Lauren Watts is the Head of Health and Safety at Gleeds, specialising in construction safety regulations and compliance with the Building Safety Act. She is responsible for corporate safety across our offices, maintaining ISO 45001 and collaborating with safety teams in various countries. She also manages key accounts in the UK, including Amazon, overseeing safety initiatives on their projects.
Working on global accounts and health and safety presents both exciting and challenging opportunities. Lauren particularly enjoys shaping how projects are delivered, ensuring best practices are embedded while adapting to the unique demands of each project. She is motivated by her colleagues, who embody Gleeds’ ethos of "professionalism with personality."
She takes pride in delivering a balanced approach to safety, ensuring that guidance is both practical and effective. Having worked client-side, contractor-side and designer-side, Lauren has found consultancy to be the most fulfilling field, allowing her expertise to be applied across diverse and complex projects. She was drawn to Gleeds by the people. Collaboration has been integral to her journey with Gleeds and continues across every project and region she works in. In health and safety, driving high standards while remaining engaging and pragmatic is essential. Changing mindsets and behaviours requires a personal approach.
Her advice to anyone joining Gleeds is never to underestimate the importance of impartiality. While consultancy can be similar across the industry, Gleeds stands apart through its legacy, history, and, most importantly, an objective stance. Lauren’s team works alongside industry-leading experts who both challenge and inspire, making every project an opportunity for growth and learning. She is proud to lead a team that collaborates seamlessly, delivering projects of national significance to the highest safety standards.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family, including her 17-year-old daughter. If she had not pursued this career, she believes she would have become a doctor. With a degree in Biochemistry and an accountancy qualification, whatever path she had taken would have involved continuous learning and problem-solving.
Lauren exemplifies the Gleeds spirit, blending technical expertise with a personable and pragmatic approach to health and safety.