Sarah Tack: setting the global strategy for safety

Sarah Tack is one of the many talented women working at Thales, inspiring young engineers and professionals across London and the UK.

She is the Head of Health Safety and Environment (HSE) for Thales’s Ground Transportation Systems global business, and has been with Thales for over six years, during which time she was awarded the prestigious Guardian Angel Award at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards in London. This is an award celebrating individuals who make a difference in safety and accident prevention in the workplace, so who better than the Head of GTS’s HSE team to be recognised with such an award.

Sarah is responsible for setting the global strategy and direction of the HSE agenda. Given that Thales operates within the project and services environments in around 30 countries, all of which have significant risks, there is a wide variety of cultural issues and delivery variations to deal with, so Sarah has a busy schedule.

“One day I could be supporting the ‘Four Lines Modernisation’ (4LM) project, which is an immensely complex programme that Thales is running with Transport for London to upgrade the signaling system on four of the busiest London Underground tube lines, looking at ways to reduce our safety risks. Another day I could be in the Middle East, South Africa or Singapore looking at how we better collaborate with our customers to support the HSE challenges on projects that Thales is delivering,” she explained her role when we caught up with her.

This is not the first role or industry in which Sarah has excelled through the years. She has worked in construction, manufacturing, and also health and fitness. Through all these roles she had to do a lot of travelling, and therefore developed the resilience to help her focus and not give in easily in the face of adversity and complications. “I have also done a lot of long-distance running so I think I have great determination to keep going even when it really does hurt a lot”, she adds.

Engineering work, construction and manufacturing was not what the 10-year old Sarah had her heart set on though. “I was into gymnastics and ballet, and anything else that meant being physically active and not studying academically,” she admits.

Moreover, she didn’t have much encouragement in this decision. “If I am truthful, there are people in my family who are still to this day somewhat puzzled by my choices,” she explains.

So how did she land this role? “When I finished travelling round the world in my 20s the realisation hit that I needed to look to the future and find a career. One of the jobs I had enjoyed most when travelling was working in a project office for a large construction company, helping out with the coordination of their health and safety. On looking at opportunities in the UK I discovered there were many similar roles. My first role was at Ford Motor Company in the area of workers health. It all really developed from there, gaining qualifications and experience, and then moving into construction and transportation over the years”, she recounts.

While her role takes her to some great places, Sarah admits that one of her career highlights has been the realisation that she “can make a real difference globally, and that a significant amount of people from around the world have been supportive and receptive to [her] guidance and suggestions”.

Sarah and Thales are keeping London safe, secure and on the move.