Keynote Speaker Biographies

ACE-CROSH-Keynotes.jpg

 

 

Mansfield.jpg

Prof Neil Mansfield

Head of Engineering, Nottingham Trent University, UK
President of Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors

Bio:

Neil is Professor and Head of Engineering at Nottingham Trent University UK, where he leads an ambitious new department seeking to create a new breed of engineers ready to invent our future world.  This initiative gives equal weight to the fundamentals of engineering and to creative project delivery.  Prior to working at Nottingham Trent he was a Professor at Imperial College London where he helped set up a School of Design Engineering, and was Associate Dean for Research at Loughborough Design School.  He has a long track-record in the world of Ergonomics and Human Factors Engineering, having completed his PhD in Biomechanics of Humans Exposed to Vibration and Shock, and research on optimisation of well being for those working in challenging environments, ranging from military and off-road machinery through to design to maintain the independence of the oldest car drivers.

He previously chaired the ISO committee tasked with writing standards on whole-body vibration, and was editor of the journal Ergonomics for 10 years.  He is now President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.

Title of the talk:

Human Factors for the Future Workforce

 

 

Trask.jpg

Dr. Catherine Trask

Canada Research Chair in Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Health
Associate Professor, Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture
University of Saskatchewan

Bio:

Dr. Trask is an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and Canada Research Chair in Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Health. As director of the Ergonomics Lab at the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, she leads an interdisciplinary research program that focusses on ergonomics in agriculture and other heavy industries. Dr. Trask has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles in ergonomics and occupational health journals.  She is a strong advocate for evidence-based prevention strategies and for the economic and health benefits of occupational health and safety research and works to promote both in her role as president of the Canadian Association for Research in Work and Health (CARWH).

Dr. Trask has a strong interest in exposure assessment methodology and economic efficiency. In July 2013 her work in this area was awarded the Research Prize at the 8th International Conference on the Prevention of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PREMUS) in South Korea. Her research combines the ‘user-centred design’ approach central to ergonomics with the hierarchy of control paradigm of industrial hygiene and community-engaged research strategies from public health.  Current projects include multi-faceted and mixed-method evaluation of workplace interventions, lab-based investigation of the performance impacts of whole body vibration, and quantification of physical exposures in understudied populations.

Title of the talk:

Reaping what we sow: engaging workers and stakeholders in agricultural health research

 

 

Laberge.jpg

Marie Laberge, PhD, Associate Professor

Université de Montréal’s École de réadaptation
Regular researcher at CINBIOSE and CHU Ste-Justine

Bio:

Marie Laberge received her PhD in Biological Sciences (specialized in ergonomics) from UQAM in 2011. She is an associate professor at Université de Montréal’s École de réadaptation (rehabilitation school) and a regular researcher at the CHU Ste-Justine’s research centre and at CINBOISE. She has also been an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Work & Health since 2012. She received a Junior 1 Career Award grant for the quality of her research from FRQ-IRSST (2015-2019).

Marie Laberge’s research focuses on preventing work disability in adolescents with learning difficulties. She has developed several prevention interventions as part of action research with schools and school boards in Quebec that offer the Work-Oriented Training Path (WOTP) program. On this path, young people who are struggling in school go on in-company pre-employment internships to develop their employability. The young people who take part in this program are exposed to numerous risk factors for occupational injury and must develop basic skills to protect themselves at work throughout their lives. By applying constructive ergonomics and professional teaching practices, Marie Laberge’s research team develops methods and tools to foster the development of a lasting prevention culture in these young people and the adults guiding them through the process. Marie has, among other things, developed interventions that draw on the added value of information and communication technologies to favour professional integration. Her intervention development approaches are sex- and gender-sensitive. In that regard, she is currently leading a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) team of 20 researchers assessing the taking into account of sex and gender in interventions conducted to transfer knowledge of occupational and environmental health.

 

 

Gasaway.jpg

Dr. Richard Gasaway

President & Principal Consultant, Gasaway Consulting Group, LLC
Chief Scientist, Situational Awareness Matters
Resident Instructor, Executive Fire Officer Program, National Fire Academy

Bio:

Dr. Richard Gasaway is widely considered to be one of North America’s leading authorities on human error, situational awareness and high-risk decision making processes. His work has been chronicled in more than 450 books, book chapters, journals and website articles and he has delivered over 4,000 presentations to 62,000+ first responders, business leaders, industrial workers, medical providers, utility workers and military personnel worldwide. Dr. Gasaway served 33 years on the front lines as a firefighter, EMT-Paramedic, company officer, training officer and fire chief. His doctoral research included the study of cognitive neuroscience and the human factors that flaw situational awareness and impact high-risk decision making.