About us

British Safety Council is rightly proud of our heritage. We look back to our foundation over sixty years ago by the inspirational James Tye and we see an unbroken thread from that time to this. James is rightly famous for his early campaigns on seatbelts, flammable nightwear for children and life jackets for passengers on boats. He is known for calling for leaders to set an example, at the very highest level – he was not shy about telling the Queen to wear a riding helmet. It was James’ perseverance that led to Lord Robens's report inquiry into workplace health and safety and its ultimate fruit, the Health and Safety at Work Act. He casts a long shadow, as people who are ahead of their time often do. And he was truly ahead of his time when it comes to the importance of workplace wellbeing. Back in the 1980s he recognised that workplace stress was increasingly damaging people’s health and wellbeing and he founded the British Wellness council to produce messages on how to stay physically and mentally healthy.

Being Well Together, a new programme launched by British Safety Council in September 2020, is in the best traditions of British Safety Council, but it also brings together the latest thinking from experts and draws on the experience of our award-winning sister mental wellbeing charity Mates in Mind, whose expertise is provided to and through the programme. We hope that James Tye would share our excitement at its launch. We know that he would share our passion for helping organisations to champion employee wellbeing and to put it at the heart of how they enable their workforce to thrive.

Further details on British Safety Council’s vision, mission and values can be found here.