MEDIA RELEASE: Emeritus Professor Patrick Hudson awarded the Harold Greenwood Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award

The AIHS has awarded its highest honour, the Harold Greenwood Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award, to Emeritus Professor Patrick Hudson in recognition of his contribution over more than four decades to occupational health and safety, including on safety culture and the importance of rigorous high-hazard industry risk analysis and investigation.

This rarely presented award is bestowed upon a distinguished individual who has made an outstanding long-term and influential contribution to health and safety in Australian workplaces throughout their career. In addition, distinguished safety leadership roles that have been recognised by peers, and the development of significant new knowledge or practice which has had a major impact and contributed directly to safer Australian workplaces.

The AIHS has recognised Professor Hudson for his extensive work in high-risk industries including oil, gas, and aviation. He has also been highly influential across the broader industry with his prodigious research output, advice, and conference presentations. Professor Hudson is best known for his safety culture ladder, his work with Professor James Reason to operationalise the ‘Swiss Cheese’ model for investigations through the ‘Tripod’ model first developed with Shell, and his work on rigorous ‘bowtie’ hazard and risk analysis.

Professor Hudson has travelled to Australia many times as recently as this year to assist industry. On several occasions he has directly supported the Institute, presenting the 2010 AIHS Wigglesworth lecture on ‘Rethinking Safety’ and most recently in 2019 speaking on the challenges we face in improving safety culture and performance in organisations.

Kym Bills, FAIHS (Life) and AIHS SA Branch Chair said, "Emeritus Professor Hudson is a worthy recipient and has greatly influenced my own safety journey through his work on culture, and on modelling accidents and improving investigations both when I was head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and more recently when he was very generous with advice and sharing his latest research. His work continues to influence safety professionals across the globe, including in Australia".

ENDS

Media Enquiries:
AIHS Contact:    Rebecca Turnbull
Tel. (03) 8336 1995
Email:                  communications@aihs.org.au

About the AIHS: with a more than 70-year history, the Australian Institute of Health & Safety is Australia’s national association for the health and safety profession, with a vision for safe and healthy people in productive workplaces and communities.