IHEEM PRESIDENT INTERVIEW
a building, engineering, architecture, or FM role. The strength of an Estates Department is the diversity of the staff, i.e. their different degrees, personalities, aptitudes, and backgrounds, all coming in and contributing to the team. I have always found this exceptionally rewarding. I look forward to being IHEEM’s President, and to sharing that enthusiasm and encouragement with lots of young people coming in.”
Nigel Keery took over the Presidency at
IHEEM’s 2024 AGM in Manchester from another highly committed engineer, and a champion both of careers in the field, but also the role of women in healthcare engineering and estates and facilities management, and equality and diversity – Mott MacDonald’s Alison Ryan, who was also IHEEM’s first female President. I asked him what he thought her biggest achievements as President had been. He said: “Alison has done some really
Top: Looking around the exhibition at the IHEEM Northern Ireland Regional Conference, Exhibition, and Gala Dinner event in Belfast in May this year.
Inset: Speaking at the IHEEM Northern Ireland Regional Conference in Belfast.
in daily, and families rely on us. I think we learnt a lot through COVID about creating a sustainable business environment. A large part of the Institute’s role is thus about equipping the membership through seminars and conferences and our branch activities, and ensuring that engineers and construction professionals have the right tools and the knowledge to cope with the challenges. Two especially notable current ones,” he added, “are the drive to achieve Net Zero, and the part the construction chain and the EFM sector can play in combating antimicrobial resistance through improving the built environment.” With our discussions taking place just days after publication of the ‘final report’ on London’s Grenfell Tower, I asked the new IHEEM President for his early impressions of the findings, and about the potential impact on the regulatory regime for fire safety in high-rise buildings, including in healthcare. He said: “It’s extremely sad that 72 people lost their lives during an incident we now know was preventable. However, the preventable is complex – because there were so many areas of failure – from the cladding material, through to its testing, certification, and its use on the building, how it was installed, the people that managed that, those that did the checking from various bodies to ensure things were done right, through to the fire service and the way it managed the evacuation and dealt with the fire. The ‘recovery period’ following Grenfell will be long and sore, as we’ve seen from other incidents like this – another one being the 1987 King’s Cross Fire (when a lit match dropped onto a wooden escalator at London’s King’s Cross Underground station set fire to grease, litter, and dust, that had accumulated under the escalator over the years). I mention this as I knew Professor Crossland, the Chair of the Enquiry, who inspired me through his discussions. As an Estates or engineering professional working in the built environment, it seems to take something to happen to effect change for the better and to regulate. Hopefully the regulations that emerge from this will improve all building structures.
People at their most vulnerable “Certainly,” Nigel Keery continued, “whenever people are sleeping, both in a hospital and at home, they’re at their most vulnerable, which makes it an absolute imperative to have buildings where people sleep that are as safe as possible.” I next asked Nigel Keery what he would say to
encourage somebody considering a career in healthcare engineering or estate management, but pondering their options. “Well,” he said, “it’s such a vast field that there is something there for everybody – whether you’re in
28 Health Estate Journal November 2024
interesting things, for instance with all the STEM work she has undertaken in schools and colleges. She’s been a role model and a tremendous advocate for women in healthcare, and equality and diversity, with a particular passion for these things, which is good both for the Institute, and for healthcare. She has steered the ship well, is certainly a good mentor for me going forward, and has offered me all the support and help she can.” Nigel Keery and his wife, Mandy, live in County Down;
they have been married for 27 years, having known each other since their schooldays. “I also have a 23-year-old daughter, Natasha, and a son Gregory, who is 22,” he explained. “Natasha is a biomedical engineer in Belfast, and currently doing her ‘year out’ at the Belfast Trust. She has a Foundation degree in Mechatronics. Gregory has completed the same Foundation Degree course, but is now studying for a Building Services degree on day release, and is a trainee technician here in the Trust.” I asked Nigel: “Do you feel it’s almost like the family line now to go into healthcare engineering?” He said: “Gregory always wanted to go into the profession – probably from seeing what I did in my role. He wanted to join the Estates team in Belfast, and perhaps thought he could do a better job than his dad. Natasha got interested in biomedical engineering, and pretty well by chance did her placement in Belfast. I don’t know if she sees her long- term future being in the health service. It might be more in industry.”
I said: “Interesting though, that your children have followed in your footsteps, as you did with your father, grandfather, and uncle. You’ve come from a long line of engineers.” Nigel Keery said: “Well, I do a lot of what my father and grandfather did – tinker with a lot of machinery, and I certainly encourage both my son and daughter, and my colleagues, to aim high, voice their opinions on engineering challenges, and to think for themselves.” I closed by asking Nigel Keery: “Is your passion for engineering as strong as it was when you first set foot in the profession?” He answered: “Yes, I couldn’t be in a better job. Despite being 63, I’m only really getting the hang of it after 34 years in the field,” he said with a smile. “I still love meeting different people, talking about things, and for example – when I’ve talked to you – it’s sometimes resulted in a journal article.
Being yourself and ‘a wee bit different’ “In this profession you’re allowed to be a wee bit different, to think for yourself, and to take on a challenge safe in the knowledge you have others’ backing. These have always been major attractions of the job to me. I’m fortunate indeed to have had a great, and a very fulfilling, career.”
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