Andy Woodyard
After initially starting out as an analyst and surveyor, Andy has now been working in the asbestos industry for 20 years. Driven by quality and standards and specialising in industrial sectors, Andy’s career has seen him attain a high level of experience in exercising asbestos management and assessment throughout many different and challenging environments and large-scale construction projects and sites. This also includes providing training, auditing and managing of the teams within them to ensure a focus on solutions to safe delivery and regulatory compliance.
Outside of work, Andy enjoys the great outdoors and walking his dogs and is also a keen cricketer and angler and chairs the committee of both his local clubs.
Charles Pickles
With a background in asbestos consultancy, Charles co-founded Lucion Environmental in 2002, which at the time of his exit from the company in 2019, was the UK’s largest asbestos consultancy. With broad experience in the field and a firm understanding of the current risks and challenges presented by asbestos, Charles founded the Airtight on Asbestos Campaign in 2019 and now campaigns for pragmatic solutions to asbestos issues in the UK and beyond. His campaigning work has been instrumental in highlighting the dangers of asbestos and helped produce recommendations for improvement
Dan Rushton
24 months into his current global role with Alert Technology, Dan is an asbestos professional with a demonstrated history of working in environmental services. With asbestos his primary area of expertise, Dan has also worked on hazardous materials and contaminated land applications across a multitude of sectors, industries and major construction and infrastructure projects.
Francesco Turci
Francesco Turci has a background in surface and material chemistry and is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Torino, Italy.
He is deputy director of the “G. Scansetti” Center for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates of the University of Torino. His scientific activity is mainly aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of the toxicity of inorganic micro- and nanometric particulate matter, with special attention to asbestos, silica, and metal oxides of industrial interest. He was visiting scientist at Université de la Nouvelle Calédonie (UNC) and he was awarded with an EU-funded transnational grant to investigate the nano-bio interface of crystalline silica at the University College of Dublin (UCD), Ireland.
His research achievements are published on top-ranked chemistry and toxicology books and journals (98 research papers with three thousand citations and a h-index = 29), including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Particle and Fiber Toxicology, and Nanotoxicology.
Garry Burdett
Garry is a member of the highly enthusiastic FAAM conference and research committees. He has 40+ years of involvement in measuring fibres and particles to assess exposure and to control the risk.
Inez Postema
Founder and CEO Inez Postema –connector and innovator- has 30+ years of experience developing strategic advice & communications on sustainability to chemical industries and governmental entities such as the Rotterdam Climate Initiative and the Province of South-Holland. In the same period she developed ‘Connecting Industries’: projects for sustainable improvements and innovations in the chemical industry in Rotterdam. For DCMR, the Rotterdam environmental protection agency, she organized roundtables between the government, academia and industry.
Under her leadership, Asbeter developed two patented processes for asbestos destruction. The latest AC Minerals process is literally dissolving asbestos fibres out of cement. The process ends with ZERO fibres in the calcium silicate hydrate end products. With this result the AC Minerals process is certified by Det Norske Veritas. For the end products Asbeter received the End of waste status.
Inez Postema believes in the importance of public-private cooperation and investments to bring this innovation to the market, with safe logistics and processing of hazardous materials like asbestos roof plates and tubes. Therefore, Asbeter built strong partnerships with private partners and public authorities, such as the Ministries of Infrastructure & Water Management, Economic Affairs, as well as with Provincial and Municipal Authorities, including regional Environmental Agency DCMR, all of whom will be critical partners to bring our innovation to market.
James Staff
James Staff is an analytical scientist working for the Fibres and Minerals Team at HSE’s Science and Research Centre in Buxton, Derbyshire. The main focus of his work is using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for asbestos analyses across a wide variety of sample types. James’s work has included looking at sensitivity improvements for asbestos analysis in lung tissue, analysis of lung tissue from unexposed young people to improve knowledge of background levels, and projects investigating asbestos exposures during removal work and the potential contamination of talc products. James is also part of ongoing work looking at methods to effectively measure respirable crystalline silica. He is the technical manager for the SEMS Proficiency Testing scheme and the service manager for the Fibres and Minerals Team.
