Allan St John Holt

Allan St John Holt was a highly respected practitioner who contributed hugely to improving workplace health and safety in the UK – and across the world.

Having started his health and safety career in the early 1960s, Allan qualified in 1970 to become a member of the Institution of Industrial Safety Officers (IISO), which later evolved into the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, on whose council of management he served for nearly 30 years. As president of IOSH twice, Allan played a major role in its global development and he was also one of the driving forces behind the formation of NEBOSH.

He was recognised internationally – particularly in the USA – for his work in construction health and safety. In 1991 he published “Principles of Health and Safety at Work” – which became an obligatory practical text for students worldwide. He worked for many of the UK’s leading businesses and at the time of his untimely death was group head of health and safety at Royal Mail.

For this achievement, and his lifelong service to health and safety, Allan had been awarded the OBE in the 2007 New Year’s Honours List, which he was to have collected at the end of May 2007.

Awarded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Distinguished Service Award.