Due to his natural sporting talent, Sandford's introduction to Skeleton came after he led a Squash team representing Victoria University to an International University Squash Tournament held in Austria in 2002. The skeleton track was close to the host centre and Ben thought he would "give it a go."
Sandford was educated at Rotorua Boys' High School and Victoria University of Wellington, where he graduated with bachelor's degrees in law and geography in 2002. He has served as an athlete representative to the New Zealand Olympic Committee since 2008 and the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2012. At the 2014 Congress of the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobagganing Sandford was elected as the federation's Vice President for Legal Affairs, becoming the first person from Oceania to be elected to the FIBT's executive committee.