OUR PEOPLE
Hibbs is a specialist consulting company with approximately 25 highly qualified, permanent full time consultants. All Hibbs consultants have been handpicked to ensure they bring to the table an extensive depth and range of experience which complements our business platforms. Hibbs is one of the very few companies in Australia (whether private or public) currently employing four full time certified occupational hygienists.
As a relatively small company we are able to adapt and respond quickly to our client’s needs with subject matter experts in Risk Management. This is facilitated by the company maintaining a fairly flat organisational structure and empowering our highly professional team of consultants.
PHILIP HIBBS
PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
Professional experience
Mr Hibbs is an Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Management consultant with 30+ years’ experience. He established a practice in his own name in 1994 with the vision of being the premier provider of the SHE Risk Management services. Prior to this he was a partner at a large national SHE consulting firm, where he held the position of NSW Director for a period of five years. He set up the NSW Division of that company and ran its operation for eight years. Prior to this he was employed by the Health Commission of Victoria in their Occupational Health Division to provide advice on hazards related to asbestos, dusts and chemicals.
Mr Hibbs' principal areas of expertise include the evaluation and control of hazards associated with asbestos, hazardous building materials, hazardous substances, chemicals and dusts, height safety, heat exposure, confined spaces and indoor air quality. He has also developed and conducted occupational health & safety reviews and environmental assessments for a wide variety of workplaces and industries.
He has been providing a broad range Risk Management and occupational hygiene services to the construction commercial, manufacturing, marine and heavy industry sectors since the early 1980’s. His consulting assignments have included the investigation and assessment of hazardous substances, hazardous building materials, asbestos contamination in soil, height safety, confined space assessment/entry, OHS training, OHS audits, PPE programmes, IAQ assessments and Preliminary and Detailed Environmental Investigations.
He has a particular interest in sampling and measurement of chemical and physical agents to assess employee exposure, and the design and implementation of exposure monitoring programmes (dust, vapours and fume). Mr Hibbs is also an approved trainer for OHTA (Occupational Hygiene Training Association) training modules and a member of the NATA Technical Standards Committee.
ROBERT GALE
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Professional experience
Mr Robert Gale is an Industrial / Analytical Chemist with over 25 years’ experience in the manufacturing & production environment. A strong background in chemistry has enabled him to contribute in a broad range of production and manufacturing disciplines including management systems, regulatory affairs, QA, OHS, waste management / classification, dangerous goods licensing & risk assessments. Industries & Companies previously employed includes; Goodyear Tyre & Rubber, BTR Nylex, Selleys Chemical Company (ORICA), Metrotex Australia Pty Ltd & SGS (Botany Industrial Park).
He is the Company’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Hazardous Chemicals and through his previous work with Defence is currently contracted to supply Subject Matter Expert (SME) advice on Hazardous Chemicals to the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO).
Whilst holding the position of Manufacturing & Operations Manager for Metrotex Australia Robert designed and commissioned the manufacturing plant that produced undercoat paint, gap sealants and various other trade paint consumables, the facility also filled and packaged large volumes of flammable solvents.
As the Analytical Services Manager and Principal Analyst for Selleys Chemical Company, Robert has gained first-hand experience in the treatment and testing of industrial waste streams at Selleys Pty Ltd. Robert also designed and implemented the OH&S monitoring program for the factory and developed in-house capability to test for worker exposures i.e. organic vapours and nuisance dust. He has project managed a vast number of multi-faceted projects including Hazardous Chemicals & Dangerous Goods Auditing, hazardous building materials surveys, OH&S management systems, quality systems, demolition and remediation project management, manufacturing logistics & conducting occupational hygiene assessments and risk assessments over a broad range of domestic, industrial and commercial sites.
SAMANTHA O'CALLAHAN
PRINCIPAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CONSULTANT
Professional experience
Samantha has 10 years’ consulting experience, with a strong focus on asbestos. She has highly developed and confident communication skills, while using tact and diplomacy, to successfully liaise with clients, government officials and personnel at all organisational levels.
Samantha is passionate about health and the environment, and is proud to provide clients and the wider community the information required to promote informed risk assessment. She understands the importance of balancing the actual and perceived risks asbestos may pose to a project.
