Reigate Series – Safe Mode: Multi-Modal Transporting of Dangerous Goods

Webinar: A synopsis of the regulations for transporting dangerous goods by different modes including by ship and road.

Nico Zurcher

Prior to becoming an investigator, Nico worked in a international environmental consultancy where he was involved in a number of major government marine projects in Hong Kong, as well as oil and gas, and mining projects around Asia. In 2011 he joined HFS-Asia in Hong Kong, where he worked as a fire investigator and consulting scientist. In 2015, Nico moved to London where he joined Hawkins to bolster our growing International and Shipping Incidents team. He continued investigating a broad range of land-based and marine incidents, both in the UK and internationally. He was also a member of our contamination team, taking on cases in the UK and Europe. Hawkins acquired HFS-Asia in 2016 and in 2020 Nico returned to Hong Kong to head the office he helped to build several years earlier. Nico has investigated several fires in large industrial plants, as well as in commercial and residential premises. On the marine side, he has investigated major fires on container and general cargo vessels. He has worked on numerous cases of bulk cargo spoilage, involving grains, oil seeds and seedcake. Nico has also worked on cases involving the carriage and storage of mixed chemical cargoes, and the contamination of […]

Paul Willis

Following on from his degree thesis research Paul worked with a specialist research group at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. Whilst there he designed experimental methods to determine metal release in-vivo from cobalt chrome orthopaedic implants. In 2005 Paul began working for Bureau Veritas in London as a member of a team which provided scientific support to London Fire Brigade. In addition to being part of a hazardous material emergency response group, Paul also assisted the Fire Brigade with on-scene fire investigations and laboratory based examinations of fire damaged exhibits. In 2009 Paul joined Dr J H Burgoyne and Partners LLP investigating the cause and circumstances of incidents of fire and explosions involving vehicles, domestic residences, retail, agricultural and industrial premises. Paul has prepared expert witness reports for use in both civil and criminal litigation. Paul joined Hawkins in 2012 as a fire and explosion investigator and continues to investigate a broad range of incidents in the UK. Paul is also a member of Hawkins specialist International and Shipping Incidents team and has investigated ship fires involving bulk cargo and container ships worldwide. Paul is a Principal Associate based at our Bristol office.

Chris Wareham

After he graduated, Chris completed a doctoral research project on the isotope and trace element chemistries of precious- and base-metal mineral deposits in the Rocky Mountains. Following a brief spell contributing to a variety of research projects at the NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory he joined the British Antarctic Survey and headed for the mountains of Antarctica, where he continued his research using isotopes and trace elements. Chris published many scientific papers before leaving academia in 1998 to join Hawkins at our Cambridge office, after which he opened the Glasgow office in 2008 and the Dubai office in 2014. During this time he has investigated 1200 incidents in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. His investigations include fires, dust and vapour explosions, electrical and mechanical failures, product defects, personal injuries/fatalities, and post-incident contamination assessments; the incidents have occurred in many environments such as refineries, power plants, retail, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, mining, warehouses, hotels, hospitals, dwellings and ships/aircraft/trains/automotive. The root causes he regularly encounters involve systems’ failures and process faults, equipment and materials’ failures of all types and ‘human intervention’ (e.g. fraud, ‘poor practices’ and breaches of Regulations such as DSEAR). Chris has extensive experience in the litigation process […]

James Townsend

James brings expertise in Plant Pathology to Hawkins. He has had over 25 years’ experience in the field, and for ten of those he has managed diagnostic plant clinics providing diagnoses for a range of UK and overseas crop problems for customers. He is experienced in investigating the causes of plant diseases, crop failures and spoilage of fresh produce and enhances Hawkins’ capabilities in the areas of Agriculture & Forestry, Cargo Spoilage, Contamination & Pollution, Marine & Shipping. James studied Applied Biology at Brunel University and his industrial placement project on the genetic resistance to the disease apple scab at HRI-East Malling, now NIAB-EMR, inspired him to pursue a career in plant pathology. James spent 12 years as a Senior Research Assistant in the Plant Pathology Department at Rothamsted Research, the oldest agricultural research institute in the world. He worked on projects to breed genetic resistance to diseases in oilseed crops and published research into the effects of climate change on plant diseases in the UK. James was a Project Manager in Plant Pathology for six years at Stockbridge Technology Centre where he managed a portfolio of field and glasshouse research projects and the Plant Clinic, gaining extensive experience in […]

