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Roy Archibald - Obituary

I have recently learned of the death of Roy Archibald who was well known to me in his time as Director of Medical Services of NCB/British Coal. Although Roy was always a particular advocate of our work at the IOM on ergonomics in coal mining, what I did not appreciate until relatively recently was how far ahead of his time he was in this regard. Looking through old NCB papers I came across a proposal from Roy as a Divisional Medical Officer for research into manual lifting and handling. This was to take two approaches: basic research into the mechanics and physiology of such handling; and research into the design of equipment (such as shovels, props and girders) and tasks (such as manipulating tubs and loading and unloading underground). Dating from 1962, this pre-dated the IOM by some years and came at a time when most of his colleagues appeared to be focussed on exploring the possible merits of manual handling training. The following obituary was prepared by two of his former colleagues and documents some of Roy's many achievements.

Richard Graveling

Principal Ergonomics Consultant

Roy McLellan Archibald

Roy Archibald died on the 19th April 2011, aged 90. He was a distinguished occupational physician, who was one of the first to appreciate the need for improved professional standards for occupational medicine, and to establish the speciality as a distinct entity in the eyes of the General Medical Council, and in the commercial world. To this end, he was at the forefront of the foundation of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of London and of the development of a number of Academic Departments in the UK and he led the campaign from the BMA European Committee for standards of qualification and professional skills in the European Union to be agreed by all the national medical associations in the 16 EU Countries.

Roy was born in 1920 in Yorkshire of Scottish parents; he was educated at Epsom College and, like his father, studied Medicine at Glasgow University, graduating M.B., Ch.B. in 1944. He joined the RAMC and was seconded to the 1st Battalion Parachute Battalion, serving at the liberation of Denmark & thereafter in Palestine, demobilising as a Major in 1947. He remained in the RAMC (TA) until 1953.

Like many returning Medical Officers at the end of World War II he opted for a career in what was then Industrial Medicine but soon became Occupational Medicine. He attended the full-time, one year course of study at Glasgow University under Andrew Meiklejohn obtaining the DIH Glasgow in 1948. His appointment as Assistant Divisional MO in the Alkali Division of ICI at Northwich assured a thorough grounding in the practical aspects of occupational health, and an understanding of some important chemical hazards and their control by good engineering techniques monitored by medical supervision.

In 1953 he was appointed Area Medical Officer in the Yorkshire Division of the National Coal Board (NCB); for the next 6 years he literally toiled away at the coalface providing a medical service to all the mine workers. In 1959 he was promoted to Divisional MO in Durham & in 1963 to the Northumberland & Durham Division. His promotion to the NCB London Headquarters came in 1967 as Assistant CMO; he became Deputy CMO in 1973 and finally in 1979 was appointed Director of Medical Services. Throughout his time with NCB his responsibilities were primarily operational; the NCB had a very large OH service employing scores of doctors & many more nurses. Roy made sure that all the medical & nursing staff were properly trained in occupational health & suitably qualified with DIH or OHNC and that they had access to well trained occupational hygienists. He actively encouraged research into miners pneumoconiosis and sought funding from the NCB for the promotion of academic departments of OH. In 1969, the NCB founded the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh.

Roy was one of the first to recognise the need for better professional training & qualifications for occupational physicians, first in the UK and later throughout Europe and worldwide. In 1968 following the publication of the Todd report the Joint Committee on Higher Medical Training (JCHMT) was established and Occupational Medicine was formally recognised as a Speciality being represented by its own Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC). Roy was appointed Secretary – a very influential position of which he made the most. The SAC developed training procedures & inspection of approved training posts. The only higher qualifications available were the Diploma of Industrial Health (DIH) of the Conjoint Board of the RCP & RCS, of which Roy was the Chief Examiner, the Society of Apothecaries and the Universities of Glasgow & Dundee. In the developments which followed it was realised that occupational medicine was the only recognised speciality without a college or faculty to provide an academic home.

The earliest initiative to redress this position was taken by John Rogan, Roy's boss at the NCB and as President of the SOM in 1971. In 1972 Professor Richard Schilling of London University took up the challenge but it took another 6 years before the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of London was established. Roy was the SOM representative on the Board & was made Vice-Dean from 1979 to 1984. He was thrust into the whole formulation of the Faculty, its objectives, its functions and its administration. He became one of the nine Founding Fellows, and had a profound influence on the construction of the Examining Board set up to replace the DIH with the Associate Membership of the Faculty (AFOM) and the higher MFOM obtainable by dissertation. However the FOM of the Royal Irish College of Physicians founded in 1977, of which Roy was also a Founding Fellow, deserves credit for being the first Faculty.

Roy was also very active in a number of other prestigious professional organisations. At the BMA he was a member of the OH Committee from 1970 to 1976, of the European Committee from 1980, and the Joint BMA/RCN committee from 1974. He joined the St John Ambulance Brigade in 1956 in Yorkshire, teaching & judging first aid competitions. When Roy moved to London in 1967 he was made Assistant to the Chief Surgeon. He was created a Serving Brother in the Order of St John in 1961 and was elevated to a Knight of Grace in 1985, in recognition of his many years devoted service to the Order. He was for the years 1969 to 1976, Secretary of the SOM at a very important period for OM (see FOM above) and was elected President in 1980. The British Occupational Hygiene Society elected Roy to the Executive from 1964 to 1967, and he was an Honorary Fellow of the Ergonomics Society (now the IEHF). On the International stage Roy was a member of many OH organisations where his elementary knowledge of Spanish came in useful; he mentored a number of OH students from China, Chile & Europe.

Roy was married in 1945 to May who survives him; in 2002 he moved to New Zealand to live with his daughter Shiona. They have three children, eleven grandchildren & one great-grandchild. Roy was always a keen sportsman playing Rugby Union for Winnington & for Rotherham. He played Hockey for his University, & was a keen cricket fan. In later life he took up bowling both in England & in New Zealand where he spent the last years of his long life. He will be remembered with great affection by all his professional colleagues for his unfailing charm, and his determination to do his absolute best for them in his pursuit of excellence in professional standards in occupational medicine.