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Garry Watson
Experience & Activities
About Garry Watson
A semi-retired safety practitioner with experience both in the transformation of organisations to achieve safety improvement objectives and the processes and systems required to identify and manage safety risks. This experience has included approaches ranging from safety management system implementations, the application of risk management approaches and also behavior based safety approaches. A stint of 19 years with ICI (later, Orica) formed the foundation of the thinking about the critical nature of risk management as it relates to safe outcomes and the culture needed to successfully support such an approach. Looking at the management of safety from an engineering standpoint has also provided a critical perspective.
From 1997 onwards involved in leading safety transformations for organisations such as Crane Metals Group, Carter Holt Harvey, Portland Aluminium, Silcar and AngloGold Ashanti. Following involvement in the design of a safety culture for AngloGold Ashanti (a Gold Mining company in South Africa), seconded to this organisation in the acting capacity of Vice President for Safety and Health for the Continental Africa Region. This role became a full time role after 6 months and ran from September 2010 through December 2012, based in Johannesburg.
This was a most interesting period as the company was embarking on an improvement program implementing risk management, Requisite Organisation and business process improvement initiatives simultaneously. It sheeted home quite strongly the absolute imperatives of corporate strategy, line accountability and the critical nature of business processes. I have come to absolutely believe that achieving better safety performance comes from recognizing that safety is an outcome from business processes. Ensuring business processes are fit for purpose is a line accountability informed by risk management systems that are in turn measured and improved.
Qualifications
Professional Bachelor of Engineering – University of Auckland
Professional Associations Fellow, Institution of Engineers, Australia
Experience
1981 – 1985 Senior Electrical Engineer, ICI Australia Engineering Pty Ltd
Lead Engineer for various projects and assignments related to capital projects and services.
1985 – 1997 Senior Electrical Engineer, ICI Australia Engineering Pty Ltd
Lead Engineer for various projects and assignments related to capital projects and services. Engineering Manager, ICI Australia Engineering Pty Ltd Managing a multi- discipline team of engineers provide project design and specialist consulting services to ICI Australia and external clients
1997 – 2001 Senior Consultant, SHE Pacific Pty Ltd,
a subsidiary of ICI Australia/Orica Leading the engineering audit program for ICI/Orica and providing safety improvement advice both inside ICI/Orica and outside clients.
2001 – 2006 Principal Consultant, Watson Risk Management Pty Ltd
Working exclusively under contract to risk-E providing safety improvement advice to clients including Lion Nathan, Crane Metals Group, CSR, Defence Material Organisation and George Weston Foods.
2006 – 2010 Principal Consultant, Zeal Group Pty Ltd
Involved in safety transformation projects and consulting assignments for clients including Portland Aluminium, Carter Holt Harvey, Silcar, Leighton Group and AngloGold Ashanti.
2010 – 2012VP Safety and Health, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, based in Johannesburg
Management of the Safety and Health functions across the Continental Africa Region, which included gold mining operations in Namibia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Tanzania and the DRC. A component of the work was the implementation of the designed safety culture.
2013 – 2015 Principal Consultant, Watson Risk Management Pty Ltd
Working exclusively under contract to Zeal Group Pty Ltd on the Cliffs Natural Resources Safety Transformation Project. My part of this project was the identification and management of significant unwanted events.