Founder and Non Executive Director:
Professor John B.Davies. B.A., PhD., F.B.Ps.S., F.R.S.M.
John Davies is Professor of Psychology at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and Director of the Centre for Applied Psychology (CASP). He has an international reputation in the fields of Human Factors, Health Service Provision, and Criminal Behaviour, and has written learned papers and books on all these topics. He has consulted widely for National Health Service Trusts and Partnerships, the UK Railway Industry, the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Office, and been instrumental in developing new and innovative ways of solving problems and conducting research.
As non-executive director, John has a central role in securing and implementing HFAL contracts, and is intimately involved in projects at all stages from conception to completion. He has a reputation for devising new and innovative approaches to well-worn problems which have proved intractable using standard methods, and has brought new and original approaches into areas as diverse as diagnostic safety systems in high consequence industries, psychological measurement and assessment, and market research.
John has held a number of positions by Ministerial Appointment, including membership of the Alcohol Education and Research Council (Home Office). He is currently a member of NHSS Quality Improvement, within which organisation he is currently Chair of a sub-committee charged with centralising data on medical incidents within Scotland. He has recently been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. His well-read book, “Risk Management: a Qualitative Systems Approach”, (Davies, J.B., Ross, A.J., Wallace, B and Wright, L.B.), written in collaboration with research staff from HFAL and the University, was published in 2003 by Taylor and Francis.
Managing Director: Matthew Plunkett
Matthew is responsible for the daily running of all aspects of the company. With degrees in Social Policy, Criminology and Criminal Justice, he is an experienced social researcher and project manager, responsible for overseeing both quantitative and qualitative research projects from initial set up to budget control and final reporting.
Over the last 15 years Matthew has worked with clients across the public and private sectors, particularly in relation to human factors within safety critical industries, the drugs and alcohol field, health service, prisons, education and community regeneration and planning. Clients include Rolls-Royce, BAE systems, the Scottish Executive, ACPOS Scotland, NHS Trusts and Health Boards, Virgin Trains, GNER, Local Authorities and Voluntary Agencies. His particular expertise is in drugs and alcohol, youth issues, homelessness, health promotion and HIV/Aids.
General Manager: Dr Christine Emmerson
Having graduated with a PhD in Health Ergonomics Research and an Engineering based Design Honours Degree, Christine has held a number of design and research positions in the private sector both in the UK and overseas. For several years she was an Interactive Design and Business Consultant for Accenture, the global IT and business consultancy, working in the field of interactive design analysis of user interfaces, such as mobile phones and digital television, and testing design concepts. With particular experience in delivering projects in the health sector, Christine is responsible for managing projects and spearheading business development work.
Principal Psychologist: Dr Alastair Ross
Dr Alastair Ross is the Principal Psychologist at HFAL. He is an experienced social researcher and analyst, having worked at the Centre for Applied Social Psychology (University of Strathclyde) and the Scottish School of Sport Studies. He has developed taxonomies and databases for a number of high-consequence industries. He also has an interest in discourse and attribution, in particular the statistical prediction of behaviour from language. His latest book is 'Beyond Human Error' (2006) and published by CRC Press, Florida.
Research Consultant Team
Megan Sudbery (BA Hons Psychology)
Megan joined HFAL in August 2001. Currently a Senior Analyst, she has worked on a variety of projects for clients including the Scottish Executive, Rolls-Royce and Unilever. Her chosen field is social policy research, in particular, Megan has extensive experience in evaluating alcohol and drug services, and developing local strategies for Health Boards and Trusts. She also has experience in collecting and analysing data from laboratory-based psychological experiments and in data extraction.
Duncan Farquhar (BA Hons Psychology)
Duncan joined HFAL in February 2005. He previously worked at the Centre for Applied Social Psychology, Strathclyde University; the epidemiology unit at Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow; The National Addiction Centre in London; and the Department of Child Health at Glasgow University. He has extensive experiences in research collection, analysis, report writing and dissemination. His main focus at HFAL has been the development of an innovative critical thinking tool which shall be used by all Scottish Police forces by summer 2007.
Kirstin Nee (BA Joint Honours Law and Psychology)
Kirstin joined HFAL team in October 2006. Thus far her main focus has been as a field researcher investigating consumer behaviour. She has recently taken over dealing with the CARA confidential reporting system in Eire. This involves interviewing rail staff about their safety concerns, writing up reports and analysing data.
Admin Team
HFAL’s admin needs are dealt with by Elaine Grant and Sharon Brennan, who are the initial points of contact for our clients.