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Rail Safety Summit 2018 – Who is speaking?

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Speakers from Network Rail, HS2 and the ORR will offer their insights into the challenges facing rail health and safety professionals approaching the start of the next control period.

Ahead of this year’s conference, find out a bit more about the expert speaker lineup for 2018.

The Rail Safety Summit takes place on 1 November. For more information about attending, visit www.railsummits.com/event/safety-2018/


Lilian Greenwood MP, Chair, Transport Select Committee

Lilian Greenwood was elected as MP for Nottingham South in 2010, having previously been a UNISON organiser in the East Midlands.

She campaigned for investment in the Midland Main Line and the Nottingham Express Transit project before becoming a member of the Transport Select Committee.

She joined the Shadow Transport team in 2011 as Shadow Local Transport Minister, in which role she was responsible for Labour’s policies on buses, walking and cycling, and she was made Shadow Rail Minister in January 2013.

She retained the Transport brief when she was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in September 2015 until her resignation in June 2016.

Lilian was elected Chair of the Transport Select Committee in July 2017.


Allan Spence, Head of Corporate Passenger & Public Safety, Network Rail

Allan joined Network Rail in 2012 to create the company strategy for transforming safety and wellbeing. He has been at the heart of the company’s shift towards its vision of: Everyone Home Safe Every Day. He is currently leading the company’s work in all aspects of passenger and public safety.

He is vice chair of the cross-industry System Safety Risk Group and chair of the specialist group covering level crossing safety.

His career was originally as a safety regulator with experience in many different industries. In 2000 Allan joined the then HM Railway Inspectorate and moved with the inspectorate to the newly combined safety and economic regulator – the Office of Rail Regulation – becoming HM Deputy Chief Inspector.

His rail experience spans all aspects of the industry, including infrastructure management, operators, major projects, light rail and the heritage sector, as well as work with oversees regulators and railway companies. But he also draws on his experience with many other industries, including his roots in agriculture and construction.


Simon French, Chief Inspector, RAIB

Simon French is a graduate of the London School of Economics and joined the railway industry in 1982 as a management trainee. He held a number of operational posts in British Rail and worked on number of major railway projects including the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow Express.

In 1998, he joined the client organisation for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now known as HS1) as the head of operations and safety.

In 2004, Simon joined the newly formed Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB). After six years as deputy, in 2015 he was appointed to the role of chief inspector.


Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways and Director, Railway Safety, ORR

Ian is the chief inspector of railways and director, railway safety, and an executive member of the board. He is responsible for the work of the Railway Safety Directorate, which strives to ensure dutyholders in the railway industry manage health and safety risks effectively and thus comply with their statutory duties.

The Secretary of State appointed him to the board with effect from 26 September 2008. Ian was educated at Imperial College where he attained a first class honours degree in chemical engineering, followed by a Master of Philosophy in control engineering and operations research at Cambridge University. He has worked in safety critical industries for more than 34 years: originally in the chemical pharmaceutical and automotive industries, where the roles performed spanned a wide spectrum from works/production management to project and technology management, delivering improvements in safety and quality.

Prior to joining ORR, he worked at ICI for 17 years then he spent eight years in the rail industry, working for Amey Rail and Amey Operations as both technical director and Quensh director and then Metronet Rail, where he had the leading role in safety management; he was a director of both infraco companies.


Mark Ashmore, Health and Safety Manager, UKTram

Mark has extensive experience in the development, implementation and assessment of multimodal transport safety management systems with particular expertise within light rail.

Mark has over 20 years’ experience within the light rail industry, starting out his career as an engineer at midland metro, working his way through the ranks to the position of health and safety manager.

In 2011, Mark took on the position of health and safety manager for the Metro extensions scheme within Birmingham City Centre (BCCE) and Metro Depot extensions before progressing to the posisiton of health and safety manager of West Midlands Combined Authority in 2015. More recently the expansion of UKTram led to him joining the organisation as safety and standards manager in July 2018.


