This month, in the first of a new series in Interface, Anne Smart talks to an IOSH member who regularly faces danger as part of their job.
This month, in the first of a new series in Interface, Anne Smart talks to an IOSH member who regularly faces danger as part of their job.
Ian Jones is a safety coach, but has a risk-taking alter ego called Ian Jay. He’s performed in TV shows including Casualty and London’s Burning, and has rubbed shoulders with Sylvester Stallone in the film Judge Dredd. More recently, he’s been keeping the crazy antics as safe as possible for the Dirty Sanchez crew at MTV.
But what got him into health and safety in the first place? Ian explains: “As a stunt man, people would tell me that I couldn’t do things because of health and safety, so I went off and got qualified. I got into safety to do more dangerous things safely”!
Ian regularly performs a diving act during summer (pictured) which involves him diving fifty feet into a bag of sponge. He sometimes sets himself on fire beforehand.
“The only time I’ve ever really hurt myself was performing the dive while on fire, and the costume lifted up and I burnt my ankle”. Ian’s superhero of choice also leaps from great heights: “I’d be Superman, because he’s cool and always saves the day. But as Clark Kent he gets to play the fool and mess around.”
Are you a danger man or woman? Email [email protected] to tell your story.
