Judging Panel
An independent panel of recognised and expert judges, representing the Health & Safety profession, will determine the winners of the Health & Safety Excellence Awards.
Our focus is to deliver a balanced judging assessment from Health & Safety leaders who will bring their extensive knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise to the judging process ensuring that the winning entries are truly outstanding and worthy of receiving an Health & Safety Excellence Awards.
The panel is carefully selected to ensure the Awards' judging process is fair and objective. The judges are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement and are required to declare any conflict of interest in entries over which they deliberate, in which case that entry will be reallocated. The integrity of this process lies at the very heart of all that we do.
We recognise and respect the sensitive nature of the information submitted in the entries. Submissions are not disclosed or discussed outside the judging process. We do not publish the names of companies, organisations or individuals that have not been shortlisted for an Award, nor will we reproduce any information from your entry unless prior permission is given.
A comprehensive judging process has been put together to decide the worthy winners of the Health & Safety Excellence Awards.
2023 Judging Panel

Rafael Bernardes
Quality and Continuous Improvement Manager, Dublin Bus
Rafael Bernardes is an Industrial Engineer by profession with over twelve years of business experience, change management, business transformation, Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety, Energy and Sustainability compliance, and corporate strategy, through private sector organisations in different businesses, nationally and internationally, such as Metallurgical, Manufacturing, Construction, Mining, Textile, Medical Devices and now Public Transport.

Elaine Bowers
Senior EHS Executive, Ibec
Elaine is an experienced EHS professional who has worked in a wide range of business sectors. She is currently managing EHS training and consultancy services in Ibec Academy which includes open courses, as well as customised training and consultancy solutions for companies.

Dr. Conor Buggy
Associate Professor in Occupational and Environmental Studies, Director of the UCD Centre for Safety and Health at Work
Conor Buggy has well over a decade of OSH academia experience and is the Director of the UCD Centre for Safety and Health at Work. He is the Programme Director for the UCD Master’s in Occupational Safety and Health and the Certificate in Safety and Health at Work at the Centre and is an Adjunct Lecturer at Trinity College Dublin.

Liam Carroll
Acting Chief Fire Officer, Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service
Liam is the Acting Chief Fire Officer in Carlow County Fire and Rescue Service. He has worked in the field of emergency services and public safety since 2008. He was instrumental in the transition of accreditation of Carlow County Fire Services Safety Management Systems to ISO 45001.

James Gubbins
Global Health & Safety PMO, Linesight
James is a Health and Safety Manager working for Linesight, a multinational construction consultancy firm. Within his current role he is the Global H&S PMO for a large multinational with responsibility for governance of the health and safety platform for this company.

Ann Marie McLoughlin
PMO Health and Safety Manager, Dublin Port Company
Ann Marie holds an M.B.S. in Safety and Health at Work, a B.Sc in Construction Management and is a Chartered Member of IOSH, with over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry having been involved in a variety of different project including Heavy civils, Marine, Commercial, Residential etc.

Eddie Ronayne
Safety, Health and Staff Wellbeing Advisor, Cork County Council
As head of safety in Cork County Council for 21 years, Eddie was instrumental in leading Cork Co. Co. to full certification of OHSAS 18001, the first Local Authority to have its SMS fully certified and subsequently full certification to the new standard ISO 45001. Eddie was team leader for the certification of Cork County Council’s wellbeing program to the IBEC KeepWell standard in 2019.