Tony Almond, speaking during a debate in Pickering in March 2018. Photo: DrillOrDrop

The Health and Safety Executive has reported that Tony Almond, who worked on onshore oil and gas policy, has died following a heart attack.

Tony Almond had spent the past five years in the HSE’s energy division. He became a familiar face at conferences, debates, planning meetings and drop-in events.

Before working on onshore oil and gas, he had a variety of roles involving occupational health policy, including: working at height; stress and violence at work; and manual handling.

He worked on several award-winning campaigns and set up many successful workshops and roadshows that raised the profile of these issues for employees and employers alike.

Tony Almond was born in Liverpool and was a lifelong fan of Everton football club.

After many years working in London for the Department of Work and Pensions and its predecessors, he returned to Merseyside when he joined HSE.

An HSE spokesperson said the news of Tony Almond’s death would be felt hard by all his friends and colleagues:

“Tony made a significant contribution to keeping the regulation of shale gas proportionate. Tony’s knowledge, patience and sense of fairness helped him deftly handle some of the most difficult stakeholders, in politically-charged meetings with the public, other regulators and politicians.

“Tony was universally popular among his colleagues and hugely respected by everyone he worked with.

“Tony’s commitment to public service was characterised by enthusiasm, intelligence, application and personal warmth. Colleagues describe him as a lovely man who was caring, generous and kind – ‘one of the good guys’.

“Our thoughts go to his family, especially his wife and two young children, his loss to them and to our organisation is inestimable.”

Tributes

Frack Free Wakefield

“We at Frack Free Wakefield would like to send out condolences to the family of Tony Almond. We met him at a Meet the Regulators meeting and also had contact with him through email. He was always friendly and ready to answer our questions.”

Brockham Oil Watch

“Very sad news. We met Tony and liaised with him over several matters. He was very approachable, courteous and wanting to help. A big loss to this important regulator of onshore oil & gas.”

Michael Hill

“We corresponded and met regularly for 7 years on fracking and whilst we didn’t always see eye to eye I have to say he was a gentleman and I respected his professionalism and him as an individual. Fracking is a toxic business and some are very unpleasant and disrespectful. Tony was never like that. He was a gentleman in every sense.“

• Earlier this year, Tony Almond gave an extended interview to DrillOrDrop about his role and that of the HSE in oil and gas regulation. You can read the article based on the interview here and a transcript of our conversation here

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