29.07.2005

New Chief Executive for HSE

Geoffrey Podger, (52), currently executive director of the European Food Safety Authority, has been appointed chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Podger will take up his new role at the HSE on 28 November.

Before joining the European Food Safety Authority in 2003, Podger was chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Britain from its inception in 2000. Prior to this, he spent 18 years in the Department of Health, including a period heading up its health promotion work. The current chief executive of HSE, Timothy Walker, retires at the end of September this year.

The appointment was made by the Health and Safety Commission whose chairman, Bill Callaghan, said:

"I am extremely pleased that Geoffrey Podger is joining HSE to become its chief executive and the Commission look forward to working with him. He brings valuable experience in managing multidisciplinary teams and also in working with a wide range of stakeholders. I am confident that he will be able to build on his many successes, particularly at the FSA which faces similar issues to ourselves, and help HSE become even better at protecting people in the changing world of work."

Vertikal Comment

I am sure that Mr Podger is a first class man and will bring much to the HSE, however, the announcement looks very much like a “jobs for the boys” appointment. The HSE has an important role to play in the industries we cover as well as many other areas. It would be refreshing to see an individual appointed to this role, who came from the private sector, someone who has first hand experience of managing health and safety in a big company.

Appointing career civil servants to such a role, might well serve the HSE well in that they are equipped to “fight the organistations corner” in the corridors of power. Maybe though the nations safety would be better served by someone who had a passion for the subject and who understood both sides of the divide?