Dr Nebil Achour

Nebil has expertise in the resilience of healthcare to major hazards, about which he published over 50 scientific articles and reports, and was a member of the global WHO Hospital Safety Index revision panel.

nebil.achour@aru.ac.uk

Background

Having over 20 years' experience in Disaster Mitigation with particular focus on healthcare. Dr Achour’s background is in Engineering. After he received his first degree from the Tunis Advanced School of Science and Technology, Tunisia, Dr Achour worked in private engineering and design firms, designing structures and training engineers in several countries.

Granted a Japanese Government Scholarship to further his education, he gained his MSc with a focus on the response of hospital lifeline systems following seismic activities, and his PhD on hospitals' fragility assessment, in 2004 and 2007 respectively from Kanazawa University.

Following his graduation, he was employed as a Post-doctoral Researcher in his graduate university. He joined Loughborough University in September 2007 as a Research Associate. He coordinated the research activities of the £11million HaCIRIC research centre, and the CPM WBDL MSc Course. He was awarded the Best Paper Award during the CIB World Congress 2010, and the Highly Commended Paper in the 2016 and 2015 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.

Nebil is actively involved in national and international research and consultancy activities and interested in exchanging knowledge with academics and practitioners, specifically those working on similar topics.

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Research interests

• Innovation and modernization of healthcare emergency planning
• Disaster mitigation
• Global challenge and healthcare resilience
• Healthcare system interconnectivity
• Public health and disaster prevention
• Healthcare and system dynamics
• International best practice

Areas of research supervision

• Disaster-associated staff redeployment
• Advanced technologies for disaster mitigation
• Leadership and service development
• Hospital staff resilience
• Ambulance service resilience 

Teaching

• Healthcare Management (MSc Distance Learning)

Qualifications

• PhD in Disaster Mitigation Engineering, Kanazawa University (Japan) Abstract DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdrbe.2011.43502caa.002 and thesis can be accessed at http://hdl.handle.net/2297/3747
• MSc in Disaster Mitigation Engineering, Kanazawa University (Japan)
• BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering, University of Tunis II (Tunisia)
• Qualification in Team Leadership, Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM)
• PG Certificate in Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin University (UK)

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), California
• Associate Editor of the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (DMPHP), Cambridge University Press
• Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of the Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE), Emerald
• Member of the TRC Journal of Medicine, Turkish Red Crescent
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Member of the Committee of Scientific Directors of the CIB World Building Congress 2016 (2015-2016)
• Reviewer for over 15 international journals

Member of the scientific committees of:

• CIB World Building Congress 2016 (WBC16), 30 May-3 June 2016, Finland
• International Conference on Advances in Civil & Environmental Engineering (ACEE), 28-30 July, 2015, Malaysia
• 5th International Conference on Building Resilience, 15-17 July, 2015, New Zealand
• 4th International Conference on Building Resilience, 8-11 September, 2014, UK
• 3rd International Conference on Disaster Resilience, 11-15 February, 2013, Sri Lanka

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

National and international esteem

• Chair of the Healthcare Resilience to Major Disasters: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic international webinar, Anglia Ruskin University, 2021. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25411/aru.16644640
• Keynote Speaker. Reshaping Healthcare Disaster Resilience through innovative use of Intelligent Environment. International Workshop on Intelligent Environments Supporting Healthcare and Well-being (WISHWell 2019), Intelligent Environment Conference, The 15th International Conference on Intelligent Environments (IE’19), June 2019, Morocco
• Guest Speaker. Healthcare performance and resilience: redesigning the system? Frontiers of Development Symposium: Inclusive Prosperity and Wellbeing in the Context of Mass Displacement, Royal Engineering Academy (RAEng) and Medical Science Academy. February 2018, Kigali, Rwanda
• Guest Lecture. Enhancing the sustainability and resilience of healthcare infrastructure, Department of Civil Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. April 2017. Surabaya, Indonesia
• Chair of the Preparedness (Theme 4) technical session as part of the 7th International Conference on Building Resilience, Huddersfield University and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), November 2017, Bangkok, Thailand
• Co-Chair of the Int. Scientific Committee, CIB World Building Congress 2016
• External PhD Examiner in Coventry (UK), De Montfort (UK), Salford (UK) and New South Wales (Australia) Universities
• Co-Chair of the ‘Planning for more resilient healthcare in emergencies under increasing risks and decreasing budgets’ international workshop, Loughborough University, 2011, UK. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijdrbe.2011.43502caa.004
• Invited Speaker at ‘A Healthy Climate: The Implications of climate change for health and adapting healthcare services’ workshop, Nottingham Conference Centre, Nottingham, 2011, UK
• Keynote Speaker at the ‘Memorial International Symposium on Earthquake Engineering in Retirement of Professor M Kitaura’, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, 2009, Japan
• Invited Author - Contributed with an article ‘Healthcare Resilience: What’s missing?’ to the Asian Disaster and Preparedness Centre (ADPC) Newsletter, Bangkok, 2008, Thailand

