Simon Hughes

Simon is a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner, Member of the Institution of

Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH) and Member of the International Institute of Risk

and Safety Management (MIIRSM).

For over 25 years he has been employed as a health and safety professional, specialising in

work at height, particularly scaffolding, access equipment and personal fall protection

systems. During this time he has been employed in the position of Health & Safety Advisor,

Consultant, Manager and Director. He is now Managing Director of Simian Risk Management

Limited, a specialist safety consultancy and training provider for scaffolding and work at

height related trades.

An active member of the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation’s (NASC) Safety

Committee since 1997 and has been involved in the production and development of many

industry guidance notes, Safety Guidance number 4 (SG4) ‘Preventing falls in scaffolding

and falsework’, of which the NASC has sold over 130,000 copies. SG4 is endorsed by the

HSE and is now recognised as the authoritative guidance throughout the construction

industry. He also represents the Scaffolding Industry (via the NASC) on the Health and

Safety Executive’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) safety groups

committee.

As a health and safety professional, he has investigated many scaffolding related accidents

such as collapses, falling objects and fall from height accidents including several fatalities,

assisting clients through HSE and Police investigations, prosecutions and civil litigation.

Provided expert opinion and advice to counsel for the HSE, insurers, defendants and

plaintiffs in both criminal and civil cases, relating to scaffolding and work at height safety.

He has lectured and delivered papers, to HSE Inspectors, health and safety professionals,

and construction industry professionals, on scaffolding safety throughout the UK at seminars

and training courses for up to 400 delegates.