Bill
Martin

Bill Martin is a safety advocate and accomplished public speaker whose life was profoundly changed when his 17-year-old son Tim died from severe burns following a workplace electrical accident—a tragedy that set him on a mission to save others from similar loss.

For over 38 years, Bill worked as a safety manager and advisor across New Zealand and Australia in diverse sectors including health, government, retail, education, mining, construction, and postal services. His deep expertise and practical knowledge saw him appointed to the Electrical Safety Board in Queensland, where he also served as a community advocate.

Bill channels his personal story into compelling presentations that explore the real reasons for working safely. Drawing on the circumstances that contributed to his son’s accident, he explains how these lessons remain critically relevant today. He speaks with powerful honesty about the devastating ripple effect that workplace injuries have on families, friends, and communities, and the long-lasting impacts for those left behind.

His qualifications span business management, safety management, rehabilitation, auditing, workplace assessment and training, alongside specialised certifications in fire safety, incident investigation, and first aid.

Seeking a lifestyle change, Bill and his wife relocated to the Nelson region, where he volunteers with the Mapua Fire Brigade, focusing on fire prevention. He is also a founding member of the Queensland Affected Families Forum, a group supporting families whose loved ones have been killed or seriously injured at work.

Though now retired from full-time roles, Bill remains driven to share his story, determined to eliminate unnecessary deaths and injuries in workplaces. As he passionately states, “We should all be alarmed that workers in New Zealand are four times more likely to die at work than workers in the United Kingdom, and twice as likely as workers in Australia.”