Hunter Industrial Medicine
Dr Maurice J Harden
BMed, Grad Dip OHS, MMedStat, FAFOEM,
Maurice began his Occupational Medicine career as Medical Officer in the Royal Australian Navy's Submarine Squadron. During his RAN time, Maurice gained experience assessing fitness for work in specialized military environments including occupational diving and submarine escape training facilities. He left the RAN to commence private practice with Hunter Industrial Medicine in 1998. He has a particular interest in the principles and practice of Occupational Health Surveillance, fitness for work and the analysis and reporting of occupational health data.
Dr Deon A Viljoen
BSc. MBChB. DA(SA). MPhil(SportsMed). MOHS.
After gaining extensive experience in Military and Sports Medicine in South Africa Deon developed a large private practice in Occupational Health. His Occupational Medicine experience includes provision of on site service to the Electronics, Wood/Paper, Construction, Abattoir, Sugar and mining industries as well as provision of Aviation Medicine and Underwater/Hyperbaric Medical services. Deon has a strong research focus and a commitment to the practice of Evidence based Occupational Medicine
Dr Andrew D S Gibson
BMedSci, MB BS, MMedHum, FRACGP, FAFOEM
Andrew completed specialist training as an occupational physician in the Royal Australian Navy. Since leaving the RAN in 1996 Andrew has been working full time as a consulting Occupational Physician. Andrew has a broad range of experience in the clinical, administrative and consultancy aspects of occupational medical practice in a diverse range of industries across all sectors. Andrew has a strong focus on a high quality of service delivery, with an emphasis on an evidence-based approach to return-to work, and on providing practical specialist advice to management.
Dr Sandra McBurnie
MBBS, BA, MMedSci(clin epi) Grad Dip OHS, FAFOEM
Sandra began her career in fulltime occupational medicine in 1997 after earlier work in accident and emergency, general practice and cardiac assessment. Sandra has experience in a variety of occupational settings including heavy industry and office based environments in both the public and private sectors and has more recently been extensively involved in defence force recruitment. Sandra’s focus is on providing high quality, practical advice to clients. Sandra has an interest in occupational health surveillance and research and has worked on a number of important research projects including projects with the University of Newcastle.
Dr Joe Ferris
MBBS, MSc Tech(Occ Med), Grad Dip Sports Sci, Aust Cert Civ Av Med, CIME
Joe is a very experienced doctor with a background in sports medicine, general practice, occupational and aviation medicine. Joe runs a busy occupational health practice in Taree and he is working with Hunter Industrial Medicine during his final stage of training to become an Occupational Physician.
Paul Chant
RN BNursSc
Paul completed his nursing training at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1990 and worked in public sector emergency departments in Australia and the United Kingdom for over 13 years. During this time he has completed various studies in emergency, aviation and hyperbaric nursing. For the last 6 years he has worked as the Acute and Occupational Health Clinic Coordinator for remotely located industries including an Oil company in Papua New Guinea and Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory. Paul joined the team in 2010 and coordinates our occupational health office on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Hunter Environmental Research
Dr Fiona Harden
BSc,(Hons) PhD
Fiona is a research scientist who lectures at the Queensland University of Technology. Fiona’s research interests and expertise lie in the area of environmental pollutants particularly dioxins, organochlorine pesticides, triclosan, flame retardants and PFC’s with a particular interest in exposure pathways. She has been involved in a number of projects for the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage and the World Health Organisation investigating the levels of these compounds in the Australian population. She has strong links with analytical laboratories and environmental research teams both in Australia and overseas.
Peter Devey
BSc Dip OHSM MAIOH COH
Peter is a certified Occupational Hygienist with over 20 years of experience in industry, Newcastle University and the Hunter New England Area Health Service. While teaching and research was included, most of his time has been in the provision of consultant workplace-environment assessments and measurements. As a Conjoint Lecturer he has maintained a close relationship with the Discipline of Environmental & Occupational Health in the University of Newcastle and is able to draw on the resources and experience of that Discipline and the University.
About our name and logo
Hunter Industrial Medicine is named in honour of Dr. Donald Hunter (11 February 1898 - 11 December 1978). Dr. Hunter was a British Occupational Physician, curator of the Medical School Museum, Director of the Medical Research Council's Department for Research in Industrial Medicine, founding editor of the British Journal of Industrial medicine and author of the classic text book of occupational Medicine The Diseases of Occupations. Serendipitously, Hunter Industrial Medicine began in the Hunter Valley in 1998, 100 years after the birth of Dr. Hunter.
Our logo represents the interaction of health, employee, employer and environment. The supporting base of the triangle represents our employees and employers while the apex represents the highest ‘Pinnacle’ of health that we can achieve by working and building together as a team. This triad sits within a sphere that represents our environmental boundaries while the central statistical graph represents not only the evidence based nature of our specialist practice but also our corporate philosophy that improved health leads to greater productivity. The colours are chosen to represent the grey of industry and the red of life giving blood. Taken as a whole the logo tells you that we are occupational and environmental physicians, scientists and health professionals and we take our roles very seriously.
