David Gee, Brunel

David Gee, Brunel

Visiting Fellow at Brunel University, London.

Throughout his career David Gee has worked at the interface of science and policy-making in the fields of occupational health and the environment, both in the UK with trade unions and NGOs, and as an international civil servant. Graduating in economics and politics from York University, UK, in 1968, he worked for the AUEW and then the Trades Union Congress where he was responsible for developing and rolling out the national programme of Safety Reps training, 1974-78. He moved on to a new post as National Health and Safety Officer at the GMB union (1978-88), then was appointed Director of Friends of the Earth UK (1989-91).

Between 1995 and 2012, when he retired, he worked on Information Strategy and then as Senior Adviser on Science, Policy and Emerging Issues at the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen. The EEA is a data, information and knowledge providing institution of the EU whose main clients are the European Commission, European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, Member States, and the public.

Among such long term projects as eco-tax reform and eco-efficiency; scientific uncertainty; children’s risks from environmental hazards; methods for evaluating evidence of potential harm; the precautionary principle; and regulatory reform, particularly on hazardous substances (eg the UK COSHH and the EU REACH regulations), David initiated and co-edited both volumes of the influential “Late lessons from early warnings” reports (EEA, 2001, 2013), some of whose chapters he also authored.