Samantha has extensive experience in Asbestos & Hazardous Material Risk Management including but not limited to:
• Managing large and complex friable asbestos removal programs, including establishing on-site NATA Accredited laboratories, including the Development of Technical Specifications
• Development of Risk Management Plans for the in situ management asbestos & hazardous materials
• Asbestos & hazardous building material identification surveys (industrial, commercial, government, educational institutions and residential applications)
• Assessing and making recommendations for asbestos contaminated sites (both friable and non-friable in soil and construction and demolition waste)
• Assessing and making recommendations for fire damaged asbestos-containing buildings/structures
• Qualitative health risk assessments for asbestos materials including asbestos in dust risk assessments
• Development and implementation of auditing programs for asbestos removal projects
• Deliver asbestos awareness training
• Provide staff briefings to allow an open dialogue between management and staff and communicate the risk asbestos poses at their workplace
EDGAR MEDINA
QUALITY, SAFETY AND TRAINING MANAGER
Professional experience
Mr Medina is a certified Auditor with over 15 years’ experience conducting and managing Quality, Health & Safety, and Environmental audits for numerous domestic and international clients, ranging from small, one-person operations to large, multiple shift manufacturing plants. His knowledge has been practiced in the fields of: Rail, Construction, Engineering, Utilities, Machining, Consulting, and Chemical.
Core strength of Mr Medina has been his capacity to identify opportunities within the business and lead the team to overcome these opportunities.
Prior to join Hibbs & Associates Pty Ltd, Mr Medina was responsible to oversee the quality assurance and health and safety processes for a multinational engineering company that provides services to the rail, mining, oil & gas industry. Some of his responsibilities in this post were: inputs for design and development, developed Inspections and Test Plans (ITP), equipment testing against American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA), Health and Safety inspections, development of WHS & Environmental management plans and assessment of legal compliance against WHS legislation amongst other WHS duties.
Currently, Mr Medina is the Lead Auditor for auditing rail, major hazard facilities, utilities and construction projects nationwide. Mr Medina principal areas of expertise include in-depth knowledge in engineering requirements and standards, the evaluation and control of hazards associated with health and safety and environmental aspects, design of experiments, and statistical analysis. He has also developed and conducted quality assessment and occupational health & safety reviews for a wide variety of workplaces and industries
Mr Medina has also managed projects to decrease energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. He also established the first integrated management system for a multinational.
CALVIN DUNN
ACOUSTICIAN
Professional experience
Mr. Dunn has extensive experience in the measurement and assessment of noise and vibration. His career with sound began with studio and live recording and mixing of bands and orchestras, which has since transitioned into the management of noise and vibration as an occupational health hazard. Mr. Dunn is a full member of the Australian Acoustical Society and his work in the field of acoustics includes but is not limited to:
- Noise impact assessments for major road projects
- Aircraft noise assessments and whole base noise assessments of Royal Australian Air Force bases
- Whole vessel noise assessments for the Royal Australian Navy
- Office space room acoustics assessments
- Noise assessments of venues for the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
- Environmental noise assessments for construction, waste facilities and logistics operations
- Whole-body and hand-arm vibration assessments of Australian Defence Force watercraft
- Occupational noise assessments of a variety of small to large workplaces
TIN WIN
LABORATORY MANAGER
Professional experience
Tin has had exposure to many aspects of occupational health and safety as well as environmental projects throughout his career.
He has project managed a diverse range of hazardous materials removal and abatement projects (including those for asbestos), hazmat surveys, site contamination assessments, environmental audits including due diligence pre-purchase property audits of commercial properties, building environment audits and indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments. His involvement also included production of tender documentation and selection.
He has been working for various health, safety and environmental companies since 1987 as a hazardous materials consultant. Prior to joining Hibbs, Tin worked for Environmental Risk Management Australia (ERMA), which was the environmental arm of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Australia, an insurance broking and risk consultancy company. Hibbs acquired ERMA in September 2006 and Tin has been with Hibbs since.
Tin now looks after the laboratory and is the Hibbs Authorised Representative for NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities). The laboratory is NATA accredited for analysis of asbestos and synthetic mineral fibres in air and also (including organic fibres) in bulk samples and soils. The laboratory is a NATA accredited laboratory following demonstration of its technical competence on a continuing basis to operate in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 (2017).