David Rose

David’s career started in the Technical Services and Development Laboratory at the BP facility in Hythe. He then moved on to study anti-oxidant behaviour in lubricating oils for his PhD at the School of Chemistry at Leeds University. After graduation he studied hydrocarbon combustion as a research fellow. In 1993 David joined the Defence Research Agency (latterly known as DERA) working for the Fuels & Lubricants Centre in Farnborough, running the Fluids Handling and Flammability Hazards laboratories. His research varied from developing methods of preventing gearbox explosions, self-cleaning filtration systems, the compression ignition of hydraulic fluids to fuel reformation for fuel cells. He acted as a consultant to the Armed Forces concerning fire hazards associated with fuels and lubricants. David became interested in forensic investigation while working as part of the DERA TWA 800 air accident investigation team, investigating the destruction of a Boeing 747 that was caused by the ignition of a fuel-air mixture in the centre wing tank. Since joining Hawkins in 2001, David has carried out over 1,000 forensic investigations involving petrochemicals, confined space entry, fire and explosion incidents both in the United Kingdom and overseas. These cases have included small scale incidents to multi-million pound losses […]

Sophie Parsons

Sophie is a Chartered Engineer with expertise in materials failure analysis and corrosion incidents in both the marine and land-based sectors

Jessica Ng

After completing her first degree in Physical Science, Jessica pursued a Master’s in Forensic Science from King’s College London in 2012. Jessica joined Hawkins in 2015, specialising in fire and explosion investigation, contamination assessments, and agricultural cargo claims. Since joining the company, Jessica has investigated the causes of fires in residential and commercial premises, and appliance and vehicle fires in Hong Kong and overseas. Her investigations include contamination assessments of buildings, manufacturing equipment, stock, and lifts/escalator components following fires and floods. In April 2016, Jessica completed the Fire Science and Investigation course at the University of Edinburgh. Jessica also has marine experience investigating fires on yachts, container and bulk cargo vessels and provided advice on ‘live’ ship fires involving cargoes such as coal and other agricultural products. She has investigated the causes of cargo contamination on tankers and has been involved in cases involving the liquefaction of nickel ore and coal, which includes witnessing laboratory tests to determine the moisture content and flow point. She also regularly assists P&I Clubs in supervising the loading process of Group A cargoes. Jessica has been heavily involved with agricultural bulk cargo claims pertaining to soybeans and maize in particular. She is experienced in […]

James Morris

James completed his PhD researching a novel enzyme and its mechanism of action in blood cells, before undertaking six years postdoctoral research into the biochemistry of various cellular signalling pathways. In 2007 James took on a role at a small biotechnology company, where he ultimately became responsible for the chemicals production business, serving hospitals through the UK and Europe with histological stains. James built up the product stewardship requirements of the business, and qualified as a road transport Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser. James has since worked as a Product Steward, assessing and assigning hazard and transport classifications to new and reformulated petrochemicals products, for Shell and Gulf Oil. At Hawkins, he will be aiding both the Fire Investigation and Contamination teams, with his extensive knowledge of chemical reactions. James is a Senior Associate based in our Reigate Office.

Nick Carey

Nick joined Hawkins in June 2012 after a 27 year career with the London Fire Brigade. During the last 16 years of his fire service career he was a full-time Fire Investigation Officer. In 2009 Nick was awarded a PhD with the University of Strathclyde for his research into the interaction of fire and electrical circuits and the metallic damage to electrical conductors located within fire scenes titled “Developing a reliable systematic analysis for arc fault mapping”. He has undertaken a number of electrical examinations within the UK. This has included multi-agency teams investigating several firefighter fatality incidents and the investigation into the cause of the Cutty Sark fire in Greenwich. Nick has investigated a number of electric shock & electrocution incidents and electrical product failures. He has investigated shipping fire and explosions on behalf of P&I Clubs and cargo interests. He has also investigated a number of fires involving yachts and superyachts overseas. Nick has provided firefighting advice for shipping incidents on a number of occasions. He has given evidence as an expert witness at arbitrations, Coroners’, Crown and Civil courts. He has delivered electrical training to Fire Brigades, Police Forces and Forensic Laboratories and presented at training conferences […]