Meet Emily Ahern
Hi, I’m Emily founder of Ahern’s Health & Safety Compliance Coaching for Traders.
My path into health and safety hasn’t been a straight line, but every step has shaped how I support sole traders and small businesses today.
I began my career as a medic in the Army, spending many of my six years delivering frontline team medic training. That role taught me how to stay calm under pressure, communicate clearly, and make safety second nature often through dynamic risk assessment in fast‑changing situations. It’s where my passion for health and safety began.
After leaving the Army, I spent two years in civilian roles before joining the RAF as a firefighter. I spent seven years in the RAF, for over 4 years I focused heavily on fire safety, conducting risk assessments, developing and delivering training, and contributing to service‑wide improvements that were recognised in the Queen’s Honours List. I also took on wider health and safety responsibilities, completing risk assessments, DSE assessments, and waste‑management compliance. During this time, I achieved my NEBOSH qualifications in both Health & Safety and Fire Safety, knowing I’d eventually transition out of the RAF due to injury.
That transition led me to TATA Steel, where I spent almost three years in a high‑risk manufacturing environment where I had a steep learning curve that deepened my understanding of safety culture. I delivered multiple courses, but the one that stood out most was LeadSafes. This programme is designed to help managers at all levels to hold positive safety conversations. These conversations weren’t about catching people out, they were about understanding the current safety culture in the work place for example whether safe working procedures were being followed and, if not, why not in a supportive, open way.
LeadSafes taught me something vital,
Building a positive health and safety culture starts with conversation. When people are invited to share their input even if it’s just one worker they’re far more likely to follow the control measures they helped create. Gives them some ownership.
That belief now sits at the heart of everything I do.
I help businesses build confidence, clarity, and a culture of safety that works in real life not just on paper.
The Beginning of the Idea
The idea for Ahern’s Health & Safety Compliance Coaching didn’t come from a textbook it came from my own experiences, assumptions and mistakes.
Between leaving the Army and joining the RAF, I tried to start a personal training business. I cared about doing things properly, but I was completely naïve about what I needed to do to protect myself. some examples of the assumptions I made, I thought with my rent that I would come under the gym’s insurance and could utilise their risk assessments. This was not the case.
I didn’t understand what applied to my size of business, what was mandatory and what was simply best practice, or how to find clear guidance without spending hours on training that would cost me money in lost work. Like so many sole traders, I believed health and safety wasn’t something I needed to worry about “too much”. It wasn't until getting into H&S I realised how exposed I actually was.
There’s plenty of free information out there, but none of it helped me understand what I needed for my business. No one explained it in plain English. No one broke it down by business size. And no one showed me how to stay compliant without drowning in unnecessary tasks.
That experience stuck with me.
It’s the reason I built a service that gives sole traders and small businesses exactly what I wish I’d had, clear, simple, relevant guidance that protects you without overwhelming you.
That’s why I do what I do now.
I want to give sole traders and small business owners the confidence I didn’t have at the start. My goal is to make health and safety simple, clear, and genuinely useful not overwhelming, not full of jargon, and never designed to make you feel “not enough.” You deserve to run your business with confidence, knowing exactly what you need to comply with and why it matters.
If you’re building something of your own, I’m here to help you protect it.
iosh Member
I am currently a new Affiliate Member of IOSH and am actively working towards achieving Technical Membership (Tech IOSH). This reflects my commitment to maintaining high professional standards and continually developing my expertise in health and safety.
BADGP Member
I am a member of the British Association of Dangerous Goods Professionals (BADGP), demonstrating my commitment to best practice in the management and carriage of dangerous goods.
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