Safety first: HSE boss keynote speaker at Oil & Gas UK Awards

Oil & Gas UK has announced Judith Hackitt, CBE FREng, Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Oil & Gas UK Awards.

The Oil & Gas UK Awards, sponsored by Shell U.K. Limited, will take place on Thursday 6 November 2014. Prizes will be awarded at the annual event at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in front of some 600 guests from across the industry. On the evening, Hackitt will share her insight from a health and safety and cross-industry perspective.

Having served as Chair of HSE since October 2007, and previously as a Commissioner and awarded a CBE for services to health and safety in 2006, Judith Hackitt heads the organisation responsible for regulating the risks to health and safety arising from work activities in Great Britain, including the offshore industry on the UK Continental Shelf, operating with the understanding that all workers have a right to work in places where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled, Oil & Gas UK said in the release.

Hackitt has a background in engineering, having trained as a chemical engineer and graduated from Imperial College in 1975. Working in the chemicals manufacturing industry for 23 years before joining the Chemical Industries Association in 1998, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in July 2010.

Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, Malcolm Web, commented:

“The Oil & Gas UK Awards really are the highlight of our annual events calendar – it provides an occasion to honour the talent, dedication and achievement of the extraordinary people and companies who make our UK industry truly great. 

“Health and safety is a vital consideration in any industry, but particularly so in the offshore sector which is classed as a major hazards industry. No other industry puts more effort into improving its safety performance through leadership, communication and co-operation, by working with the HSE through a goal setting regulatory framework, than the UK offshore oil and gas sector which is globally recognised as exemplary in good safety practice.

“We are delighted to welcome Judith as our guest of honour this year and I look forward to hearing her thoughts on the future of our sector.” 

Oil & Gas UK says that with just one month to go, latest figures indicate that this year’s event is expected to sell out with over 600 guests due to attend.