Hats off to a new start

I joined IOSH last summer but have worked with professional bodies for more than 20 years. It’s where I’ve chosen to spend my career – delivering a remit that’s charitable and that supports people on their professional journeys. I hope I’ve brought a breadth and depth of experience with me – insights you only get from being part of this very specific world.

I joined the professional services team first, working on how we set standards and deliver for our members and the profession. This helped me appreciate the dual ‘hats’ I now wear as director of strategy and business development (SBD) and managing director of IOSH Services Ltd (ISL).

Every day, both areas deliver benefits and impact for IOSH, our members and the wider OSH profession. First of all, we generate commercial income to support our charitable aims. At the same time, we’re helping people and businesses gain skills and improve their capabilities. My focus is on increasing our impact and creating further opportunities.

SBD encompasses all our training, strategic and corporate engagement, and marketing communications activity. It enables and underpins IOSH’s success. Wearing my ISL hat is about managing a commercial entity to generate surpluses that help pay for IOSH’s charitable activities. ISL is continuing to deliver strong revenues and is recovering faster than expected from the effects of Covid-19.

Our training provider network has had a tough time during the pandemic, so to support them we’re making our services as easy to use as possible. Meanwhile we’re diversifying our portfolio to give us the right products and services to meet the needs of professionals worldwide.

Through the corporate engagement team, we have been delivering OSH leadership solutions, generating revenues and meeting our charitable objectives. And not just in Europe, but around the globe: in South America, for example, and – most significantly – in South-east Asia for Nike. Exciting times!

In parallel, our strategic engagement team’s work with top-tier partners such as the World Health Organization and International Social Security Association is progressing. We’re beginning to see tangible differences in the world of OSH, reaching parts of the world where OSH capacity and capability is in high demand.

Our marketing communications team is building our brand, sharing what IOSH is working on and the differences it makes to the rest of the profession.

I couldn’t have asked for a more positive start to my time here. Our offerings are sought after, and we have real opportunity to grow – driving progress in establishing IOSH as the partner of choice on a global stage.

Ruth Lake | Director of Strategy and Business Development, IOSH