Meet the Team - Harper Water

Meet the Team

David Harper​

Senior Engineering Director

David is an internationally renowned expert and speaker on water safety and management with over 40 years of experience. He is the leading authority on Legionnaires Disease from an Engineering perspective and is routinely called upon to support investigations and to provide advice to others who are undertaking investigations around the world.

Mark Conway

Managing Director

Mark has over 20 years of experience in supporting clients internationally with their water hygiene and safety across a diverse range of industries and sectors. These range from NHS Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities, Global Medical Device Manufacturers, Residential Care Homes, Local Authority Public Buildings, Schools, Universities, Offshore Marine, Oil and Gas, and segments of the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Stephen Flatman

Engineering Director

Stephen is our Consultant Engineer with over 15 years of international experience working in Healthcare, MedTech and Biotech industries. Specialising in methods and technology to control microbial and particulate contamination in water has led to involvement in design and best practices in a variety of systems and equipment around the world.

DR. Vicky Katsemi

Water Hygiene & Microbiology Consultant

Vicky has over 15 years’ experience in Water Hygiene, Microbiology and Water Management at the international level. She has worked closely with national and international experts, participated in water hygiene research projects, contributed to the development of guidelines and recommendations by working with regulatory bodies, and held numerous presentations and educational sessions globally to raise awareness on drinking water safety and hygiene. Vicky has a good working knowledge of European and national laws, recommendations and guidelines regarding water and technical hygiene, hospital hygiene and infection prevention, transmission pathways of waterborne microorganisms, control measures, outbreak management and relevant required compliances.

Dr. Catherine WHAPHAM

Water Hygiene Consultant

Cathy has worked in contamination control for more than 25 years, predominantly alongside clinical microbiologists, infection prevention and hospital engineering teams on water hygiene programs. She has extensive practical experience of critical contamination and waterborne outbreaks within public and private sectors both nationally and internationally, and provides bespoke training and holistic advice on waterborne contamination, prevention and control strategies for in-premise drinking water distribution systems.

Alison Thomas

Technical Lead

Alison has over 15 years international experience in the life sciences industry providing technical applications expertise in support of a wide range of product categories including processing of blood components and drinking water provision. She has worked alongside the NHS, overseas healthcare services, private sector hospitals, corporate research and development facilities and medical device manufacturers.

Water Management

keeping water under your control

David Harper

David is an internationally renowned expert and speaker on water safety and management with over 40 years of experience.

He is the leading authority on Legionnaires Disease from an Engineering perspective and is routinely called upon to support investigations and to provide advice to others who are undertaking investigations around the world.

Having published over 20 articles in well known & respected scientific, engineering, and legal journals related to Legionella and other waterborne diseases, David continues to share his knowledge and passion to raise awareness and offer practical advice on the subject of water safety.

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

Public Health Officer (Environmental/Water) for Public Health England as a Consultant

Advisor on Water Safety and International Policy for the World Health Organisation (WHO)

Registered Authorising Engineer for Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management (IHEEM)

Fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management (IHEEM)

Honorary Fellow of the Society of Public Health Engineers (SOPHE)

Fellow of the Water Management Society (WMSoc)

Member of the Institute of Engineering Technology (MIET)

Member of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (MCIPHE)

Legally Registered as Expert Witness, and has attended many government and court
hearings on matters related to Water Safety Compliance.

Part of investigating teams of Public Health England and the Health & Safety Executive in the UK in a number of high profile cases and investigated and supported clients globally across many cross sections of industry.

Independent consultant to many high profile organisations, including major hotel groups, shipping, including cruise liners, merchant shipping and MOD ships, including submarines, Oil and Gas off-shore rigs.

Over 40 years of experience in training UK NHS Engineers and Estates Management.

Mark Conway

Mark has over 20 years of experience in supporting clients internationally with their water hygiene and safety across a diverse range of industries and sectors. These range from NHS Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities, Global Medical
Device Manufacturers, Residential Care Homes, Local Authority Public Buildings, Schools, Universities, Offshore Marine, Oil and Gas, and segments of the Travel and Tourism Industry.

By closely partnering with UK NHS Water Safety Groups, and the multi-disciplinary teams that comprise them, he has gained invaluable experience an insights working alongside all relevant clinical stakeholders on mitigating the risk of waterborne contamination.

As part of the team contracted to ensure the water quality for the London 2012 Athletes Village in Stratford, London, Mark provided technical and consultative input along with appropriate support solutions throughout the duration of the games.

Mark has also been instrumental in leading cross-functional teams behind the implementation of a number of Water Safety Educational Masterclasses for the Healthcare Industry. These events routinely secured up to 150 participants across Northern Europe and featured internationally renowned experts and speakers within their respective disciplines and field of experience.

