Department of
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Faculty

Rodney J. Simmons, Ph.D., CSP Associate Professor Office: Umm Shaif Building, Room 4009 Phone: +971 2 607 5122 Fax: +971 2 607 5200

Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 1993

Rodney J. Simmons, Ph.D., CSP is Associate Professor of Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Engineering, with a primary assignment to support the new M.Eng. degree program in HSE Engineering at PI. His professional interests include risk analysis and HSE management and engineering. He came to PI after two years at the other end of Asia, during which he served as a visiting faculty member at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Tunghai University (Taiwan). Previously, he was Associate Professor and Safety Program Director at Illinois State University, Adjunct Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and technical director for the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He has consulted for a number of major corporations, including Boeing, General Electric, Caterpillar, Jacobs Engineering, and Procter & Gamble, in addition to assignments with the US Navy's Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Naval Surface Warfare Center, NASA-Ames Research Center, Kuwait Petroleum Company, Kuwait University, EQUATE, China Airlines, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and others. He is the only faculty member in the world to be certified by examination in five areas of professional safety practice. He completed his Ph.D. in industrial engineering (with a specialization in safety engineering and industrial hygiene) at Texas A&M University, and also holds advanced degrees from Harvard University and California State University, Northridge. A popular keynote speaker, he is the author of over 50 technical articles and presentations, in addition to co-authoring two books: An Engineering Approach to Occupational Safety and Health in Business and Industry and System Safety and Risk Management. He is serving a 4-year term as Director for Education and Professional Development for the System Safety Society, and is Associate Editor for the Journal of System Safety. He's the only two-time recipient of the System Safety Society's Educator of the Year Award (1992 and 2009). Dr. Simmons is also a professional member of the American Society of Safety Engineers.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• President's Award, System Safety Society (SSS), 2010
• Educator of the Year Award, SSS, 2009
• Founder's Award, SSS 2007
• Team Research Award, Illinois State University, 2005
• Recipient of Centennial Certificate, American Society for Engineering Education, 1993
• Recipient of Educator of the Year Award, System Safety Society, 1992
• Recipient of the Chairman's Award, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, 1991
• Recipient of the Educational Activities Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, 1987
• Recipient of the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award in the Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1981
• Elected to the following honoraries: Alpha Pi Mu, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Xi

PROFESIONAL SERVICE

• Associate Editor, Journal of System Safety
• Member, International Panel of Reviewers, Robert W. Campbell Award, National Safety Council, USA (March 2010 – Present)
• Director for Education and Professional Development, System Safety Society, 2007-2011
• Technical Program Chair, 28th International System Safety Conference, Minneapolis, MN 2010
• Technical Program Chair, 26th International System Safety Conference, Vancouver, BC, CANADA 2008
• Advisory Committee, Institute for Safety Through Design, National Safety Council, 1995-2000
• Director, Certification, Licensing and International Affairs, System Safety Society (international level, 1995-99)
• Director for Education and Research, System Safety Society (international level, 1989-1993)
• President, Cincinnati Chapter, Institute of Industrial Engineers, 1990-1991
  President, Ohio Chapter, System Safety Society, 1988-1989

EXPERTISE

• System Safety Engineering and Management; Risk Assessment
• Occupational Safety and Health
• HSE Management Systems
• Human Factors
• Accident Analysis
• Safety Through Design
• HSE Manpower Development
  

