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Toby Harding will speak at Utility Week's Health and Safety Conference 2014 on 25 Novem- ber. Presenting alongside Paul French, Kier's safety, health and environment manager, he will deliver the message that: "Zero incidents is possible and realistic, but requires effort from everyone." People & Opinion Utility Week community Speaker's corner Toby Harding, operations director, Kier Utilities & Water Ways Personal notes: Harding has worked in the water industry for 25 years in locations including Macau and Germany as well as a range of UK regions. His team at Kier is responsible for digging almost 90,000 exca- vations a year. What has been you most suc- cessful or challenging experi- ence in your career to date? Working in a completely open- book alliance. I learnt that it takes time to build trust, but once everybody is on board work becomes far more efficient, inno- vations are more frequent, and the job becomes more fun. Identify five people you would invite to your dream dinner party and why? John Bonham, Roger Waters, Adele, Jimi Hendrix, John Foxx. Imagine the jamming session aer dinner! Name four items you keep on your desk or with you at work: Lunch bag, hazard spot book; laptop; a list of passwords and my car. The main event Utility Week's Health & Safety Conference 2014 takes place on 25 November at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham City Centre. Keynote speakers include: • Nikki Kemmery, head of health and safety, Welsh Water • Barrie Millet, director of health, safety and environment, Eon UK • Adam Gosnold, executive director, Morrison Utility Services • Graham Finn, head of health, safety and environment, EDF Energy • Chris Clarke, occupational director of asset management, health, safety and environment, Wales and West Utilities Find out more at www.uw-hs.net UtILItY WeeK | 3rd - 9th OctOber 2014 | 7 3d printing innovation A new 3D printed filtration membrane could render current membranes used in the water industry obsolete, according to Nanyang technological University in Singapore. the university is home to the startup NanoSun, which has patented the membrane and achieved an industry valuation of £50 million in the two years since its inception. the 3d printed membrane is made using titanium dioxide, rather than today's industry standards of plastic, ceramic and stainless steel. Its inventors said it could withstand extreme pressure and temperatures as well as prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, which is sometimes used to kill waterborne bacteria or break down organic compounds. EMr: winners and losers Who are the winners and losers as eMr unfolds? this was the question put to a panel of industry leaders at cornwall energy's eMr: edging towards delivery conference last week. Jon Smith, head of trading and pricing at First Utility, said: "the supplier obligation is the biggest emerging risk to competition and affordability to come out of eMr." richard hall, director of strategic infrastructure, citizens Advice, said: "Over time I am becoming more pessimistic about eMr's impact on consumers." That's debatable: Is business bothered about climate change? "When it comes to energy policy, the devil is in the detail and we'd be remiss to ignore the fact that British businesses tend to be more concerned about the impact on the bottom line." "Business must be – and want to be – part of the solution to tackling our climate change challenges. We need to recognise that green and growth can go hand in hand together." Wayne Mitchell, head industrial and commercial products, Npower, responding to its recent YouGov survey (results oppposite) Katja hall, deputy director-general, the cbI, responding to prime minister david cameron's speech at the UN climate change Summit.