Joanna Parker
Joanna Parker currently works as the Group Asbestos Lead, heading up the Asbestos Management Team at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
Joanna has over 19 years’ experience of working within the asbestos industry with the last 10 years spent working in asbestos management roles within higher education and healthcare settings.
In addition, she also works as a Technical Advisor for BOHS and is a member of the Female Analysts Working Group.
Jonathan Grant
Jonathan’s experience with asbestos dates back to 1995 when he began work with Hampshire County Council’s Scientific Service. His first job there was setting fire to teddy bears, but that is a different story. In 1996 he passed the asbestos P-Cert (now W504) and in 1999 passed the Certificate of Competence in asbestos. During this time, he also completed an MSc in Environmental Management.
In 2003 Jonathan began work with the University of Portsmouth as a Senior Lecturer where his main role was to develop course material, deliver BOHS asbestos short courses and tutor MSc students through all phases of the Occupational and Environmental, Health & Safety Management Degree.
Jonathan went on to complete a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA), and for the last 18 years he has been the Chief Executive of Gully Howard Technical (GHT) responsible for all aspects of strategic leadership and heading the board of directors.
Jonathan is the Registrar of the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM) and has been elected on to the Board of Trustees of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS).
Jordan Gruber
Jordan Gruber is a Mechatronic/Robotics Engineer and founder of Frontier Microscopy, a San Francisco based startup commercializing technology to accelerate asbestos abatement, improve traceability, and worker safety. Frontier Microscopy is funded in part by the UC Berkeley SkyDeck program, and backed by champions from ASTM International and former CDC-NIOSH senior scientists. As an accomplished international speaker Jordan thoroughly enjoys sharing his unique perspective and creating opportunities to improve lives across the world. To connect with Jordan visit: https://gruber.uno
Kevin Bampton
Kevin has worked as a legal adviser for the British Council and the Overseas Development function of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as Special Constitutional and Legal Adviser for the United Nations. Amongst his academic roles, he has been Professor of Public Law, Professor of Comparative Justice, Director of the International Policing and Justice Institute, Research Fellow in Good Government, Research Fellow in Health and Life Sciences, Higher Education Adviser to Trent Postgraduate Medical Deanery and is Visiting Professor at Gloucestershire University. He is an award-winning educator with a focus on interprofessional education and the integration of practical skills into theoretical learning. He has taught across a range of areas, including advanced forensic science, professional ethics, and employment law. As an extension of his 30 years of working in the justice field, he has worked extensively with professional and Chartered bodies with a focus on professionalisation, ethics and educational development. Kevin is representing BOHS in various professional committees and bodies and is the Chair of the BSI HS/1 Occupational health and safety management committee. His life-long emphasis on the relationship between justice, science and health led him to his current role. His belief is that the British Occupational Hygiene Society plays a critical role in ensuring the protection of worker health and scientific independence in the development of occupational health in a post-Brexit Britain and a post-COVID-19 world.
Laurie Davies
Laurie Davies is an internationally recognised specialist in asbestos sampling, analysis and measurement. He has authored numerous reports and papers, relating to the assessment of workplace and environmental asbestos. He continues to work extensively on international specialist committees dealing with asbestos, such as the Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and Health (PEROSH) and representing the UK at the International Standards Organisation (ISO), drafting standards for asbestos measurement using electron and optical microscopy. He has been involved in the development of various methods and strategies for asbestos monitoring, ranging from the contamination of pharmaceutical drugs to the assessment of asbestos contaminated land and releases from waste sites. He is also a Lead Technical Assessor for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), assessing analytical asbestos laboratories and inspection bodies.
Liz Darlison
Liz has enjoyed nearly 40 years of clinical practice at the University Hospitals of Leicester. After training and brief spells in vascular surgery and coronary care Liz spent an influential decade in the trusts busy, high performing and very research active respiratory unit. This led to an interest in lung cancer and spending the last 23 years of practice bridging both respiratory and cancer services. It was from here Liz established Mesothelioma UK, a national charity for mesothelioma.
