Rick Charlton brings a distinguished background in emergency services, public safety and corporate leadership. He began his career in the British Army before moving into operational roles within the Fire and Rescue Service, where he served as both a firefighter and commander. He has also worked as a Fire Safety Enforcement Officer and Crown Fire Inspector, developing extensive expertise in fire safety regulation, inspection and risk management.

Following more than a decade in senior corporate leadership roles within high-hazard environments, leading emergency management and operational teams, and as Deputy Chief Fire Officer at the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, Rick established his own business, now known as Charlton Safety Ltd. His experience combines frontline command, regulatory insight and strategic leadership, enabling him to manage complex risks, build operational resilience and support safe, effective performance.

Rick has also supported anti-poaching teams in Africa, providing operational safety guidance, tactical training, and expertise in psychological risk management, trauma recovery and wellbeing.

He has delivered human factors and behavioural safety training to oil and gas drilling teams in Saudi Arabia, while also providing fire safety risk management advice and support across the defence and aerospace sectors.

Safety Leadership in the Most Challenging Environments

Our experience of delivering human factors and behavioural science programmes for safety leadership has been shaped in some of the world’s most demanding operational settings, including oil well drilling teams in Saudi Arabia. In these environments, safety depends on far more than procedures and technical competence. Leaders must make sound decisions under pressure, communicate clearly across diverse teams, recognise fatigue and changing risk, and create a culture in which people feel able to speak up before a minor issue becomes a serious event.

We help leaders understand the human influences behind everyday performance, from attention, workload and decision-making to team dynamics, habits and the effects of organisational culture.

Although the setting may be complex and high-risk, the lessons are universal. Every industry relies on people making decisions, working together and responding effectively when conditions change. Whether your organisation operates in manufacturing, construction, transport, healthcare, energy or professional services, our practical approach can help strengthen safety leadership, improve learning from incidents and near misses, and build safer, more reliable performance across the business.