Mick Whelan, General Secretary, ASLEF

Mick Whelan is general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union. He has spent more than 30 years on the railway, and more than 30 years as an active trade unionist. He began as a guard, on British Rail’s Midland region, in 1984. He was, first, a member, and then a rep, for the National Union of Railwaymen (now the RMT).

When Mick became a train driver in 1988, he joined ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, and was elected regional organiser for its Midland region in 2000. Mick was elected general secretary of ASLEF in 2011 and, in the last seven years, has worked hard to re-engage with the other rail unions, the TUC, and the Labour Party, as well as engaging closely with other stakeholders in the railway industry.

In 2016, Mick became chair of TULO, the Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation, which co-ordinates the activities of the 13 trade unions which affiliate to the Labour Party, and, in September 2017, he was elected to the national executive committee of the Labour Party.


George Bearfield, Director of System Safety and Health, RSSB

George is the Director of System Safety and Health for the railway standards and research body RSSB.   He is responsible for RSSBs’ work to support the industry in all aspects of its health and safety management and assurance processes and capabilities.  This work is underpinned by a core capability in assessing and understanding risk so that it is undertaken in an informed and evidence-based way.

George joined RSSB in 2006 and prior to this worked as a senior consultant at Atkins Rail, following previous roles in the consultancy and railway supply sectors. George has a PhD in Computer Science, specialising in railway risk modelling and is a Chartered member of the IET, and a Fellow of the Safety and Reliability Society. He is the visiting Professor of Railway System Safety at the University of Huddersfield and is an independent expert advisor to the board safety sub-committee of National Air Traffic Services (NATS).


Dr Richard Peters, chief medical officer, and Sharon Stevens, mental wellbeing champion, Network Rail

Dr Richard Peters is chief medical officer at Network Rail. He provides assurance to the board, the company as a whole, regulators and the wider rail industry on the occupational health and wellbeing management of its c39,000 permanent employees.

Richard holds an honorary position at University College London Medical School as a clinical senior lecturer and works with the Faculty of Occupational Medicine to ensure a benchmark of standards for the teaching of the occupational medicine at medical schools throughout the UK.

He is an elected member of ARIOPS (Association of Railway Industry Occupational Health Practitioners) and part of the Global Chief Medical Officers Network powered by BUPA.

Prior to Network Rail he was chief medical officer at Capita Plc. for their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) contract on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Communities Northern Ireland (DFC).  His training is in occupational medicine and has worked as an Occupational Health Physician for an array of health organisations in the UK, such as Health Management Ltd, AXA PPP Healthcare and the NHS.

Sharon joined Network Rail in 2014 in Route Services as a process manager and in addition to her role became a mental wellbeing champion and mental health first aider, delivering presentations, training more champions, raising awareness and supporting colleagues experiencing stress and mental health conditions around the country.

Sharon speaks candidly about her own experience of depression and what more needs to be done to address the issue of mental health within the rail industry. Sharon is also a diversity and inclusion champion.


Ian Nixon, Sector SHE Director, Costain

A chartered Health and Safety professional, Ian joined Costain in 2006 and has been in a Sector SHE Leadership role since 2011, initially within Highways operations and more recently within Nuclear and Rail operations aiding the sharing of learning and best practice between varying industries.

Ian has had a strong interest in the Health of Health & Safety which led to him completing MSc Workplace Health at the University of Nottingham in 2011/ 2012. This interest also led to Ian being appointed as the lead for Occupational Health and Wellbeing through Highways England’s Delivery Hub where Ian has led work on Fatigue Management, Occupational Health, Manual Handling, Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome and Occupational Cancers. Another passion of Ian’s is to develop people and particularly bring new people into the industry. Within Costain Ian co-chairs their SHE Academy, the development programme for the SHE Graduates and Apprentices.

