New Chair appointed to the Health and Safety Commission

C009:07 10th July 2007

Judith Hackitt CBE will succeed Sir Bill Callaghan as Chair of the Health and Safety Commission. Ms Hackitt whose five year term with HSC will commence on 1st October 2007 is returning from an assignment as Director of the Chemistry for Europe project with the European Chemical Industry Council based in Brussels.

Welcoming Ms Hackitt to her new role Sir Bill Callaghan said, "Congratulations to Judith Hackitt on her appointment. Her previous role as a Commissioner and her considerable experience in the chemical industry makes her well placed for the responsibility for taking forward the HSC's Strategy for making health and safety a cornerstone of our society, achieving a record for workplace health and safety that leads the world and seeing through the merger of HSC and HSE."

Notes to editors

1. Judith Hackitt's appointment will commence on 1st October 2007 and will be for a term of five years. Her appointment will be on a three day per week basis.
2. Judith Hackitt was awarded a CBE in June 2006 for her services to health and safety at work. She trained as a Chemical Engineer at Imperial College, London and was previously employed as Group Risk Manager at Elementis PLC with world-wide responsibility for health and safety insurance and litigation.
3. In 1998 Ms Hackitt joined the Chemical Industries Association as Director of Business and Environment. She became Director General of the Association in April 2002. She was appointed as a member of the Health and Safety Commission on the same date. She held that post until December 2005.
4. The HSC has overall responsibility for occupational health and safety regulations in Great Britain. The Commission consists of 10 people nominated by bodies with an interest in workplace health and safety. They are sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP minister for occupational health and safety is Lord McKenzie of Luton.
5. The HSE and Local Authorities are the enforcing authorities that work in support of the Commission.
6. You can access the announcement news release issued by the Department for Work and Pensions at www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre

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