Risk-Led Safety: Evidence-Driven Management, Second Edition

About Chris JermanDuncan Spencer

Duncan is the Head of Advice & Practice at the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health; the worlds leading membership body for safety professionals. His more recent experience includes being responsible for health & safety governance in the John Lewis Partnership and the Safety Manager for the Waitrose Division. This included responsibility for retail distribution head office functions leisure and for the Leckford farming estate. Duncans previous experience includes a short military career being the director of an outdoor adventure centre a college lecturer and a safety risk consultant. In this capacity his work was in large multiple site and complex organisations in the High Street retail distribution social housing manufacturing and public service sectors (police military & health care) at home and abroad. Duncan regularly writes magazine articles and makes presentations at conferences that challenge people to think again about their approach to safety risk management. Chris began his safety career in the foundries of South Yorkshire having spent his formative years in production management. Schooled largely by the EEF in Sheffield Chris saw the move from the rule driven regime of the Factories Act to the more modern risk led approach offered by the Management Regulations. Where many may have seen risk assessment as a burden Chris took this new requirement as an opportunity realising at a very early stage that being risk-centric was the way forward. Moving from heavy industry Chris spent several years in consultancy and training working right across Europe and into the Far East during which time he had the opportunity to see how various risk models worked; the keys to their success and the common pitfalls too. Joining John Lewis in 2005 Chris had the perfect opening to put into practice all that he had learned benefiting from all of the support of a renowned and forward looking business. After a brief period as Group Head for Safety for the bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral Chris is now working in partnership with Professor Tim Marsh and Jason Anker MBE in their new venture. Chris has built his reputation on being forthright often moving where others fear to tread. Chris drive is to do things pragmatically and is brave enough to do things differently to achieve it.