Richard Derrett-Smith CEng MEng FIMechE MSaRS

“I’ve been fortunate to work in safety and reliability for practically my entire career which, like SaRS, has covered many safety-critical industries including civil nuclear, oil and gas, rail and now aviation. My experience spans safety management, safety assessment (both quantitative and qualitative) and more latterly application of integrated risk management techniques that bring multiple consequence types (e.g. safety, cyber, environmental, business risk) into a single risk management process. In my opinion, effective risk management is the cornerstone of any successful organisation especially those operating in safety critical industries and the pressure to maintain exemplary safety records whilst achieving sustainable commercial and environmental performance can be very challenging. The need for safety and reliability professionals who naturally bring this risk management expertise has never been greater and the opportunities for career development and progression are correspondingly significant.

SaRS is a fantastic home and platform for risk professionals at all stages of their careers and provides unrivalled opportunities to learn from experiences in application of safety and reliability techniques across industry. There’s a very strong focus on professional development and sharing of experience and opportunities exist to get involved at a local (branch) and strategic level. I’m fortunate to be involved at both a local level as a member and former chair of London Branch and also at a strategic level on SaRS Council helping to set up new branches and bring the existing branch network closer together through my Branch Coordinator role.

As populations grow, industry evolves and technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems permeate through society, the need for safety and reliability professionals helping to design and assure safe systems is paramount. SaRS is the voice of the safety and reliability profession so join us and help make your voice heard!”