RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

May 23, 2008
RoSPA AWARD RECOGNISES PROFESSOR’S ACHIEVEMENTS

A university professor’s contribution to occupational health, safety and environmental law has been recognised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Professor Frank Wright, who is Professor of Law at the University of Warwick, was presented with a RoSPA Distinguished Service Award at a ceremony in Birmingham last week. The presentation, at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, was made by Lord Brougham and Vaux, RoSPA Vice-President, and Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA Chief Executive.

Prof Wright, of Bramhall, Stockport, has made a substantial contribution to teaching, research and public policy in the field of work-related health, safety and environmental law, completing numerous research projects for the European Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.

He has given influential written and oral evidence to parliamentary select committees on major issues, including the law relating to corporate manslaughter, and has served as a British Government Adviser before the European Court of Justice in relation to the transposition of EU health and safety directives into UK law.

The author of more than 150 papers and contributions to collected works, Prof Wright also contributed to guidance on directors’ health and safety responsibilities, which was published last year by the Institute of Directors and the Health and Safety Commission.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Royal Institute of Public Health and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and he is a Member of the International Council on Environmental Law and the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Commission on Environmental Law.

Prior to his appointment at Warwick, he was Professor of Law at the University of Salford from 1997 to 2005, where he was an Associate Dean of Faculty and member of the University Management Group from 2002 to 2005.

Tom Mullarkey said: “Professor Wright's quiet but powerful influence has done much to help ensure the continuing evolution of a sound structure of health and safety law, fit for the 21st century.

“RoSPA Distinguished Service Awards are reserved for those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to health and safety at work and we congratulate Prof Wright on his significant achievements.”