. Get informed, act early, and stay ahead.
- Near-miss reporting only works if people feel safe to report. This means building trust and making employees feel their input is valued — without fear of blame or backlash.
- Still thinking about that gin… And still, no invite from CS Ellis. (Hint, hint.)
“Whatever messages our delegates took away, one thing unites us all — helping people get home safe and well, every single day,” Nikki concluded.
“It’s a simple goal. But a big responsibility. That’s why community and care matter so much.”
Looking Ahead
To everyone who joined us, thank you for making the day so energising, insightful, and inspiring. Planning for next year is already underway — and the journey from compliance to care continues.
