About Dr Haidee Williams

I obtained my medical degree from the University of Cape Town in 1995 and qualified as an Occupational Medicine Specialist in 2009.

An occupational medicine specialist is a medical doctor who specialises in the field of occupational and environmental medicine.

As an occupational medicine specialist my focus is on preventative medicine and the management of work related illnesses, injuries and disabilities, but as a specialist I operate at a level beyond the individual worker and work effectively with employers, workers, unions and government agencies to improve workplace health and employee wellness.

Qualifications:

• MBChB (UCT) 1995
• Diploma in Occupational Health 2002
• FCPHM (Occ Med) SA 2009 (SASOM medallist)
• M Med (UCT) Occupational Medicine -2009

• Registered as an Occupational Medicine Specialist with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa.
• A full member of the South African Society of Occupational Medicine.
• A council member of the College of Public Health Medicine (Occupational Medicine) South Africa.
• An examiner in the Fellowship of the College of Public Health Medicine, Occupational Medicine.
• Honorary lecturer in the Division of Occupational Medicine, School of Public Health at UCT
• Completed the Pharmaceutical Potent Compound Safety Training for the EH&S Professional held in Zurich, Switzerland in October 2008.
• Attended the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) workshop in Washington DC, USA, on pharmaceutical containment in 2007.
• Completed an internal auditor course on ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

Experience

I am appointed as a specialist consultant on the Occupational Medicine Panel of the Q(h)ubeka Trust. The Q(h)ubeka Trust is a trust that was established to provide compensation to qualifying claimants in respect of silica related diseases. The medical panel reviews all medical information of the claimant to establish if they have silicosis.

I started my career working a medical officer at the Clothing Industry Health Care Fund. It was here where I developed my passion for occupational medicine.

I have extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry as I was the Head of Occupational Health, Safety and Environment at Fine Chemicals Corporation, an active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer and a division of Aspen Pharmacare.

Active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing combines the hazards associated with hazardous chemical handling with the strict regulatory environment associated with the pharmaceutical industry. It was at Fine Chemicals that I honed my hazard assessment and safety data sheet development expertise.

My role included not only providing occupational health services but also managing the department. I was responsible for the strategic planning for my department, setting departmental performance targets, negotiating service provider contracts as well as setting and managing the departmental budget.

The role as head of the OHSE department enabled me to broaden my skill set to include the management of occupational safety (including legal compliance, legislative appointments, safety inspections, permit to work systems, and incident reporting and investigation) and environmental management (including environmental risk assessments, legal compliance and sustainability reporting).