Kenneth Woodward
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Woodward is a holder of the OBE
for work in health and safety, which he commenced following an industrial accident, and the first person to be awarded the medal for work in that field.
, England
. He is married with three boys and one girl.
A subsequent investigation revealed that there had been at least two previous near misses that were not investigated properly and had been put down to operator clumsiness. A memo suggesting that the process be changed for safety reasons was still sitting on the relevant manager’s desk waiting for action when this accident occurred. The reaction was traced to stabilisers
in the two chemicals, that had acted as catalysts in the resulting exothermic
reaction.
The company was fined, as well as taking a loss estimated at £2.6 million. The company changed their approach to safety, and following the incident, Ken became an advocate of safety standards and practices. In 2006, Kenneth Woodward was awarded the O.B.E in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to Health and Safety.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for work in health and safety, which he commenced following an industrial accident, and the first person to be awarded the medal for work in that field.
Personal life
Ken Woodward was born in 1950 in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He is married with three boys and one girl.
Career and incident
In November 1990, Woodward - at that time employed by Coca-Cola Schweppes - was involved in a factory incident during which he inadvertently handled chemicals in a dangerous manner, as a result of his and other's failure to comply with full safety procedures, combined with poor training by their employer. The resulting explosion cost him his sight.A subsequent investigation revealed that there had been at least two previous near misses that were not investigated properly and had been put down to operator clumsiness. A memo suggesting that the process be changed for safety reasons was still sitting on the relevant manager’s desk waiting for action when this accident occurred. The reaction was traced to stabilisers
Stabilizer (chemistry)
In chemistry a stabilizer is a chemical which tends to inhibit the reaction between two or more other chemicals. It can be thought of as the antonym to a catalyst...
in the two chemicals, that had acted as catalysts in the resulting exothermic
Exothermic
In thermodynamics, the term exothermic describes a process or reaction that releases energy from the system, usually in the form of heat, but also in the form of light , electricity , or sound...
reaction.
The company was fined, as well as taking a loss estimated at £2.6 million. The company changed their approach to safety, and following the incident, Ken became an advocate of safety standards and practices. In 2006, Kenneth Woodward was awarded the O.B.E in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to Health and Safety.
External links
- www.kenwoodward.co.uk - website