Annual Conference 2012 Speaker Synopses
9 February 2012
The Ai Solutions Annual Conference 2012 promises to be a great event. Read on for a synopsis of each of this year's main speakers.
Professor Ragnar Löfstedt
Director for Kings Centre for Risk Management
Kings College London
Ragnar is well known in the industry, in particular for risk management. His pedigree is substantial, having studied round the world he had added to his knowledge and experience regarding risk management within several arenas including renewable energy policy, trans-boundary environmental issues (acid rain and nuclear power), telecommunications, biosafety, and the siting of building of incinerators, nuclear waste installations and railways. He is a believer in the building of public trust in regulators and industry via proactive risk communication and argues that high regulatory/industry trust is equivalent to low public perceived risk.
An author and editor of several books, Ragnar has also written many articles. The most recent, and relevant for the Ai Solutions Conference 2012, is the 'Löfstedt Report' which was published in November 2011. The report 'reclaiming health and safety for all; an independent review of health and safety legislation' was well received with the industry. The government has responded to Ragnar's recommendations and proposes timescales for implementation; the government's response is available on the DWP we site. For more about our key speaker you can follow this link Ragnar Löfstedt (Kings College London).
Dave Carr, PgD, MIIRSM, DiPSM, RFaPS
Managing Director
Callsafe Services Limited
Dave has had a varied career, having started as a Marine Engineering Artificer in the Royal Navy and subsequently working in the topsides and subsea construction and maintenance of North Sea oil and gas installations. During this period Dave performed many roles, including planning engineer, fabrications engineer, construction manager, quality assurance manager and technical author for health and safety management systems.
Dave also worked in the water and manufacturing industries before joining Callsafe in 1996 as a health & safety consultant. Dave became Managing Director in May 2004. Dave obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in Health and Safety Management in 2006, achieved Fellowship of the Association for Project Safety (APS) in 2007 and is a Registered CDM Co-ordinator with the APS. Callsafe Services offer health and safety training and carry out the CDM-C role for many large and complex projects, including works for the Environmental Agency.
At the Ai Solutions Conference 2012, as well as providing the update for the HSE, Dave will be discussing 'temporary works control'. In addition to this he will be telling us what is in store regarding the regulation changes for CDM and asbestos.
Lucy Hawkings, BSc (Hons)
Environment Technical Officer
Runnymede Borough Council
Lucy is responsible for SWMP (Site Waste Management Plans), air pollution and contaminated land. With a BSc in Environmental Sciences and 7 years' experience in Local Government, Lucy and the team at Runnymede are one of only a handful of LAs to have in place procedures for SWMP enforcement.
Based in Surrey, Lucy provides advice for, and carries out auditing inspections on, construction projects requiring SWMP. She has worked and trained closely with the Environment Agency on SWMP auditing skills, as well as fulfilling day to day planning responsibilities for contaminated land and air pollution issues.
At the Ai Solutions Conference 2012 Lucy will be explaining more about the enforcement of SWMP's and what you need to be aware of from a Client's, Designer, CDM-C and Contractors perspectives.
Lara Ayris, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Managing Director
Waste Plan Solutions Limited
Lara set up her business, Waste Plan Solutions Ltd, in November 2009. WPS offers a comprehensive range of services including; Site Waste Management Plan's (SWMPs), training, software solutions and Environmental Consultancy. During her career she has also worked for the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) and the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
Since launching the company, Lara has personally championed the use of SWMPs, not only to help companies comply with the regulations but also to save money and achieve environmental best practice. The company's client list grows stronger every day and includes household names.
Waste Plan Solutions was awarded 'Small Business of the Year 2011' by East Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment (emcbe). WPS has now also launched its own specialist online tool, WastePlan™, available for use by clients; the tool enables WPS to provide a totally flexible and cost effective solution to SWMP's.
At the Ai Solutions Conference 2012 Lara will be outlining the cost savings that can be made by implementing SWMP's as well as the other benefits they can offer.
Gary Plant, CEng MIMechE MCSD
Managing Director
Altius Vendor Assessment Limited
A Chartered Engineer with over 30 years' experience of supplier management, Gary was the lead architect of both the Link-up and Proof schemes at their inception in the 1990. Link-up was created as British Rail's Supplier Qualification process and went on to be the UK's most successful scheme of its type. Proof became a de-facto standard in the UK Railways following demonstrable improvements in safety and contractor performance.
Gary's career enabled him to play a major role in shaping supply chain processes in Engineering, Quality, Safety and Procurement environments in industries such as Retail, Aerospace, Rail, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical and Public Sectors in the UK and abroad. Much of the success of the services Gary has delivered have been achieved by designing, developing and implementing sophisticated, user friendly and robust IT systems.
Altius won the 2011 'British Institute of Facilities Management Award' for 'Innovation in Systems' for their latest 'In Touch' and 'Gateway' and 'Central' systems.
At the Ai Solutions Conference 2012 Gary will be telling us all how we can minimise risk on site by assuring the competence of those contractors involved in construction projects.
Paul Vermont
Production Director
Watson & Sole
Watson & Sole are leading providers of technical documentation solutions for the construction industry. Paul joined Watson & Sole in 1985 after completing his apprenticeship with a Services Contractor. Since then Paul has worked his way through the business until he and his business partner bought the Company form the original founder back in 2005.
The traditional paper copies of the Manuals that were produced typically for Contractors back in the early days have now been superseded by a web based intelligent document solution (INTELI-SCAN) that manages the project documentation process from project commencement through to practical completion. In addition the application is then provided to the building owner, occupier and facilities team in order to assist with the day to day running of the building.
INTELI-SCAN is the project portal for the various CDM/project documents as well as operational documents. INTELI-SCAN was nominated for the Building Awards Specialist Contractor of the Year in 2011.
At the Ai Solutions Conference 2012 Paul will be telling us how you can save time and effort by sharing project and O&M information.
To register for this event via the web, please use the Seminar Registration Form.