Paul Hiron - Treasurer

IOSH membership grade:

CMIOSH

Why I serve as a Committee Member:

In 1995 I expressed an interest of being Treasurer of the branch as this post was vacant at the time. The then Chairman, Trevor Jones said that he had found a volunteer to take this on but I was invited to be a member of the Committee instead.   I have been a committee member ever since except for a short period in 2000 when I was not working in London and so found it very difficult to get the Committee meetings.  I eventually took over as Treasurer in November 2005.  

My specialist skills & knowledge:

Health and Safety management in the Railway Environment.

Charted Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Qualified Occupational Hygienist.

Development and management of Railway Safety Cases. Safety Validation iManager for Railtrack /Network Rail - managing the process of change to Railtrack/Network Rail’s Safety Case.

Current role – Stakeholder Support Manager at Rail Safety and Standards Board -  secretary to the Rolling Stock, Infrastructure and Plant Standards Committees.

I had previously been a Treasurer for a Trade Union Branch and also for a Round Table Branch. I felt that the knowledge gained from these previous roles made me an ideal candidate to take on the role of Treasurer of the Branch.

My background and experience:

I have worked in the Rail industry for nearly 35 years. This includes four and half years at Metronet following being made redundant by Network Rail in 2003.  I was previously a railway scientist for 15 years and specialised in Occupational Hygiene for ten years.  I have worked at depot, Train Operator, Infrastructure and HQ levels.

My interests:

Cooking, reading, and football – I was a season ticket holder at Wimbledon FC for over twenty years before the club moved to Milton Keynes.  Good food and good hotels. Travel within the UK.

My favourite music:

Music from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. The singer Al Bowlly is a particular favourite.

My favourite book(s):

My favourite books are the science fiction novels written by Robert Heinlein. A particular favourite is 'Stranger in a Strange Land' written by Heinlen in 1963.