April 28, 2009The company’s services in this field have been used by many different industries including the fire service, power generation, offshore oil installations and poultry processing.Society fellow Dr Richard Graveling (pictured), who has contributed significantly to IOM’s achievement, accepted the award on Edinburgh-based IOM’s behalf. The medal is given to the organisation that has made a significant contribution to original research, the development of methodology, or application of knowledge within the field of ergonomics.The Paul Branton Meritorious Service Award was given to Phil Bust, a research associate at Loughborough University, who specialised in health and safety in the construction industry. His research areas include occupational health management; risk of exposure to asbestos for maintenance workers; health and safety management in developing countries; and the health, safety and welfare of the migrant workforce in UK construction.Human factors consultant Jerry Williams’ contribution to the understanding and application of human reliability resulted in him being awarded the Sir Frederic Bartlett Medal. Early in his career, Jerry carried out research into human-factors aspects of signals passed at danger, before going on to work on the non-destructive testing of pressure vessels, the assessment of human reliability, and various aspects of safety-critical systems designs.After working as Principal Inspector in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, he went on to become HSL’s head of human factors profession before retiring in 2007 to set up an independent human-factors consultancy.Finally, an MSc ergonomics project on whole-body vibration won its author, William Baker, the Ulf Aberg Award for best postgraduate project. William’s study investigated the effects of horizontal whole-body vibration and standing posture on task performance.
