British Safety Council Executive Team

Brian Nimick, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Chief Executive

Commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1970, Brian served as an officer in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before leaving in 1992. While serving, he was responsible for the design and implementation of the Unit Safety Officers Course following the application of the Health and Safety at Work Act to the Armed Forces.

Moving into the NHS, he worked at Director level in a Regional Health Authority and a large NHS Trust, prior to being appointed Chief Executive of the Medical Supplies Agency in 1996. In this role he was responsible for the worldwide provision of medical supplies and equipment to the Armed Forces.

In 2001, he became Director General of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the trade organisation representing the interests of the road passenger transport industry. As Director General he also served on the Policy Board of UITP, the International Union of Public Transport and the IRU, the International Road Transport Union. He was also a key member of an EU sponsored committee looking at safety and security on public transport.

Chay Champness, BA (Hons), FCMA, DChA

Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Chay began his career on the NHS Executive graduate trainee scheme before taking substantive roles in NHS trusts. Following this, Chay held a number of senior management finance positions in the medical research sector before joining the BSC as Director of Finance and Company Secretary in June 2004. Chay was appointed Deputy Chief Executive during 2008.

Chay is a Trustee and Chairman of Three C's, a charity based in London supporting people with learning difficulties and mental health issues. While presiding as Honorary Treasurer, he oversaw financial and corporate governance during a successful merger with another charity.

Rachel Willis, B.Eng, CEng, MIMechE

Operations Director

Rachel is an experienced Project Manager within the oil and gas industry. After University, Rachel joined Vosper Thornycroft (VT) in their oil and gas division. Following this, Rachel worked for Lloyd's Register where she was responsible for bid preparation and contract negotiation in their Oil and Gas Business Development Division. Rachel is responsible for the delivery of all BSC's training and delivery programmes, including the selection and training of delivery staff.

Adam Skeens, BA (Hons), PGCE

Director of Qualifications

Adam is a former secondary school head of department with 14 years' teaching and examining experience.  He managed the objective testing operation at a large UK awarding body before joining the BSC in June 2003 to manage its newly-formed awarding body function.  He leads a team of eight, and has overseen the development of ten QCA-accredited qualifications.  His expertise lies in qualification development, assessment strategies, preparation of assessments, examiner standardisation, marking and awarding.  He chairs the Qualifications Steering Committee and Qualifications Quality Assurance Committee.

Sameena Khan, BA (Hons), MCIPR

Director of Communications

Sameena joins us from the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, a worldwide professional body of 129,000 members. There she headed a communications team of 10 to run campaigns on promoting the profession, protecting the public interest, business confidence, CSR and global corporate governance.

Sameena is responsible for promoting the BSC's activities and thought leadership role. She manages a team dealing with policy, public affairs, research, public relations, media relations, publications, internal communications, events (including awards ceremonies, conferences and seminars) and corporate marketing.

Sameena is a former journalist with communications and PR expertise gained in central Government and the private sector. As a former producer at Sky News, she went into Whitehall where she worked as a strategic advisor and press secretary to a number of senior Cabinet Ministers at the Cabinet Office.

Sameena is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a BA Hons graduate in Politics and Social Policy.

Stephen Baker

Director of Sales

Prior to joining BSC, Steve has spent the past three years as Sales Director at British Standards Management Systems UK. Through a team of 52 office and field based sales and telesales staff, he delivered in excess of 100% growth in sales revenues whilst developing the international sales side of the business, with a programme of sales training and sales management process development, with particular success in SE Asia, China and Japan.