The History of Safewise's Founder: a health and safety journey

From girlhood to adulthood, Tracey has always been interested in people’s health and safety, so it’s really no surprise that she ended up establishing a management consultancy firm that helps business owners, large and small, manage their health and safety systems.

Back when she was 12 years old, she was eager to join the St John Brigade program and enjoyed every bit of it. She recalls attending a lot of concerts with the brigade, but whether or not she actually saw many performances depended on the drunk members of the audience. She also entered many competitions as a cadet, becoming a National Champion. 

Tracey, early teens, in her St John Brigade uniform.

During her time with the program, she rose to become a Division Superintendent and only left the organisation at the age of 24, when she moved to Melbourne. Before we follow her over to Australia, though, let’s explore her later years as a Division Superintendent. It was during this period that Tracey decided to train as a radiographer at Auckland Hospital while still with the St John Brigade.

Tracey, late teens, standing with four other members of the St John Brigade.

It was here at Auckland Hospital that Tracey recalls being the most challenging, yet most rewarding time she spent as a radiographer. Specifically, the time spent working in the ICU department, working with unconscious patients. This presented the team with the challenge of getting the results they needed without the cooperation of the patient.

"It was challenging work, but knowing that we were contributing to the hopeful recovery of the patients was extremely rewarding."

It was after completing her training at Auckland Hospital that she decided to move to Melbourne, where she worked as a qualified radiographer at a private practice for a year. However, like many Kiwis, New Zealand was still her home, and she found herself being called back here.

Excited to be back in Aotearoa New Zealand, she decided to move to Te Kūiti and work as a radiographer there. Before rescue helicopters became commonplace, Tracey and the team at the Te Kūiti hospital would receive all kinds of patients. Both the emergency and seriously injured patients presented the biggest challenge and added excitement to the otherwise routine job. As is the way with the passage of time, things always change, and once rescue helicopters and ambulances became the norm, all emergency or grievously wounded patients were rushed past Te Kūiti hospital and taken straight to bigger hospitals instead.

And suddenly, the work lost the challenging aspect that Tracey valued.

A little while after this, Tracey happened to meet her husband, Allan, while helping to look after a sick family member. They decided to co-found AMS Group Limited, a PTE for commercial driver training.

A photo taken by Tracey of her husband, Allan, and some of their team from AMS Group.

By this point, the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSEA) had already come into effect. However, Tracey and her husband soon realised many businesses knew very little about it as they found themselves helping their clients with their health and safety management.

Tracey witnessed many health and safety incidents during this time, ranging from one client having seven serious or potentially serious incidents within a span of six 6 months, to another client doing up a twitch incorrectly, which sprang back, hit him in the face, and caused him to lose an eye.

Tracey recognised there were many dangerous but avoidable incidents occurring because businesses couldn’t manage their health and safety properly, a topic she had become more and more passionate about over the years.

It wasn’t too much later that a serendipitous flyer made its way into Tracey’s mailbox, advertising a Diploma in Health and Safety.

Tracey went on to complete this Diploma, and then decided to establish Safewise, the health and safety management consultancy firm we all know and love today, in September 2008.

The early days were hard; she worked from home alone and had very few clients, but she persevered, and in 2014, she had built up the business enough to warrant hiring her first employee to assist with administrative tasks.

Tracey went on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health. She also joined the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) and was on the Waikato branch executive committee for just over a decade. She has been graded as a Professional member of NZISM and is a member of the HASANZ register.

And now, 12 years on from her first hire, Safewise consists of a small yet thriving team who are all passionate about helping New Zealand SMEs with their health and safety management systems. Just what will the next 12 years bring?

The Safewise team wrapping the Christmas presents for their Management Clients, 2025.