Consultancy

• Member of the International Expert Panel to develop a Curriculum for Hospital Emergency Response Plan for European hospitals, World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe, Denmark (2020)
• Member of the Global Expert Consultation on Revision of the Hospital Safety Index, WHO (2012-2015)
• Member of International Post-earthquake Investigation Team to Ercis and Van (Turkey). Team included members from Italy, Japan, Turkey and UK, Van, 2011, Turkey
• Member of International Advisory Panel to develop ‘A Curriculum Framework for Public Health Risk Management’, WHO East Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), Amman, 2013, Jordan
• Member of International Advisory Panel to develop and of ‘A Protocol for Health Emergency Risk Assessment’, WHO East Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), Amman, 2013, Jordan

Selected recent publications

Book chapters and editorial/special issues

Achour, N. (2017) “Healthcare Disaster Risk Reduction and Management”, Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, in Madu, C N and Kuei, C H (Eds), World Scientific Press and Imperial College Press, London. ISBN 978-981-3207-94-3

Achour, N and Kähkönen, K.E.E. (Eds) (2017) "Disaster resilience: Building the Jigsaw", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 8(3), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-04-2017-0029

Achour, N. (Eds) (2016) “Advancing products and services”, Proceedings of the CIB World Building Congress 2016, Volume V. Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland. ISBN: 978-952-15-3745-5. Accessible from: https://tutcris.tut.fi/portal/files/6187048/WBC16_Vol_5.pdf

Achour, N. and Price, A.D.F. (Eds). (2011) “Optimising healthcare facilities performance in natural hazards”. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE), 2(3), 196-199. ISSN:1759-5908. Accessible from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/ijdrbe/2/3

Journal publications

Achour, N.; Elhaj, H and Ali, A (2022), “Hospital resilience to extreme events: a staff attendance perspective”, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. [Under review]

Ballantyne, H and Achour (2022). The Challenges of Nurse Redeployment and Opportunities for Leadership during COVID-19 Pandemic. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.[Under review]

Prosser, K and Achour, N. (2022). A cross-sectional comparative study: Job satisfaction for orthotists employed by NHS and the private sector, British Journal of Healthcare Management. [In press]

Ali, A and Achour, N (2022), “Healthcare resilience to extreme events: A hospital staff perspective”, Turkish Red Crescent Journal of Medicine. [In press]

Hales, P., White, A., Eden, A., Hurst, R., Moore, S., Riotto., C and Achour, N. (2020), “A case study of a collaborative allied health and nursing crisis response”. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(5), pp.614-621, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2020.1813093

Achour, N. and Miyajima, M. (2020), “Post-earthquake Hospital Functionality Evaluation: The Case of Kumamoto Earthquake 2016”. Earthquake Spectra, 36(4), pp.2670-1694. Sage. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/8755293020926180. [Open Access]

Achour, N., Munokaran, S., Barker, F. and Soetanto, R. (2018), “Staff Stress: The Sleeping Cell of Healthcare Failure”. Procedia Engineering, 212, pp.459-466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.059. [Open Access]

Soetanto, R.; Mullins, A. and Achour, N (2016), “The perceptions of social responsibility for community resilience to flooding: the impact of past experience, age, gender and ethnicity”, Natural Hazards. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2732-z[Open Access]