Currently she is a Consultant Nurse at UHL and is also CEO at Mesothelioma UK. Liz has Honorary university positions in both Leicester and Sheffield, is very research active, keenly promotes nursing as a career and engages in education and training on many levels.
Liz is a founder member of the International Thoracic Oncology Nurses Forum, a past chair, and now lifetime honorary member, of Lung Cancer Nursing UK, a long serving previous board member of The British Thoracic Oncology Group and a current, first nurse member of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group board.
In the 2019 Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday honours list, Liz was invited to become a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her services to patients and cancer research.
Lucy Darnton
Lucy is a statistician and epidemiologist in HSE’s Science Division. Her work mainly concerns reviewing and contribution to the statistical and epidemiological evidence in relation to occupational lung diseases and cancer, with a particular focus on asbestos-related diseases. This includes contributing to HSE’s National Statistics on the burden of these diseases in Great Britain, carrying out workplace epidemiological studies, reviewing the available research evidence in relation to workplace hazards – both in specific workplaces and at a national level – and statistical modelling of trends in occupational diseases such as mesothelioma.
Dr. Martin Harper
Dr. Martin Harper is an English-educated geologist, chemist and occupational hygienist, but now lives and works in the USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Included in his career are 14 years of service as Chief of the Exposure Assessment Branch of the Health Effects Laboratory Division of the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). He authored several peer-reviewed publications on asbestos and other mineral fibres, including co-authoring the NIOSH “Roadmap” for asbestos research, and he was responsible for the latest revision to the NIOSH 7400 fibre-counting method. In retirement, he is a consultant for various organizations, including Frontier Microscopy, a company developing a robotic fibre-counting system, and he remains an active member of the ASTM sub-committee D22.07 on asbestos.
Martin Saunders
Martin Saunders recently joined the HSE Science Division, Fibres and Minerals team in September 2022. With over 20-years industry experience in the asbestos sector employed as an analyst, surveyor, trainer and in quality roles. This included 8-years as a Technical Assessor for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) assessing against ISO/IEC17025 & ISO/IEC17020 for asbestos testing and inspections activities. He also has experience of working with asbestos management having worked as a duty holder and as part of an asbestos management team in commercial organisations. He is currently involved in various research projects around the 4-stage clearance process, asbestos identification and air monitoring as well as assisting with site investigations for HSE Inspectors and supporting other HSE Divisions.
Matthew Owen
Matthew has over 17 years’ experience in the asbestos assessment and occupational hygiene field within Australia and has provided consulting to all levels of government and industry.
Matthew maintains professional membership to various societies, including the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management, the Faculty of Asbestos Management Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygiene.
Matthew volunteers his time as a technical assessor for NATA, where he has assessed various asbestos analysis laboratories throughout Australia. He also serves on various committees, including the working group for the Australian Safety and Eradication Agency Draft National Survey Guide for Asbestos Assessments.
Matthew’s primary work passion is in training and awareness around asbestos management. Providing asbestos awareness training is a vital link in ensuring that employers and employees are able to understand their responsibilities to ensure the safe management of asbestos risks in the workplace.
Moya Woolley
Moya leads the asbestos policy team at HSE. She joined HSE in early 2022 as a policy team leader within HSE’s health and work branch and has spent time leading the occupational health policy team and the muscular skeletal disorder policy team. Moya previously spent three years working in imported food policy at the Food Standards Agency before moving to HSE. Prior to joining the civil service Moya spent seven years working in policy and communications in the agriculture and food sector, including working on farm safety and spending six months working in Brussels.
Nick Garland
Nick Garland is a well-known figure in the asbestos industry with three decades of experience. His journey commenced as an analyst at Environmental Evaluation, through to senior roles at CPA and RPS. Nick formed AM Partnership with Damon Rowley - it was here that a greater focus on H&S was formed. Since 2006 Nick has run Assure Risk Management a policy and procedure consultancy, whose goal is to help both clients and licensed contractors perform better in their roles. In 2014 Nick started Assure360, a software company designed to help LARCs run their own internal H&S and exposure systems, allowing expertise to grow from within, rather than outsourcing it. A firm supported of the EAF, he’s spoken at, hosted sessions and is currently proudly serving as the UK ambassador. Nick was excited to join FAAM in the first wave and is honoured to serve on the committee since 2022.