RITESH PATEL
PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENIST
Professional experience
Ritesh is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) with over 13 years of professional experience in consultancy and site based and regional roles. He has worked on various Industrial Hygiene and environment health and safety risk management projects at 100+ workplaces. Prior to joining the team at Hibbs & Associates Pty Ltd, he worked as a Project Manager (Asia Pacific region) with International Safety Systems, Inc. Earlier, he also held site and regional positions with major multinational corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals, Dow Corning and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. His principal areas of expertise include identification, evaluation and control of hazardous chemical and physical agents.
Since joining Hibbs & Associates in 2012, Ritesh has conducted numerous significant projects for major clients including; Defence organisations, Marine/shipping, Multinational and Australian corporations manufacturing sites and offices, Sydney Trains, RailCorp, Local Councils, and other small and medium industries. Various works conducted included the following:
Managing/supervising/conducting qualitative and quantitative exposures and risk assessments for particulates, vapours, gases, thermal stress, noise and vibration, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs); Statistical analysis and interpretation of exposure assessment data; evaluation of control measures and practical recommendations for improvements; Indoor air quality and odour assessments; Clandestine drug lab site assessment, remediation (detailed remediation action plan), and clearance assessments; Ventilation assessments; Comprehensive confined space assessments and management programmes; Dangerous Goods Assessment, GHS classification; Unknown substance identification; preparation of GHS compliant SDS; Mould assessments; Detailed heat stress assessments, and Noise assessments. He has also conducted illumination; non-ionising radiation; and basic environmental noise assessments (NSW, Industrial noise policy).
Previously, he has worked on implementing Chemical Laboratory Safety programmes, Confined Space Entry, Control of Hazardous Energy (LOTO) programmes and ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 EHS Management Systems. Ritesh is an approved trainer for OHTA training modules and he has conducted OHTA W501 Measurement of Hazardous Substances Course.
JANAI TAURO
GROUP FINANCIAL MANAGER
Professional experience
Janai Tauro is the Group Financial Manager for Hibbs and is responsible for management of company financial records, payroll and HR. Janai obtained her Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Southern Queensland and is a registered BAS agent and a Member in Practice of the ICB.
Prior to joining Hibbs in 2009, Janai successfully managed a small subcontracting firm and ran her own bookkeeping practice specialising in the implementation of accounting systems for small to medium businesses, including payroll and job cost analysis.
Janai has over 20 years’ accounting experience with company and tax accounting in the building and construction industry and currently manages her role at Hibbs with the constantly challenging role as the mother of three boys.
SEAN WALDEN
QUEENSLAND STATE MANAGER
Professional experience
Sean brings over 15 years of experience in the fields of Occupational Hygiene, Environmental Health, Safety Management and organisational leadership. Much of Sean’s experience is derived from a 17 year Military career as an Officer with the Royal Australian Air Force and consulting roles. Sean has worked within many different organisational contexts both domestically and internationally. In the early stages of his career, he acted in several roles as an independent practitioner and team leader at major military installations throughout Australia and Malaysia, providing Occupational and Environmental Health services to a range of stakeholders. Whilst in Malaysia, Sean implemented a successful surveillance program for monitoring levels of hazardous Transboundary Haze for which he was received an Achievement Award from the Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force.
Sean also deployed as an Occupational, Environmental, and Workplace Health and Safety Manger on Operations Catalyst, Slipper and Resolute providing assessments, program management, audits and investigations, training and advisory services throughout complex conflict zones. Sean was awarded a Task Group Commendation for his work in Safety Risk Management and Health Prevention programs in support of deployed Australian Forces. Later in his career Sean has worked in project, policy and program management roles within operational and strategic level headquarters in the Royal Australian Air Force and Navy. He final role in military was on secondment to the Royal Australian Navy as the organisation's Senior Occupational Hygienist. Outside of his core vocational setting, Sean has also worked as a successful Project Manager for start-up ventures in Vanuatu for tourism and plantation operations.
Sean's extensive experience in Government, the Aviation and Maritime industries, maintenance authorities, the Health sector and leadership and management led to a natural shift into consulting during which he joined the Hibbs' management team in 2019. Since joining Hibbs, he has worked to expand the organisation's permanent operations in Victoria and Queensland, provided operations management, business development and program directorship for tier one clients in the Infrastructure, Government and the Energy sectors.
Sean’s approach to his craft is framed by a foundation of trade practice in complex and non-standard vocational settings, which have refined key attributes in practicality and pragmatism. His success and passion are found in enhancing collaboration and relationships (both top down and bottom up) to integrate practical business improvement and capacity development initiatives for Occupational Health and Hygiene within the context of the business setting.
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