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Hazardex 2019 Conference Presentations - Managing Major Hazard Risks - A Cross-Industry Initiative

Author : Paul Logan - HSE, Head of Chemicals, Explosives and Microbiological Hazards Division

20 December 2018

Great Britain has many highly specialised, strategically important industries which are essential to the country’s economy and social infrastructure, but can potentially cause great harm to their workers, the environment, the public and critical national infrastructure if not properly managed. 

In all these sectors, a single incident can have catastrophic consequences and has the potential to undermine whole sectors by eroding the public’s trust and acceptance of complex, high-hazard activities, especially those near to communities. 

Our 2019/20 corporate business plan will include, as part of HSE’s regulatory work to reduce the likelihood of low frequency, high impact catastrophic events, a specific focus on cyber security risk management and the wider topic of leadership. 

As part of the Year of Leadership in Managing Major Hazard Risks, the HSE, in collaboration with the environment agencies in England, Scotland and Wales, is developing an inspection guide for inspectors to target and assess leadership at COMAH sites.

The presentation will outline the approach HSE will be taking to targeting this issue during 2019.

Dr Paul Logan joined the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 1989 as a scientist, before training as a specialist inspector in the biotechnology and microbiology sector. After this he transferred into a policy role, leading UK negotiations on the GMO contained use directive. He then moved back into operational inspection work, eventually heading the biological agents unit.

In 2007 he led the Government investigation into an outbreak of foot and mouth disease following an escape from the Pirbright laboratories. Following this he was appointed head of major hazards policy in HSE, and led teams negotiating the Seveso III and offshore oil and gas directives, as well as reform of mines and explosives legislation. After a further spell heading up a wider HSE policy division, he became head of the chemicals, explosives and microbiological hazards division in April 2015.


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