The Chief Health, Safety & Wellbeing Officer at Thames Water, has just been recognised in the Queens New Year’s Honours list to receive the award of OBE for his ‘Services to Mental Health Policy’.
Karl Simons, Thames Water’s Chief Health, Safety & Wellbeing Officer, has been named on the Queens New Year’s Honours list. Karl will receive an OBE for his ‘Services to Mental Health Policy’. The 2021 list was published on Thursday 31 December and demonstrates the incredible efforts of hundreds of public sector and community workers throughout 2020 and beyond.
Speaking to SHP about the announcement, Mr Simons could hardly hide his delight
He said, “I am absolutely staggered as this truly is extremely humbling and I have no words that I can really say that would do justice to how I feel about receiving this accolade.
“I mean this is the kind of thing celebrities and sports personalities who are household names receive, so to get a letter saying the Prime Minister has recommended me to Her Majesty the Queen to receive the honour of OBE, absolutely floored me and I’ll admit I was totally emotionally overwhelmed when reading it.”
As an ardent supporter of Safer Highways, Karl is the patron of our own “Road to Wellbeing programme” and architect of the Thriving at Work Survey, which benchmarks the leading organisations from across the public highways sector’s provision of support in the workplace for mental health.
Speaking about the announcement Safer Highways CEO Kevin Robinson said,
”As well as a work colleague, Karl is also a close personal friend of mine, and from both perspectives I am delighted for him.
”The work he has done in raising the profile of mental health within the workplace is something richly deserving of the accolade bestowed upon him.
”I am sure that I speak for everyone associated with Safer Highways when I say that this could not have happened to a nicer, more generous and fiercely passionate person.”
Alongside Karl, others recognised included Lewis Hamilton who received a knighthood and quite fittingly many of those who have led the battle with COVID from the frontline.
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