Meet the Ambassadors…

We meet the latest recruits to our network of Awards Ambassadors.

For over half a century, the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards has been leading the way in acknowledging the highest standards attained in health and safety.

Entering the Awards is not just about winning a prize. Recognised globally, the scheme sets industry benchmarks, drives improvements in health and safety management systems and influences workforce behaviours that drive down work-related accidents and ill-health.

In 2018, the visibility of the awards scheme – which is open to all - was further enhanced with the development of the RoSPA Awards Ambassador Scheme. The intention was to create a network of previous winners to voluntarily support the awards as part of RoSPA’s commitment to drive up health and safety standards.

The Awards Ambassadors mentor and support entrants in a bid to help them provide evidence of an effective health and safety management system, and to improve their achievement status as well as promoting the Health and Safety Awards within their networks.

Seven years on, there are now 41 Awards Ambassadors based across the globe – 28 in the UK and 13 overseas. Five key figures from health and safety have recently joined their ranks, so let’s meet them…

Hannah McConnell

In 2024, facilities management company EMCOR UK won the Sir George Earle Trophy, which is the highest accolade at the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards. You can read more about the organisation’s win here.

Hannah says: “It is such an honour and privilege to be appointed as a RoSPA Ambassador, I’m excited for the opportunity to share insights from both my career at EMCOR UK and our partnership with RoSPA. I am thrilled to be able to help other organisations strive to achieve HSE excellence and provide guidance as part of their own Award Submissions.

“I am also proud to be working collaboratively as part of our own Sir George Earle Trophy legacy to inspire our apprentices to be part of the EMCOR UK Health and Safety Academy taking them through the journey of NEBOSH with ROSPA that will provide them with additional knowledge and experience developing their safety skills.”

Ahmed Elidrisy

Ahmed Elidrisy is Chief Sustainability Officer at the Qatar Free Zone Authority. With an illustrious career spanning over 28 years, Ahmed stands at the forefront of integrating health, safety, and environment management with sustainable development goals. He has pioneered critical frameworks, such as the ESG and Sustainability Framework for the Qatar Free Zone Authority and is a prolific author and thought leader.

Qatar Free Zone won a RoSPA Gold Award in 2024. Gold Awards winners have achieved a very high level of performance, demonstrating well developed occupational health and safety management systems and culture, outstanding control of risk and very low levels of error, harm and loss.

Ahmed says: “I am honoured to be recognized as a RoSPA Awards Ambassador, a role that reflects my deep commitment to advancing occupational health, safety and sustainability standards. The RoSPA Awards play a crucial role in promoting excellence, sharing best practices, and driving continuous improvement across industries.

“As an ambassador, my aim is to support organisations in Qatar and beyond in their journey toward safety excellence, advocate for innovative risk management solutions, and reinforce the critical link between safety, sustainability and ESG principles. I look forward to working with RoSPA to elevate safety leadership on a global scale.”

Keith Hole

Another ESG expert is Keith Hole, Director of TSM UK Consulting Ltd. C-suite consigliere, thought leader, writer and public speaker, Keith first experienced the RoSPA Awards more than two decades ago, when working in-house as a health and safety professional at an organisation that won a prestigious President’s Award. You can read more about Keith and the Awards here.

Keith says: "Being an Awards Ambassador has been a great experience for me. I thoroughly enjoy supporting companies in understanding how completing the RoSPA Award entry can help reflect their achievements. My experience is that companies who have gone on this journey have used it to review their practices, which ultimately helps them reduce incidents and create a safer and more sustainable society for everyone at work and home.

"Working with RoSPA has also helped me grow in my understanding of the link between HSE and ESG and how environmental and societal goals support good governance and HSE."

Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson is Group HSSEQ Director at Speedy Hire. He has over twenty years of extensive experience in the UK, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, with senior HSE roles within logistics, equipment rental, construction, and oil and gas. In 2024 Speedy Hire were awarded the RoSPA President’s Award for 10 consecutive Gold Awards, reinforcing their dedication to the safety and health agenda over many years.

More recently Andy and Speedy Hire CEO Dan Evans partnered with RoSPA to launch the National Accident Prevention Strategy, promoting a whole person, whole life approach.

Andy says: “I am delighted to have been invited to become a RoSPA Awards Ambassador, and I look forward to working with RoSPA and its many clients. My aim is to motivate and assist entrants in demonstrating their dedication to health and safety excellence. Together, we can strengthen the culture of safety and celebrate those who make a real difference.”

Duncan McNicol

Duncan McNicol is Head of Risk and Compliance at construction and engineering company, CBES Ltd. He also sits on the Steering Group Committee of the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA). Duncan has worked in the construction industry for over 30 years, including more than twenty in an HSE role, giving him great insight into delivering effective health and safety management and driving others in safety leadership.

CBES Ltd was awarded the RoSPA Order of Distinction (for 17 consecutive Golds) and the RoSPA Fleet Safety Presidents Awards (for 11 consecutive Fleet Golds) at the 2024 RoSPA Health and Safety Awards.

Duncan reflects that the receipt of these awards is a great accolade, saying: “We are extremely proud to be associated with RoSPA and other industry leaders, and we take immense pride in the effort exerted by the people within the business to achieve them.

“We’ve had great successes over the years and it’s fantastic to be recognised by RoSPA, however its hugely important to understand the journey we’ve been on with some incredibly motivated people who continuously strive to improve health and safety standards and culture, which the RoSPA Awards help to facilitate.

“Being a RoSPA Ambassador is a huge honour and provides the ideal platform to share knowledge and mentor those individuals and organisations on their own journey in safety excellence.”

March 2025.