Head of HSE's Offshore Division to retire

E66:09 18 August 2009

Ian Whewell, Head of the Health and Safety Executive's Offshore Division is to retire after 35 years with the organisation and in roles that have seen him play a key part in helping to prevent another Piper Alpha disaster.

During his three and a half years in the sector's top job, Ian has been committed to driving up safety standards and refocusing the industry on major accident hazard risks.

This has involved heading up the 2007 KP3 report which highlighted the scale of work required of the offshore industry to improve asset integrity. He also led the subsequent KP3 review, published last month, which recognised the significant progress being made, but concluded that continued momentum and investment are essential.

Ian has also seen effective workforce involvement as the key to real and sustainable improvements in safety.

Ian commented:

"I am particularly proud of the dramatically improved leadership commitment within the offshore industry and the acceptance by the industry of  its responsibility to deliver improved health and safety. The best results are only delivered if the industry, HSE and the workforce work together. However as regulator, HSE has a difficult path to tread and ultimately we can only measure performance against outcomes not commitment'

"HSE's relationship with the workforce and Trades Unions, and the trust I believe I have helped build, has been particularly important to me. The workforce is HSE's 'eyes and ears' and a good relationship builds confidence and enables inspectors to fully understand the issues the workforce faces."

Ian joined what was to become HSE in 1974, and had a number of roles before joining the Offshore Division. Initially he regulated health and safety in a wide variety of industries in the West Midlands and East Anglia before heading up a team of inspectors in East Anglia with responsibility for major hazards onshore, including oil refineries and gas terminals.

Ian joined the Offshore Safety Division in 1993. This followed its creation in 1991 when responsibility for offshore safety transferred to HSE from the former Department for Energy on the basis of recommendations made in the report by Lord Cullen fin the wake of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.

Ian initially worked in HSE's headquarters to develop new goal-setting legislation aimed at preventing another Piper Alpha disaster. He was involved in developing the three major pieces of offshore legislation which supported the Safety Case regime - all of which is still in place today. Ian considers his contribution to the new regulations one of his most satisfying achievements.

In 1995 Ian was promoted to Unit Head and moved to the Aberdeen headquarters where he directed enforcement and operational policy and was responsible for teams regulating diving activities onshore and offshore. Subsequently, he had various roles in the sector including the management of offshore inspection teams and international liaison work, before taking up post of the head of the offshore division in January 2006.

Ian sees asset integrity remaining a key priority for the offshore division alongside the other interdependent priorities - leadership, competence and safety culture including good and effective workforce involvement.

Under Ian's direction, HSE already has themed projects planned that intend to keep up the momentum in improving asset integrity. These include dealing with the management of external corrosion, the effectiveness of independent verification schemes and the quality of auditing systems.

Ian's successor will be formally welcomed at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen next month.

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