Thomas Enright, head of safety, health, environment and quality at Affinity Water, will speak at the Utility Week Health & Safety Conference in Birmingham on 24 November.

What’s the most important lesson people should take away from your presentation?

At the end of the day, it’s safety outcomes that really matter, but the safety performance indicators we choose to measure and how we use them can make a big difference.

What has been the most successful or challenging experience in your career and what did you learn from it?

I took on responsibility for Affinity Water’s mains renewal programme a few years back, taking output at the end of year one of 54km to a total of 241km by the end of year two. This taught me to think positive and not to be daunted by the size of a challenge. For me, a quote by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe sums up the positive attitude we sometimes need at work. He said: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

Identify five people you would invite to your dream dinner party and why?

A few years ago, I think I would have answered with a pretty familiar list of Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, etc, or alternatively half the Liverpool FC Champions League-winning squad from 2005.

Nowadays I think my dream dinner party guests would be five buskers selected from different pitches. I’d love to hear the different back stories and aspirations traded across the dinner table, and we would be guaranteed a good music-filled evening afterwards.

Name four items you keep with you at work that reveal something about your interests/personality.

We have a clear desk policy at work so I will take a little latitude and name four items that have been on my desk at work at some point:

a) A photo of my three young children wearing pirate hats. A reminder to maintain a healthy work-life balance and get home in time to spend quality time with my family.

b)    A calendar with a photo in it that I had taken of village children in the Gambia at a water point. Myself and a few colleagues had formed a fundraising group and over a number of years have raised more than £100,000 for community development projects in Africa.

c)    A handmade card from my daughter’s godmother in Uganda. My love affair with Africa started when I spent several months in Uganda as a volunteer project manager working on rural water projects. The friendships made then have continued to grow and flourish.

d)    An aerial photo of Lincoln Cathedral taken not long after the war. Well before Google Earth, it was great to look down with a bird’s eye view on my home town. Lincoln Cathedral was also the marker that many of the Lancaster pilots used to identify as “safe home” at the end on a bombing mission. The picture always helped me feel connected both in time and place.

The picture of my children is still on my desk.

 

The main event

The annual Utility Week Health & Safety Conference takes place on 24 November at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham City Centre. Alongside Enright, speakers include:

•    Heather Bryant, director of health, safety & environment, Balfour Beatty;

•    Peter Baker, chief inspector of construction, HSE;

•    Chris Huddart, head of health, safety & environment, British Gas;

•    Doug Wilson, health & safety director, Scottish Power.

For full programme details and to book your place, go to: www.uw-hs.net