Guest Blog from Steve Griffiths

I have been involved in the restructure and change process since joining Council and am now Director of Science & Technology so - with some encouragement from Jennifer – I thought I would follow her lead  and try to do a blog.  Firstly, some reflections on this year. Council has redistributed the work load and pushed responsibility down to the Directorates and Committees.  Most importantly, Council is operating more strategically and looking at where do we want SRP to be over the next 2 to 5 years.  This is reflected in a medium term financial outlook, support contracts, membership grades and improved provision of membership services.  We still have work to do to improve the website as an effective tool for members.

From a personal perspective I have thoroughly enjoyed my visits to the Big Bang Science Fair in Birmingham.  The enthusiasm for science in many of the attendees was a pleasure to see, as was the support from our Rising Generations Group members and some not so RGG (like me).  I also managed to visit the only Nuclear Licenced site in the UK that I had not previously been to whilst working as a regulator.  There have been some interesting discussions with the British Veterinary Association and HSE plus honing of my knowledge of contracts and governance processes.  The Directorate as a whole has delivered in many areas, some highlights being the lab design guides, radiation safety culture, response to consultations and Brexit position papers to name just a few.

What would be my wish list for the future?  Growth of SRP membership with a greater percentage of younger members, more people joining us from non traditional routes and wider disciplines and the S&T Directorate providing greater and more easily accessible resources to members.

Outside SRP, I have managed to keep up my sporting interests.  I am the non playing captain for a Squash team and it won the division and was promoted.  So, without playing, I claim all the credit. My wife and I managed to get tickets for Wimbledon and had a fabulous time watching the likes of Kerber, Federer and Williams.

As the schools go back Julie and I go on our Summer holiday to New York and Long Island.

September will see me return to learning Welsh or trying to.  Apparently the course is called Meistroli or colloquially ‘master of the universe’. 

This year my key objective was to bring my golf handicap down.  Practice makes perfect apparently so I hope you can solve the equation below for me.

Handicap progression from 20 April 19 to 17 August 19

Steve Griffiths

SRP Director of Science & Technology
Twitter - @stephen14441007
Email - admin@srp-uk.org