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

1. Simmons, Rodney J. Editor (2010): Proceedings of the 28th International System Safety Conference, Minneapolis, MN, USA August 30 – September 3, 2010, Unionville, VA: System Safety Society. (ISBN: 0-9721385-9-5)
2. Al-Hemoud, Ali M., Simmons, Rodney J., and Al-Asfoor, May M. (2010) "Behavior and Lifestyle Characteristics of Male Kuwaiti Drivers," Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 307-313. August 2010
3. Simmons, Rodney J. (2009) "Role of Engineering Analysis to Support Behavior-based Patient Safety Improvement: Essential Tools for the Analytical Toolbox — 
 Fault Tree Analysis vs Event Tree Analysis," Proceedings of the 2009 Taiwan Safety Culture International Forum, organized by the Taiwan Safety Council, held in Taipei, Taiwan, December 14-15, 2009 (volume II, pp. 16-30)
4. Simmons, Rodney J., Mohan, Dave and Monica Mullane, Editors (2008): Proceedings of the 26th International System Safety Conference, Vancouver, BC, CANADA August 25 – August 29, 2008, Unionville, VA: System Safety Society. (ISBN: 0-9721385-8-7)
5. Henderson, J., Simmons, R.J. and W.S. Bouhamra (2007) "Report of the Role Delineation Validation Study For the Health, Safety and Environmental Professional; Health, Safety and Environmental Professional Credentialing Examination." Technical Report submitted by Health Safety and Environmental Credentialing Board to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, July 12, 2007
6. Simmons, R.J., Henderson, J., and W.S. Bouhamra (2006) "Preliminary Report of the Role Delineation Workshop Conducted as part of the Validation Study to Create a Defensible Health, Safety and Environmental Professional Credentialing Examination." Technical Report submitted by Health Safety and Environmental Credentialing Board to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, December 28, 2006
7. Simmons, Rodney J. and Norman J. Gauthier, Editors (2006): Proceedings of the 24th International System Safety Conference, Albuquerque, NM July 31 – August 4, 2006, Unionville, VA: System Safety Society. 778 pp (ISBN: 0-9721385-6-0)
8. Clemens, P.L., Pfitzer, T.F., Simmons, R.J., Dwyer, S., Frost, J. and E. Olson (2005) "The RAC Matrix: A Universal Tool or a Toolkit?" Journal of System Safety Vol. 41, No. 2, pp 14-19, 41-42, March/April 2005
9. Thomas, H.F., Simmons, R.J., Jin, G., Almeda, A.A. and A.M. Mannos (2005) "Comparison of Student Outcomes for a Classroom-based vs. an Internet-based Construction Safety Course." Journal of Safety, Health, and Environmental Research Vol. 2, No. 1. (electronic journal http://www.asse.org/academicsjournal/05spring_featurearticle03.html) Spring 2005.
10. Walker, P., T.R. Kelley, R. J. Simmons and B. Weigand (2004): "A Mobile Spent Hen Incineration Unit" Proceedings of the Midwest Poultry Federation Conference, St. Paul, MN (March 2004)
11. Bak, D. N. and R.J. Simmons (2001): "Assessing Risk: What Every Member of the Fire and Life Safety Community Will Have to Face," Proceedings of the International Conference of Engineered Fire Protection Design, San Francisco, CA June 2001
12. Clemens, P.L. and R.J. Simmons (2001): "The Risk Exposure Interval--Too Often an Analyst's Trap, " Journal of System Safety Vol 37, No. 1, pp 8-11, First Quarter 2001
13. Clemens, P.L. and R.J. Simmons (1998): System Safety and Risk Management. Published by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 1998, 207pp.
14. Simmons, R.J. and H. Etkind (1997): "Management Oversight Risk Tree (MORT) Ready-to-Start Analysis of a Shredder/Briquetter Facility," Proceedings of the 15th International System Safety Conference, Washington, DC August 1997
15. Duma, S.M., J Crandall, S. Turner, R.J. Simmons and W. Pilkey (1997): "A Protocol System for Testing Biohazardous Materials in a Research Facility," Proceedings of the 15th International System Safety Conference, Washington, DC August 1997
16. Duma, S.M., Kress, T.A., Porta, D.J., Simmons, R.J., Alexander, C.L., Woods, C.D. (1997) "Airbag-Induced Eye Injuries: Experiments with In Situ Cadaver Eyes," Biomedical Science Instrumentation Vol. 33:106-11
17. Duma, S.M., T. Kress, D. Porta, P. Martin, Simmons, R.J. and C. Alexander (1997): "An Experimental Study of Airbag Impact to the Orbit Using an Instrumented Hybrid III Headform," Biomedical Science Instrumentation Vol. 33:59-64
18. Duma, S.M., T. Kress, D. Porta, C. Woods, J. Snider, P. Fuller and R. J. Simmons (1996): "Air Bag Induced Eye Injuries: A Report of 25 Cases," Journal of Trauma Vol. 41, No.1, pp. 114-119
19. Duma, S.M., R.J. Simmons, R. Booher, K.A. Haarman, D.J. Porta, T.A. Kress and S.X. Guyer (1996): "OUTBREAK: An Examination of a University's Biohazard Laboratory and Its Legal Implications," Proceedings of the 14th International System Safety Conference, Albuquerque, NM August 1996
20. Baluyut R, Genaidy AM, Davis SL, Shell RL, Simmons RJ (1995): "The Visual Estimation of Static Non-neutral Postures: Magnitudes and Sources of Errors," Ergonomics Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 1841-1850
21. Genaidy, A.M., R.J. Simmons and D. Christensen (1995): "Can back supports relieve the load on the lumbar spine for employees engaged in industrial operations?" Ergonomics Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 996-1010
22. Simmons, Rodney J., Editor (1993): Proceedings of the Eleventh International System Safety Conference, Cincinnati, OH July 28 - August 2, 1993, Unionville, VA: System Safety Society.
23. Arantes, J.C., R. Mazon, R.J. Simmons, and G. Enescu (1993): "Operations Research Applications for System Safety," Proceedings of the Eleventh International System Safety Conference, Cincinnati, OH, August 1993
24. Simmons, R.J. and P. Kopardekar, P. (1993): "Risk Homeostasis Theory: A Perspective," Proceedings of the Eleventh International System Safety Conference, Cincinnati, OH, August 1993
25. Simmons, R.J. (1993): "System Safety Analysis Applied to Material Handling," Proceedings of Material Handling Focus '93, Fort Lauderdale, FL, January 1993.
26. Genaidy, A.M., Simmons, R.J., Guo, L. and Hidalgo, J.A. (1993): "Can Visual Perception Be Used to Estimate Body Part Angles?" Ergonomics. Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 323-329.
27. Shell, Richard L. and Rodney J. Simmons (1990): An Engineering Approach to Occupational Safety and Health in Business and Industry, Institute of Industrial Engineers (Norcross/Atlanta), 1990 (ISBN 978-0898061093)
28. Lindholm, C.O. and R.J. Simmons (1990): "Health and Safety Considerations for Garment and Textile Conservators," Textile Conservation Newsletter, Vol. 18, Spring 1990
29. Simmons, R.J. and C.O. Lindholm (1989): "System Safety in the Service of the Arts I: Health and Safety Risks in the Restoration and Preservation of Historic Garments," Proceedings of the Ninth International System Safety Conference, Long Beach, CA, July 1989