Bringing a personal touch to safety

Safety wasn’t always Kevin’s area of expertise. Kevin started his career at ISS as a mailroom assistant at the London office of an international banking client in 2010 after having been made redundant at his previous job. “I just wanted to get back into work and ISS gave me the opportunity to get back into work, and then the opportunity to further develop my career where it is today,” Kevin says.

At the beginning of his ISS career, Kevin had no previous health and safety experience or qualifications. “It wasn’t really something I had ever thought about, but ISS is very health-and-safety focused, so it quickly became very important to me.” Kevin signed up to become a Safety Champion and after completing a series of rigorous safety courses, became the Safety Supervisor on the account. On his journey from mailroom assistant to safety manager, Kevin has received two top employee recognition awards for his dedication to safety, professionalism, and willingness to go the extra mile. 

Looking back on his career at ISS, Kevin credits support and hard work as the main factors of his success. “A lot of people supported me and really backed me. I’m an example that if you put a lot of work in within ISS, you’ll get 10-fold out of it. If you do put the hard work in, you will get noticed.”

Today, Kevin is an HSEQ manager for ISS specialised services in the UK.  He manages 43 sites, doing his part to foster a safety culture. “I love working with people. The best part of my job is that I get to meet people and build a trusting relationship,” Kevin explains. “No matter who I’m working with, it’s important that I find a common language to create a safety culture. It’s about bringing a personal touch so that at the end of the day they actually want me to be on site.”