Case Studies

As Global Group Environmental, Health, Safety and Compliance (EHS) Lead at UDG Healthcare plc, Catherine Casey is continually altering and updating her approach, while responding to what is a rapidly shifting landscape.

UDG Healthcare operates across 26 different countries with 8,500 staff to deliver clinical, commercial, communication and packaging services to the healthcare industry. The structure of the business is complex, with three core divisions and an acquisitive growth programme that has become a core element of its success. In October 2016, UDG Healthcare announced the acquisition of a commercial, marketing and medical audits provider for up to £84 million. With this new addition to its Group structure will come fresh operations, more people and an altogether different range of EHS hazards that will have to be reviewed and managed.

Catherine loves working at UDG Healthcare. It is a fast-paced, hard-working and invigorating environment. She travels a lot to develop and guide her far-flung EHS team and support them in the challenges they face. “I’m strongly motivated by change,” she told us. “I enjoy implementing it and I believe it keeps you fresh.”

Catherine is not one to rest on her laurels either. She initially forged an academic route into EHS through a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and then a Master of Science in Environmental, Health and Safety Management from Dublin Institute of Technology. This led to her coming to the UK from Ireland, where she worked for the NHS and then the world renowned National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

With a different environmental regulatory framework applying in the UK to the one she had studied in Ireland, she turned to the NEBOSH National Diploma in Environmental Management to “upgrade her technical skills”. She went on to do the same with the NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety and Risk Management when she recognised a need to improve fire safety procedures and emergency response.

“It’s important to be confident in your abilities, but at the same time understand your weaknesses and act on them,” Catherine said. “NEBOSH offers comprehensive qualifications that successful careers can be built on. But their qualifications can also supplement existing knowledge and help with the development of new processes and procedures. It’s important to recognise that. For example, what I learned through my NEBOSH Environmental Diploma has supported the recent launch of our Group-wide environmental policy that was launched on World Environment Day.”

Catherine places a lot of value on sharing best practice and disseminating information internally. It is why she instigated a gathering of the entire EHS team for the first time in October 2016 in the UK. Delegates travelled from Europe and the United States to attend. To help with training, Catherine asked her NEBOSH Environmental Diploma tutor to run a session at the event.

“It’s value-adding and links well with the values of Quality, Partnership, Ingenuity, Expertise and Energy that drive our business at UDG Healthcare,” said Catherine. “If you are in an EHS career you have to accept the fact that you’re going to have to consistently and constantly learn.”