The Railway Industry Association (RIA), the trade body for the UK rail supply community, will be hosting a webinar looking at what measures the industry takes to prevent suicides, what rail suppliers can do to support those efforts, how we can look after our own health and wellbeing and support colleagues with theirs too.
The webinar will take place on World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September 2020 from 12pm to 1pm.
Speakers include:
- Ian Stevens, MBE former Programme Manager Suicide Prevention, Network Rail
- Shona Gibbs, Senior Project Manager – Network Rail Partnership, Samaritans
- Chair: David Clarke, Technical Director, Railway Industry Association
The event is open to all – you can register to attend here.
Ian Stevens, MBE former Programme Manager Suicide Prevention, Network Rail
Ian has worked for Network Rail and its previous manifestations (British Rail and Railtrack) for almost 30 years. He is a seasoned frontline operator with experience in station and train crew management, health and safety and construction management. In September 2012 on the strength of that background and his collaborative approach to problem solving, he became Network Rail’s and the UK rail industry’s lead for its suicide prevention programme. At Network Rail he was responsible for managing the company’s award winning partnership with Samaritans and the suicide and mental health policing agreement the rail industry has in place with the British Transport Police, together with the overall development of the industry’s suicide prevention programme. Ian has presented widely on the rail industry’s suicide prevention programme in Europe, Asia, North America and Canada.
Shona Gibbs, Senior Project Manager – Network Rail Partnership, Samaritans
Shona Gibbs joined Samaritans in December 2018 and is the Senior Project Manager on their rail suicide prevention programme, working with Network Rail and the rail industry to deliver suicide prevention training, campaigns and community outreach initiatives in high risk locations. Shona has worked in the third sector for 16 years in a number of fields including suicide prevention, educational improvement and anti-prejudice education.
David Clarke, Technical Director, Railway Industry Association
David joined RIA in 2016 as the Technical Director. His role focuses on representing members interests in the important areas of safety, technical standards, technical strategy, research and innovation. David is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Permanent Way Institution with over 30 years rail industry experience. Prior to joining RIA he was the Innovation Director at RSSB where he was responsible for the cross-industry Future Railway Programme which is helping to deliver the industry Rail Technical Strategy. His earlier career includes being Deputy Director, Rail Technical at the Department for Transport, prior to which he was a Director for two of the major rail infrastructure contractors having started his career with British Rail. As an Engineer he has been responsible for structures and permanent way design, installation and maintenance, he has managed all railway engineering disciplines including command and control, electrification and the technical specification of rolling stock. He was heavily involved in the development of the UK Rail Technical Strategy.
Photo credit: Railway Industry Association
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