Mr Richard Battley
CMIOSH
Overview
Richard is a seasoned health and safety leader with over 25 years international experience across multiple high-risk industries including maritime operations, oil & gas, rail, Civil Service, major events, construction and the Built sector. Instrumental in the change management of health and safety, implementing organisational strategic improvements to achieve industry best practice, exceptional interpersonal skills to draw teams together and drive cultural change.
Richard is instrumental in delivering the IOSH Strategy ‘Active8’ and core values globally across the health and safety network in his position as an IOSH Community Committee member and IOSH Mentor.
With a strong track record in developing and implementing best-practice HSEQ management systems aligned to relevant ISO standards and the British Safety Council Five Star framework, supported by Lead Auditor qualifications, Richard applies his expertise to drive continual improvement and operational excellence across businesses.
As Director of Xiphos Strategic Safety Ltd., I provide strategic Health & Safety leadership consultancy, delivering tailored solutions that elevate client organisations to best-practice standards with minimal disruption. Leading intensive reviews and gap analyses of existing systems, identifying opportunities for improvement while understanding the operational context and culture of each organisation.
Under my leadership, Xiphos produces clear, accurate and practical documentation including reports, plans and strategies that enable best-practice recommendations and actionable guidance to support client safety objectives and drive measurable improvements.
Specialisms
| Industry | Years Experience |
|---|---|
| Construction | 5 |
| Armed forces | 10 |
| Engineering | 5 |
| Fire and rescue services | 1 |
| Entertainment and leisure | 13 |
| Offshore oil and gas | 10 |
| Topic | Years Experience |
|---|---|
| Leadership | 10 |
| Risk management | 25 |
| Managing for health and safety | 16 |
Services
Audits
BSC five star audit
ISO 45001, 14001, 9001 Lead auditor
Over 15 years experience developing and implementing management systems to align with and gain ISO certification.
Recipient of the Sword of Honour 7 years running and providing consultancy to the BSC.
General consultancy
Providing SME the required responsible Person support.
Ensuring regulatory compliance and supporting businesses improve H&S across its function.
Work History
| Role | From - To | Job Title / Description |
|---|---|---|
| Director | 07.2023 - today | XIPHOS Strategic Safety Ltd. As Director of Xiphos, I provide strategic Health & Safety leadership consultancy, delivering tailored solutions that elevate client organisations to best-practice standards with minimal disruption. Leading intensive reviews and gap analyses of existing systems, identifying opportunities for improvement while understanding the operational context and culture of each organisation. Under my leadership, Xiphos produced clear, accurate and practical documentation including reports, plans and strategies that enable best-practice recommendations and actionable guidance to support client safety objectives and drive measurable improvements. |
| Group HSEQ Director | 01.2024 - 05.2026 | FORTH® Group, Hampshire Group and Board Director, Responsible for the development and execution of the company-wide strategy, obtaining, maintaining and relentlessly seeking opportunities for continually improving risk and compliance management across five businesses operating across various high-risk sites. Transforming the Health and Safety Culture and management systems across the organisation and operating at the pinnacle of H&S best practice. winning the BSC Sword of Honour within 9 months of the improvement strategy.
|
| Head of HSE | 08.2018 - 01.2024 | Rugby Football Union, Twickenham (now Allianz) Stadium Senior Management position based at the home of England Rugby. Leading Health, Safety and Sustainability within the stadium and remote locations across the country. Developing HSE improvement strategies and organisational objectives.
|
| Head of Service HSE, Facilities & Assets | 11.2017 - 05.2018 | Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service, Reading A high-level strategic role within the Fire and Rescue Service. A member of the Senior Leadership Team and key Stakeholder leading, developing and strategically implementing the improvement plans throughout Thames Valley area.
|
| Lead HSES Manager UK&I | 07.2016 - 11.2017 | As Senior Safety Manager, I was responsible for maintaining and continuously improving HSES across the largest operational area within the LR Group. Working in collaboration with the Group HSES team in 71 Fenchurch St, I led the strategic implementation of the Zero Harm philosophy, providing technical guidance and operational support for HSES strategic projects. I managed a team of HSES Managers, Advisors, and Coordinators to ensure effective roll-out across Support, Energy, Marine & Offshore and Management Systems functions, collaborating with operational and group stakeholders to develop and execute improvement plans. Additionally, I led high-potential incident investigations through to root cause analysis, developed corrective and preventative actions and created behavioural safety culture programmes to drive measurable improvements across the area.Senior Safety Manager responsible in maintaining and continuously improving Health, Safety, Environment and Security within the largest operational area within the LR Group.
|
| MEA Area HSES | 10.2013 - 07.2016 | Responsible for the implementation of the company’s internal safety management systems across the MEA and Kazakhstan region, delivering specialist HSES support across a high-risk, multi-cultural operational environment. Established, coached, and mentored a team of one full-time Senior OSH professional and 39 part-time safety staff across 20 offices in nine countries, while developing the region’s operational safety strategy in compliance with internal policies, local legislation and industry standards. Supported client-facing offices during bids and tenders, collaborated with client safety teams on joint initiatives, created and delivered training programmes to build competency and assessed high-risk activities and travel processes to ensure operational safety across the region.Responsible for the implementation of the company’s internal safety management systems across the MEA & Kazakhstan area. Providing specialist health, safety, security and environmental support to the area business streams within a high risk multi-cultural operational environment.
|
| Navigational & Operations Officer | 09.1998 - 12.2007 | Royal Navy Employed with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service as a Second Officer (Executive) Senior Watch Keeping Officer. Following the traditional path of the Merchant navy to obtain my Professional qualifications, with the addition of a substantial overlay of Royal Navy training to develop skills and additional responsibilitiesto become operationally competent and accountable for required in an operational environment.crew and passenger safety, collision avoidance, emergency response. Additional duties include Point Defence Officer, Ship Security Officer, Helicopter Controller, and Assistant Cargo Officer, with operational knowledge of SOLAS, ISM Code and ISPS requirements. |
Membership of Professional Bodies
| Professional Body | Membership | Member since | OSHCR Eligible Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| IOSH | Chartered Member (CMIOSH) | 03.2012 | 06.2026 |
Qualifications
| Accrediting Institute | Type | Qualification | Date passed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEBOSH | Diploma | Level 6 Occupational Health & Safety | 08.2013 |
Further Information
- Chartered member of IOSH
- NEBOSH Diploma
- NVQ Level 4 Spectator Safety
- HND Nautical Science
- 45001 Lead Auditor
- MLC 2006 ILO INspector
- Internal 9001/14001 Auditor
- Officer of the Watch CoC - Unlimited