Sam Collins
Sam started in the asbestos industry shortly after finishing University in the early 2000’s. Following a brief voluntary role in America for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department she returned home and became an Environmental Chemical Analyst for a Hampshire based company before moving over to asbestos analysis, air testing and surveying.
Sam has since been an independent asbestos consultant mainly involved in quality management and training, more recently working as Lead Auditor for the Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP), as Chairperson of the Hampshire Health Safety and Environment Group (HHSEG), a member of the Female Analyst Working Group and Deputy Registrar of FAAM. After around 14 years happily hiding behind the scenes at BOHS she has recently become their Principal Examiner (Asbestos).
Sam Lord
Sam Lord is a Chartered Occupational Hygienist and Principal Specialist Inspector at the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain. Sam is currently the Occupational Hygiene Technical and Strategic Lead for asbestos, providing technical expertise and insight for operational regulatory interventions, scientific research, policy development, external communications and civil contingency events. Sam is Chair of the Asbestos Network Technical Working Group which provides a forum which HSE can work with relevant stakeholders to complement and enhance the letter and spirit of the regulatory framework. Sam is also member of the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM) and an ex-officio member of the FAAM Committee.
Sharmin Sharna
I am a research engineer at ITGA, working on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence-based solution to Transmission Electron Microscopy for automatic analysis and detection of asbestos
fibres. My work also encompasses development of high-throughput sampling solutions for TEMand SEM analysis.
With a PhD in Material Science, I have more than 6 years of working experience in academic and industrial R&D across Germany, and France. My expertise lies in the domain of material characterization, notably, using in electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy.
Steve Forster
Steve has over 35 years' experience in the investigation, assessment and management of asbestos in buildings and on land.
He authored CAR-SOIL (CL:AIRE, 2016), industry guidance interpreting the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 as applied to contaminated land, in conjunction with the HSE. He co-authored Assessment and Control of Asbestos in Soil Part 1: Protection of personnel working on ground investigations and Part 2: Protection of personnel working in geotechnical and geoenvironmental laboratories (AGS, 2021)
He developed and delivers (CL:AIRE) industry-focussed training courses for professionals working within the brownfield land sector, with over 1500 candidates having received training since 2016.
Dr. Yvonne Waterman
Dr. Yvonne Waterman is the owner of Waterman Legal Consultancy in the Netherlands, an international legal practice that specialises in all asbestos related (liability) matters. She is also the founder and president of the European Asbestos Forum foundation, well-known for its international asbestos conferences for all asbestos professionals and global network, and the president of the Dutch foundation Expertise Center for Asbestos & Fibres. An experienced speaker at international conferences, she packs a full audience with thought-provoking presentations on frontier topics. You may also find her editing legal journals or teaching Dutch lawyers the fine points of employers' liability law. In her spare time, she loves to walk in the woods with her Dobermann.
Cat Holmes
Started at Environmental Evaluation back in 2002 as a rather green surveyor/analyst straight out of university. Have undertaken most asbestos roles over the years including Technical/Training/Quality/Operational Manager and have also delivered all the asbestos P-modules, W504, AA and NL courses when working as a trainer.
Currently working at iON Consultants Ltd an independent health, safety and environmental consultancy specialising in Construction Safety, ISO Management Systems and my area of expertise: Asbestos Assurance.
I act as acritical friend to clients supporting them with their Duty to Mange asbestos through audits, training and advice. I’m a member of the FAAM committee obviously and the technical working group. I’m also a member of the Female Analysts Working Group and a committee member of NORAC.
Bottom line is I want people work with integrity, do the right thing and prevent unnecessary exposure and I believe that comes from better knowledge, collaboration and understanding and so I’m happy to help with that where I can and also to learn myself in the process.