Keen to take the work at Costain to a national level, Ian has chaired the Trailblazer working group that has successfully developed and launched England’s first SHE Apprenticeship. This is a level 3 qualification aimed at new entrants or those changing career. Health and behaviours are key parts of the syllabus ensuring that those starting out in a career in SHE fully understand hierarchy of control for managing health hazards and the reasons that people may be tempted to take risks with their health. The work in developing the SHE Apprenticeship resulted in Ian being named in the Safety Health Practitioner (SHP) Most Influential People in Health & Safety in 2017.

Throughout his career Ian has developed, implemented and administered behaviourally driven Health and Safety programmes which have shaped and improved the lives of his colleagues, clients and the public. He has worked on an array of schemes that have included new build schools, hospital extensions, offices, new build infrastructure schemes, infrastructure maintenance schemes, airport improvements and upgrades to water treatment works.


Peter Schofield, Chairman, Ford & Stanley

Chairman of the Ford & Stanley group, Peter Schofield is a renowned performance coach, employer brand consultant, and leading pioneer of hiring and retention strategies for skills short markets.

Peter developed GENIUS Performance to show that, given the new pressures and distractions that exist in today’s working environment, everybody benefits when employees are properly supported.

Running leadership development programmes for clients all over the world, Peter, alongside GENIUS Performance coaches, supplies a ground-breaking employee wellbeing and performance support coaching service, giving employees access to the same level of performance support traditionally reserved for top performers in the world of sport.

Listed in the Derby Telegraph Inspirational 250, the trademark of Peter’s work is a passionate devotion to the development of best hiring practice; the point where, arguably, competitive advantage begins or is yielded. His methods have already worked for over seven hundred organisations, helping them to attract, motivate and retain thousands of key people on a permanent and interim basis.


Paul Appleton, Deputy Director, ORR

Paul, an Assistant Chief Inspector of Railways, leads ORR’s three Mainline Operators Teams. These teams carry out inspection and investigation work with all of the mainline train operating companies, freight operating companies and charter companies across Great Britain.

Paul joined HSE in 1989 to be a Health and Safety Inspector. He inspected agriculture, factories, schools, and construction. In 2000, Paul joined HM Railway Inspectorate as a frontline inspector; in 2003 he became HM Principal Inspector and lead for the Southern team.

In 2006, HM Railway Inspectorate was transferred to ORR. In 2014, Paul became an Assistant Chief Inspector and led ORR’s five Network Rail route teams (45 people) that regulate the mainline rail infrastructure of Great Britain.


Rupert Lown, Director of HSQE – Anglia Route, Network Rail

A chartered member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Rupert has spent his working life trying to improve health and safety for workers across numerous industries.

Rupert started with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), regulating agriculture, construction, engineering and gas safety. He first became involved with rail back in October 1999 – a week before Ladbroke Grove – and spent considerable time working for HMRI on this and subsequently on the Hatfield and Potters Bar investigations.

Following stints helping the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury to improve workplace health and mental wellbeing, Rupert joined the Office of Rail Regulation, heading up the enforcement and investigation policy team.

Following a secondment to Network Rail as the South East head of route safety improvement manager, Rupert joined Network Rail as the head of LNE/EM route health, safety and environment. In August 2015, he took on the role of head of corporate workforce safety, where he has been focused on the Vehicle Speed Warning System and Planning and Delivering Safe Work (PDSW).

Since joining the Anglia Route in November 2017, Rupert has focused on developing and implementing a route health, safety and sustainability plan that is owned by everyone in the route; a plan that gives everyone accountability.


Stephen Barber, Head of Permanent Way Engineering, TfL

A chartered engineer and currently president of the Permanent Way Institution, Stephen is responsible for the safety of TfL’s track assets.

Stephen leads his engineering team in the development, design, and introduction of new materials, components, and techniques to improve track safety, availability, and reliability, and to reduce costs.

Stephen is a career railwayman, having spent 44 years in the industry. Prior to joining TfL in 2010, he was director of safety and engineering at Babcock Rail where he led the joint engineering team which commissioned, tested, and moved into production Network Rail’s second generation of high output track renewal equipment.

