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- 2020 Online AGM and CPD technical seminar - Thursday 9 July 2020
- Terrorist Attack on London Underground at Parsons Green
- RIFA 2018 AGM and Seminar
- Guide to Fire and Rescue Services working with Railways
- Making handouts from seminars available to bona-fide members
- RIFA has released its own Fire Risk Assessment template for members
RIFA Committee Members
RIFA Committee Members
Elected Officers
Chair – Nicole Hoffman
Nicole is a Director and Fire Engineer at NiHo Ltd. She has more than 25 years experience in fire safety engineering, and for more than 15 years has been primarily involved with the development of fire strategies within the railway industry for both stations and tunnels; in the UK and internationally. She obtained a PhD for her CFD modelling of fire and sprinkler interaction, and has a particular interest in the analysis of smoke movement. As one of the originators of the evacuation modelling package STEPS, she also has a special interest in evacuation behaviour and its modelling.
Nicole is a Chartered Fire Engineer (CEng) and is a Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers (MIFireE).
Deputy Chair - Andrew Brown
Appearing soon!
General Secretary - David Rayworth
David is a Fire Safety Engineer for Network Rail where he is responsible for Sussex and Western Routes. He is currently involved with major projects where he provides a fire safety engineering interface role with an ambitious rebuild of London Bridge Station projects which will be constructed whilst keeping the operational railway in full working order. David is a qualified Fire Engineer. Previously David was Assistant Station Manager at Liverpool Street Railway Station, Britain’s busiest sub-surface railway station and various other operational roles within the Railway.
Treasurer - Jason Seward
Jason is a Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, a member of the Rail Industry Fire Association and has over twenty years of experience within fire safety, fire engineering and the built environment.
His previous employers include WSP UK as Director of Fire Engineering, Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, serving in both operational and fire safety capacities. Jason has a broad knowledge of the application of fire safety engineering, particularly in the rail sector having lead the delivery of fire engineering on Birmingham New St. Masterplan, Crossrail Bond St. and Tottenham Court Rd, and The London Bridge Station Redevelopment.
International President - Dr Tony Cash
Tony Cash is an experienced Chartered Fire Engineer, Safety Professional and Emergency Planner with a demonstrable history of working in the transportation/trucking/railroad, oil & petrochemical, rail, marine, road and aviation industries. Skilled in Compliance, having a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused on Physical Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Reaction-to-Fire Calorimetry, Fires and Explosions awarded by University of Leeds and a BSc in Chemistry at the University of London. Ready to help improve the lot of any organisation with integrity and dynamism as their core values. A fire and transport safety professional, with broad experience gained from over 32 years working in a wide range of industries including recreational and public transport, aviation, oil, petrochemical, marine and local authority environments, Tony has considerable experience in the development and maintenance of requirements related to product certification and test, fire safety, risk assessments and emergency planning. Tony is a Chartered Engineer (accredited by the IFE*), Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (*IFE) and a Member of the NFPA, a Chartered Chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and European Chemist.
Management Committee
Ben Mossop
Robert Andrews Jr - International Working Group
Robert C. Andrews, Jr. founded Protection Development, Incorporated, (PDI) in 1985 and currently serves as its President and CEO. Mr. Andrews is a Texas Registered Professional Engineer (fire protection branch specialty), a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), and a Professional Member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA). He has been practicing fire protection engineering for over forty years and has specialized in the fire safe design of very complicated and unusual projects. He is a life member of the National Fire Protection Association (37 years) and a life member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (30 years). Mr. Andrews is a 2008 graduate of the Railway Management Program at Michigan State University. In 2009, he expanded his commitment to the rail / transit consulting industry by launching a new, dedicated PDI division, PDI Rail Solutions aimed specifically at that market.
Highly unusual amongst fire protection engineers, Chief Andrews was an active member of the fire service for 40 years, having joined his local volunteer fire company in suburban Philadelphia when he was sixteen years old. His fire service experience includes serving with the East Whiteland Volunteer Association (PA), the College Park Volunteer Fire Department (MD), the Phoenix Fire Department (AZ), Marathon Oil Company (OH), Celanese Chemical Company (TX), the Refinery Terminal Fire Company (TX) and Industrial Emergency Services. He was one of the first Emergency Medical Technicians in the United States having received his Pennsylvania and National Registry EMT licenses in 1975. In addition to his fire service credentials, Mr. Andrews has been a Licensed Texas Peace Officer for over twenty-nine years and currently holds Master Peace Officer and Instructor certifications. He is an internationally recognized police dog trainer and is currently commissioned as a Reserve Deputy Fire Marshal with the Bexar County (TX) Fire Marshal’s Office (non-paid peace officer).
Mr. Andrews earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1980 and a Master of Science Degree in Executive Fire Service Leadership from Grand Canyon University in 2002. Mr. Andrews is currently attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in pursuit of a Doctor of Business Administration degree (2021 cohort). He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and received the 1990 Outstanding Research Award for his paper that discussed the feasibility of applying the Incident Command System to incidents in the refining and petrochemical industry. He was one of the first industrial fire chiefs to earn the prestigious Chief Fire Officer Designation in 2003 and is an internationally recognized author and speaker having delivered emergency response, industrial firefighting, and railroad fire-safety presentations in the United States, Jamaica, France, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, and Germany.
Others appearing soon
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RIFA Rail Industry Fire Association
RIFA was launched in 1996 following the privatisation of British Rail in 1995. The launch took place at the Fire Protection Association headquarters at Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire.
Sir Bryan Collins, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire Services, supported the launch. Also in attendance were Terry Worrell, Executive Board member British Rail, Brian Appleton, President of RIFA and Stewart Kidd, Chief Executive of the FPA.
RIFA published their objectives, which were to share information, experience and best practice in the management of fire safety throughout the Railway Industry and to provide advice when requested.
With the demise of the British Railways Board, it was recognised by all concerned, that there would no longer be one management body with the overall responsibility for Fire Safety across the rail industry.
RIFA was therefore recognised by those rail industry organisations supporting the launch, as the appropriate body for continuing this function, and to act as the industry voice for the benefit of its members and to maintain Fire Safety Standards throughout the industry.
This process would be of particular benefit, when dealing with Fire Equipment Manufacturers, Fire Engineers, Fire Authorities, London Underground Limited, and Government Departments, including HMRI and The Fire Service Inspectorate.
It therefore became the responsibility of the Chairman and Executive Committee together with the membership to ensure the future of RIFA is maintained by actively seeking new members.
What could not be challenged is that there was and still is a need for a body such as RIFA, to represent the Rail Industry in all matters concerning Fire Safety.
