The keynote speaker for the Health and Safety stream at this year’s NZ Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition is Tom McDaniel, the Global Manager Zero Harm and Human Performance for Siemens Energy Inc. He specialises in bringing together the concepts of loss control, human error management, resilience, just culture, and safety culture. His keynote will address enhancing safety, quality, and reliability programmes while achieving measurable results. You can see more about Tom below.
Health and Safety Timetable
On Monday 14th April conference delegates can choose to visit the Mill Creek Project – Meridian Energy’s newest wind farm, which is under construction just outside Wellington – and then to attend the conference’s exhibition opening. Exhibition booths are available for organisations who would like to have a more tangible presence at the conference.
On Tuesday 15th April the health and safety stream will be in full flow, with the in-depth presentation from Tom McDaniel, alongside a fascinating bunch of papers, including:
- Alan Cooper, WorkSafe – changes to the regulations, future enforcement, and the necessity for participation and engagement.
- Russell Thomas – Meridian Energy – practical steps in creating a safety culture.
- Scott McLeod, Crane Association – what makes a good lift plan?
- Lyn McCurdy, UCOL – training the next generation of wind technicians.
- Phil Hokianga, Vertical Horizons – GWO certification: what does it mean?
- Nathaniel Janke-Gilman, Meridian Energy – wind turbine safety rules.
- David Horsfall - Enhancements through design for Gear Boxes and Yaw Drives in Wind Turbines
- Ian Lees, TrustPower – operating wind turbines beyond 15 years.
- Chris Buller, SKM – SMART applications, asset tracking and the wind industry.
The sessions will be followed by a political forum of Energy Spokespeople from all New Zealand’s major political parties. The day finishes up with the ever popular conference dinner – a great way to network and further discuss what you’ve heard during the day.
Wednesday 16th April begins with a plenary session concentrating on ensuring a safe future for wind, including Tom McDaniel’s keynote speech. The day will continue with your choice of sessions:
- Experience in other countries – including perspectives from Siemens, Industrial Site Services, TrustPower and Aurecon.
- Technology development – with presentations from Parsons Brinckerhoff, Meridian, AUT and Siemens.
- Community and planning – including papers on sound, local government and the Vestas Act on Facts campaign.
- Medium scale development – with perspectives from Irrigation NZ, Energy 3 and Blueskin Bay.
- Grids – including presentations on demand response initiative, smart grids, integrating wind with demand response, and super-capacitors.
- Fuel, forecasting and extremes – with papers from DNV-GL, Meridian, Alstom and MetService.
We wind up the conference with updates on live projects and the post-conference reception.
Tom McDaniel
Tom McDaniel is the Global Manager Zero Harm and Human Performance for Siemens Energy Inc. He is located in Florida, but has a global focus. Mr McDaniel has worked in the energy industry as a safety, environmental, and quality professional for the last 34 years, with over 26 years’ experience with Siemens (formally Westinghouse) Energy.
Presently, Mr McDaniel is leading efforts to achieve the goals of Zero Harm for Siemens and their customers internationally by bringing together the concepts of loss control, human error management, resilience, just culture, and safety culture. His work has measurable results.
He has extensive practical experience working globally and has built the models for many different organisations and companies to enhance their safety, quality, and reliability programmes.
Mr McDaniel recently presented his concepts of Zero Harm and the need for the continuation of Safety Maturity at the US National Academy of Sciences. He has spoken at numerous conferences on the application of Human Performance, including the American Nuclear Society.
In addition to his keynote speech, Mr McDaniel will also present on human performance within the conference’s health and safety stream.