An early career spent working in a variety of civil and track engineering design and production roles throughout the UK culminated in work on board policy and transport business strategy at British Rail headquarters. As technical director at contractor First Engineering, he strengthened company and industry work management and engineering assurance activities in response to events at Hatfield in 2000.

Stephen is a fellow of the Permanent Way Institution, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He is committed to the development of the PWI, and particularly to its role in harnessing railway systems engineering knowledge from industry and the academic world, and spreading that understanding widely through the rail industry.


Erin Shoesmith and Darren Dunn, Partner and Managing Associate, Health & Safety, Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Erin leads Addleshaw Goddard’s health and safety practice in the wider Global Investigations Group. She is regularly instructed by the firm’s leading corporate clients and individuals facing prosecution or investigation by the Police, HSE and other authorities in the criminal courts.

Erin has substantial experience in contentious and non-contentious regulatory matters and has regularly acted for the Health and Safety Executive in a range of matters, leading to prosecutions being brought against third parties in the Magistrate and Crown Courts.

She now solely acts for the firm’s corporate clients and for individuals on the receiving end of such prosecutions and has particular experience of dealing with very serious and fatal accidents.

Erin advises clients facing prosecution or investigation by other regulatory bodies, including Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Service, Information Commissioner’s Office, Office of Rail and Road and the Civil Aviation Authority. Many of these matters involve reputation management issues.

She has been awarded Higher Rights of Audience for both civil and criminal proceedings.

Darren has substantial experience in regulatory matters from his time as an in-house barrister at the Legal Advisors Office of the Health and Safety Executive.

He advised on complex investigations and across industrial sectors (including defence, energy, healthcare and manufacturing) and has experience of asset recovery and extradition issues following secondments to the UK Foreign Office and United Nations.


Reuben McDonald, Head of System Safety, Security and Interoperability, HS2

Reuben McDonald joined HS2 in 2014 to lead the projects approach and demonstration of system safety under the Common Safety Method on Risk Evaluation and Assessment (CSM-RA).

In addition, Reuben leads the demonstration of compliance with the railway interoperability regulations and leads HS2’s approach to railway physical and cyber security.

HS2 is being delivered as an integrated programme so the scope of safety demonstration includes physical infrastructure, railway systems, rolling stock, stations, depots and the development of an infrastructure manager organisation, station operator organisation and the interface to a future train operator.

Reuben’s prior experience has been in rail and aviation risk management. Before HS2, Reuben worked for the RSSB, Det Norske Veritas and National Air Traffic Services. Reuben holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester.


Stephen Clarke, Lead Signatory, Ricardo Rail

Stephen joined what was Lloyd’s Register Rail in 2002, a company which Ricardo bought in 2015. He is currently the Lead Signatory at Ricardo Certification, with oversight and responsibility for the Independent Assurance work performed by Ricardo across the world.

He has been involved in assessment, approvals and safety case work for railway systems for over 20 years, and has been involved in the development and the application of many railway safety and system standards.

In his current role, he sees the assessment work and safety evidence for many large and small railway projects, and is very aware of the complex requirements and considerable pressures involved when bringing new systems and railways into service.


Simon Ellis, Global Bids Support Manager, Bombardier

Simon Ellis is a chartered engineer and current Global Services Bid Technical Manager for Bombardier. He has 15 years’ experience working in the rail industry having joined Bombardier as a graduate engineer in 2003, with all roles based within the services/maintenance field.

Prior to his current role, Simon was the Head of Maintenance for Aventra during its product development stage managing the design for maintenance team and total cost of ownership development on the platform and subsequent projects.

Previously, he set up Bombardier’s centralised maintenance development function, carrying out optimisation of fleet maintenance across UK products and subsequent to that had been a fleet engineer for five years on the Class 222 Meridian fleet.


The final presentation ‘operating and maintaining a safe railway’ with MTR Crossrail has had to be cancelled due to speaker availability.

Photo: HighVizMedia and @LaurentCphoto.

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