Chris Lea is Director of EHS at EIT. He is responsible for leading EIT's approach to health, safety and environmental management. Chris has spent more than 25 years working within life science organisations and is passionate about enabling the creative environments needed to solve difficult problems. He has a particular interest in organisational psychology and the emerging "new view" of safety.

Prior to joining EIT, Chris was SVP, Head of Global EHS at Evotec, where he oversaw health, safety and environmental programmes across research and manufacturing operations. Before that, he spent 14 years at UCB Pharma as Director of HSE & Wellbeing for the company's R&D organisation globally.

Chris holds an MSc in Safety, Health and Environmental Management, a BSc in Environmental Science and a Postgraduate Cert. in Psychology. He is a Chartered Member of IOSH and previously served as Chair of the ABPI's EHS Network, helping to facilitate dialogue across the UK pharmaceutical industry.  He is also an active contributor to professional safety forums through published articles and conference speaking engagements.

Chris lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, two children and dog. Should he find any spare time, he enjoys swimming, cycling and running, and occasionally takes part in triathlons, usually found somewhere towards the back of the field.