Sir Edward John Cullen FEng PhD DSc (29 October 1926 – 14 January 2018) was a British chemical engineer who was head of the UK Health and Safety Commission and received a knighthood for services to health and safety.
Cullen was born in October 1926 in Bury St Edmonds and attended Culford School.
[1][2] Cullen joined the research department of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in 1956, moving to ICI, Billingham as a chemical plant manager, where he remained for three years before going to New York as technical liaison for ICI.
He returned to the UK in 1963 to oversee the building of the refinery on Teesside as a joint venture between ICI and Phillips Petroleum.
[3] During this office he was responsible for overseeing the major hazards legislation COMAH and the occupational health legislation COSHH as well as dealing with major incidents such as the Piper Alpha, King's Cross fire and Clapham Junction rail crash.