Onshore wind: building a safer industry | a conversation with Karl Sollis

Tell us a bit more about your new role at SafetyOn?

I’ve been appointed Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee, or TAC for short. The main job of the Chairman is to be the link between the TAC and the Leadership Board. The Leadership Board is the senior body of SafetyOn, made up of CEOs and MDs of member firms, and implements what the TAC recommends. In this role, I am also the connection between the TAC and the Health & Safety Executive (the UK government agency responsible for workplace health, safety and welfare), working to gain a sense of their direction and discussing topics with them that are important to the TAC.

I chair the meetings, which means managing the agenda on the day and trying my best to ensure a full and frank discussion on as many topics as possible and helping draw input from all members. Before meetings, I make sure to work closely with the Energy Institute who the committee secretariat to review and approve agendas and presentation packs. We consider quite closely how best to cover each workstream during the meeting.

What does this appointment mean for Full Circle and the focus on health and safety?

As a company, we are gaining visibility in the industry at the very highest level, on one of the most important topics. My position at SafetyOn means Full Circle is involved in those top-level conversations about health & safety. We want to help our industry enhance health and safety standards, policies and practices and I think taking a leadership role in SafetyOn is the most effective way to do this.

Not only are we participating in the dialogue, but we’re also helping shape it. We get insight into what our peers are doing and use our collective knowledge to influence the direction of the industry through our position on the TAC.

SafetyOn covers the whole of the UK and includes the CEOs and MDs of all the major onshore asset owners and O&M providers in the UK, including our own CEO, Billy Stevenson, who sits on the Leadership Board. As we at Full Circle implement our multi-brand strategy, it is crucially important to gain insight from senior execs of other O&M providers. If we are facing certain challenges, it’s likely our peers are too, and being able to learn from each other through an organisation like this is incredibly useful.

It is important as we continue to grow within the UK and internationally that we make the most of platforms like this to show the industry that we are a major player and are engaged on these all-important topics.

“My position at SafetyOn means Full Circle is involved in top-level conversations about health & safety“

How does it support Full Circle’s European growth strategy?

SafetyOn is based in, the UK but there are also CEOs of European companies involved, meaning that the majority of members of the Leadership Board have an interest in Europe as well.

This means we are focused not just on the impact UK legislation will have on our industry in this area but also on laws coming down the track in the rest of Europe. This is particularly important for Full Circle, given our European multi-brand growth strategy and our recent acquisition of the French O&M provider, Net-Wind.

Curious to learn more about our work? Contact us today and learn how we can support you to ensure your turbines are always working at peak performance.