Human decisions and system performance

Richard Roff

Richard is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers working as Costain’s Group process safety director. Based in the Northeast of England, he advises the group and its clients on the strategic implementation of process safety management across all sectors and service lines but with particular focus on contracts with catastrophic incident potential. He leads for the group on incident investigation and is also involved in auditing, defining company guidance and education in process safety and leadership.

Since May 2015, Richard has also been Chair of the UK PSM Competence Programme Board which originated in the National Skills Academy – Process Industries.

In mid-2021, Richard joined the technical advisory committee of the Hazards Forum where he chairs the interest group on Engineered Systems Hazards

Richard became a Chartered mechanical engineer having graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and trained with ICI; he is also a professional process safety engineer. He joined Costain in 2013 having worked before then in the petrochemicals, chemicals and steel industries for business of ICI, DuPont, Croda and Tata Steel. In these, Richard held roles in asset integrity, maintenance management, projects management, process safety and organisational consultancy and was also involved in business strategy, business purchases and new business integration. His work has taken him to many countries in Europe, South and South East Asia and to the US.

Rhona Flin

Rhona Flin is professor of industrial psychology, Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University and Emeritus professor of applied psychology, University of Aberdeen. Her research examines human performance in high-risk work settings focusing on safety, organisational culture, and non-technical skills in the energy sector, healthcare and aviation. She is a Board member of Step Change in (Offshore) Safety and a trustee of the Clinical Human Factors Group. Her books include Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills (2008, with O’Connor & Crichton – now being revised).

Helen Conlin

Helen is a chartered chemical engineer, Fellow of IChemE and IChemE registered safety professional with over 25 years’ experience in regulation, industry and consultancy and extensive experience supporting high and medium hazard facilities covering technical, human and organisational factors across a wide range of sectors.
Since 2021 Helen has been co-chair of an IChemE Major Hazards Committee project to improve process safety competence assurance for chemical engineers (Part 1), process safety professionals (Part 2) and organisations (Part 3). Improving recognition of the importance and contribution of Non Technical Skills to engineers’ process safety competence has been a key objective.

Andrew Sherry

Andrew Sherry is professor of materials and structures at the University of Manchester. Previously he was chief scientist and a member of the Board of the National Nuclear Laboratory and directed the Dalton Nuclear Institute at Manchester. He provides independent expert advice to government and industry on nuclear safety, research, and innovation. Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Nuclear Institute and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.