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

Executive MBA, University of Portsmouth (UK)

Member of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH)

Member of the Central Sterilising Club (CSC)

Certified Responsible / Authorized Person Practical Water Safety for Healthcare Premises(ACoP L8 / HTM 04-01), City & Guilds

Associate Member of The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (AMIHEEM)

Member of the Water Management Society (MWMSoc)

 

Stephen Flatman

Stephen is our Consultant Engineer with over 15 years of international experience working in Healthcare, MedTech and Biotech industries. Specialising in methods and technology to control microbial and particulate contamination in water has led to involvement in design and best practices in cold and hot water distribution systems, specialist water systems including reverse osmosis systems, water for endoscopy reprocessing, chillers, water for steam generation and sterilisation services.

Working with the NHS and healthcare Facility Management and Water Safety Groups, Stephen has provided training, education and advice enabling Engineers and the ‘Responsible Person’s’ for water
to understand the wider water contamination story and associated risks.
Working with Medical device manufacturers for many years he has an acute knowledge of the mechanics and operation of many systems and their implementation with respect to contamination control and testing procedures.

As a subject matter expert, he has presented at various national water conferences and seminars on
water technologies.

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

BSc in Elect. Engineering from Portsmouth University (UK)

Member of the Water Management Society (WMSoc)

Member of Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH)

Certified Responsible / Authorised Person Practical Water Safety for Healthcare Premises (ACoP L8 / HTM 04-01), City & Guilds

Member of The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (MIHEEM)

DR. Vicky Katsemi

Vicky has over 15 years’ experience in Water Hygiene, Microbiology and Water Management at the international level. She has worked closely with national and international experts, participated in water hygiene research projects, contributed to the development of guidelines and recommendations by working with regulatory bodies, and held numerous presentations and educational sessions globally to raise awareness on drinking water safety and hygiene. Vicky has a good working knowledge of European and national laws, recommendations and guidelines regarding water and technical hygiene, hospital hygiene and infection prevention, transmission pathways of waterborne microorganisms, control measures, outbreak management and relevant required compliances.

Vicky has a PhD in Biochemistry, an MBA, and is currently continuing her professional development through completion of the Hospital Hygiene Specialisation Modules of the German Society of Hospital Hygiene (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene, DGKH).

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

PhD in Biochemistry
 

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Durham Business School (UK) and European Business School (Germany)

Post Doctorate Fellow of Pasteur Institute (Athens)

Diploma in Microbiology and Biochemistry, J. W. Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
 
Hospital Hygiene specialisation at the German Society of Hospital Hygiene (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene, DGKH) (ongoing)
 
Member of the Water Management Society (WMS)
 
Member of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH)
 
Certified Responsible / Authorized Person Practical Water Safety for Healthcare Premises (ACoP L8 / HTM 04-01), City & Guilds
 
Certified participation on VDI 6023 course (German Engineering Organisation; Hygiene in Drinking Water Installations, certificate category A)
 
Certification for water sampling for microbiological analysis (ISO 19458:2006)
 
 

DR. Catherine Whapham

Cathy offers an independent advisory and consultancy service to the healthcare, leisure, residential and agricultural sectors focusing on water management problems, developing and challenging Water Safety Plans and co-ordinating Water Safety Groups. Alongside her consultancy, Cathy manages the Tickmore Orchards and raises native breed Ryeland Sheep in Herefordshire.

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

Masters of Business Administration, The Open University

PhD, School of Pharmacy, University of Portsmouth

BSc (Hons), Biomedical Sciences, Portsmouth Polytechnic

Certificated, Water Safety Plans:  Risk Management for Drinking Water Supplies, The Water Institute, University of North Carolina

Fellow, Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) – and active member of their Water Special Interest Group

Member, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Alison THOMAS

Alison has over 15 years international experience in the life sciences industry providing technical applications expertise in support of a wide range of product categories including processing of blood components and drinking water provision. She has worked alongside the NHS, overseas healthcare services, private sector hospitals, corporate research and development facilities and medical device manufacturers.

With focus on supporting new product and technology evaluations/validations and leading wide-scale product implementations, Alison has specialised in providing training and education for product end-users, data documentation and analysis, problem solving and product/process optimisation.  This blend of skills and experience has enabled Alison to best help clients to analyse their critical water system data and support decision making for remediation and subsequent verification

QUALIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

MSc Molecular Pathology and Toxicology, Leicester University
 
Bsc (Hons) Zoology, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
 

Member of the Institute of Biomedical Science (MIBMS)