During my first summer internship in the Hong Kong Government’s Buildings Department, I supported a panel of male engineers in safety inspections and engineering reviews. That experience gave me a real sense of making an impact and adding a fresh perspective on a problem, even working in a male-dominated workplace.
Solving problems requires diversity of opinions and engineering skillset and that has really been valued in all my roles, with thankfully my gender not being a barrier to being heard.
My career journey
Working on a number of large-scale rail infrastructure projects in the UK during my early career had established my solid foundation on Safe by Design - to support risk reduction in design that will safeguard lives throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure.
Safety is no longer about simply making sure that people have their personal protective equipment, but is about holistic understanding of people in our daily work activities.
The engineering focus that I gave contributed to delivery of health & safety in a project could be over decommissioning and construction sequence, design of space for persons with restricted mobility, long-term access and maintenance strategy etc.
Sometimes, these interventions could look small like asking a simple question – “do we have to do it? Can we avoid it?” if we know the design or idea could impose risk to others. The impact however resulting from asking those questions could be huge on protecting the workforce who delivers your design, final user or even the one who demolishes it.
It was rewarding, during my secondment to the Far East, that I was able to share my real-life experience and inspire other young female engineers with how decisions taken at the design stage, with a strong health and safety culture, can have a major effect on solving engineering problems.
Working as a Civil Engineer in a regulator
Moving to ORR is one of the key milestones in my career. The team I am working in looks at a wide range of railway civil assets. It is positive to see that the number of female engineers in the team has increased over the last 3 years.
ORR is a workplace that I feel empowered to speak up and give opinions on different subject matters. The day-to-day interactions with a sheer diversity of in-house experts, like safety professional, economists, policy experts, and other external regulatory bodies has taken me to another level in being able to make further contributions and influence on strategic safety and engineering issues in a wider rail industry.
Recently, I joined my colleagues to host a delegation from the Hong Kong rail regulator at our office to discuss what we can learn from each other and lessons that could be applied to both the UK and Hong Kong for a safer and better railway.
This year marks the 10th year of celebrating International Women in Engineering Day with a theme of ‘Make Safety Seen’. I would like to take this opportunity to join the other engineers to celebrate women engineers who work every day in their sectors to shape a better and safer place.
For those who are considering a career in engineering or in their early career, be confident to speak up – your inputs, no matter the size, will make safety seen and experienced.