Meet the person behind ICON

Experienced enough to know the law.
Practical enough to know what happens on a Tuesday afternoon.

Founder & consultant

Joanna
Wawrzyniak

I created ICON Safety Lab because good health and safety should make work clearer, safer and more manageable—not bury people in paperwork.

I am a senior health and safety professional with nearly two decades of experience supporting organisations, managers and employees through the realities of workplace safety.

Much of my career has been spent in fast-moving operational and food-manufacturing environments, where decisions have to work across production floors, engineering teams, offices, nights, weekends and many different cultures and languages.

That experience taught me that legal knowledge matters—but so do trust, communication and understanding what people are genuinely being asked to do.

Joanna Wawrzyniak walking with Mishka and Lyra in the Yorkshire Wolds
Joanna, Mishka & LyraFounder of ICON Safety Lab—and the less obedient members of the support team.
Nearly 20years in health & safety
Senior-leveloperational experience
Polish + Englishbilingual support
People firstpractical, usable solutions

Why ICON Safety Lab

Safety support without the theatre.

Businesses deserve advice that is clear about the law without pretending every problem needs an enormous management system. Employees deserve explanations that respect their experience. Managers deserve actions they can realistically deliver.

ICON brings those things together: senior-level judgment, practical support and communication that makes sense to the people receiving it.

How I work

Straight-talking.
Curious. Useful.

01

Listen first

Before recommending paperwork, training or a project, I take time to understand how the business and its people actually work.

02

Keep it proportionate

The right solution for a smaller business is not a cut-down corporate system. It should fit the risks, resources and reality.

03

Make it usable

Policies, assessments and training only matter when people can understand them and use them on an ordinary working day.

04

Be honest

I will tell you what needs attention, what can wait and what you may not need to spend money on at all.

Beyond translation

“People do not become safe simply because a document has been translated.”

As a Polish professional who has built her career in the UK, I understand how language, culture, hierarchy and confidence affect the way safety messages are heard. Bilingual support means preserving meaning—not just replacing individual words.

No business or job is too small

Tell me what is happening.

You do not need to arrive knowing the name of the service. Start with the problem, concern or idea—and we will work out the sensible next step.

Start a conversation