Achour, N; Pascale, F; Price, ADF; Polverino, F; Aciksari, K; Özüçelik, DN; Miyajima, M; Yoshida, M (2016), “Learning lessons from the 2011 Van Earthquake to enhance healthcare surge capacity in Turkey”, Environmental Hazards, 15(1), 74-94. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2016.1139539

Achour, N., Pantzartzis, E., Pascale, F., Price, A.D.F. (2015), “Integration of resilience and sustainability: From theory to application”, International Journal on Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE), 6(3) 347-362. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-05-2013-0016[Open Access]

Achour, N., Pascale, F, Soetanto, R, and Price ADF (2015) “Healthcare emergency planning and management to major disasters in the UK”, International Journal of Emergency Management, 11(1), 1-19. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJEM.2015.069514 [Open Access]

Pascale, F, Achour, N., Price, A.D.F and Polverino, F. (2014), “Evaluation of factors and approaches affecting emergency department space planning”, Facilities, 32(13/14), 761 – 785. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/F-09-2012-0073. Accessible from: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/16165

Achour, N., Miyajima, M. & Price, A.D.F. (2014) “Hospital Resilience to Natural Hazards: Classification and Performance of Utilities”, Disaster Prevention and Management, 23(1), 40-52. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/DPM-03-2013-0057 Accessible from: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/14813

Glass, J., Achour, N., Parry, T. & Nicholson, I. (2012) “Engaging Small Firms in Sustainable Supply chains: Responsible Sourcing Practices in the UK Construction Industry”, International Journal of Agile Systems and Management (IJASM), 5(1), 29-58, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJASM.2012.045900

Achour, N., Miyajima, M., Kitaura, M. & Price, A.D.F. (2011) Earthquake Induced Structural and Non-structural Damage in Hospitals, Earthquake Spectra, 27(3), 617-634, ISSN: 8755-2930. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1193/1.3604815

Achour, N. & Price, A.D.F. (2010) Resilience Strategies of Healthcare Facilities: Present and Future, International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE), 1(3), 264-276, ISSN: 1759-5908. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17595901011080869

Achour, N., Miyajima, M, Ikemoto, T & Inagaki, J (2005) Damage Analysis of Health Care Facilities in the 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake, Proceedings of Earthquake Engineering, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), Vol. 28, 6p (CD-ROM). (In Japanese)

Conference papers

Achour, N, Munokaran, S, Barker, F and Soetanto, R (2017), Staff Stress: The Sleeping Cell of Healthcare Failure, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Building Resilience: Using scientific knowledge to inform policy and practice in disaster risk reduction, November 2017, Bangkok, Thailand

Achour, N., Pantzartzis, E., Pascale, F., Price, A.D.F. (2012), Opportunities associated with the integration of environmental and resilience appraisal tools, Japan-UK Joint workshop on Policy Integration between Environmental Assessment and Disaster Management 30 November – 3 December 2012, Ichikawa, Japan Accessible from: http://www.nishikiz.depe.titech.ac.jp/JPUK2012/Proceedings_of_the_JP-UK_joint_WS.pdf

Pascale, F., Achour, N., Price, A.D.F. and Polverino, F. (2012), Evaluation, analysis and benchmarking of the Design of Emergency Departments in Italy, Proceedings of the HaCIRIC International Conference: Transforming Healthcare Infrastructure and Services in an Age of Austerity, 19-21 September, Cardiff

Pascale, F., Achour, N., Price, A.D.F. and Polverino, F. (2012), Design Evaluation of Emergency Departments: Lessons learned from international case studies, Proceedings of the Emergency Department: Considerations for Innovation and Strategic Design Workshop, 28-29 June, Washington DC

Glass, J., Achour, N., Parry, T. & Nicholson, I. (2011) The Role of Responsible Sourcing in Creating a Sustainable Construction Supply-Chain, Proceedings of The CIB International Conference Management and Innovation for a Sustainable Built Environment - MISBE2011, 2011, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Achour, N. & Price, A.D.F. (2010) Resilience Strategies of Healthcare Facilities: Present and Future, Proceeding of the CIB World Congress 2010, May, Salford, UK

Achour, N., Miyajima, M. & Price, A.D.F. (2009) Hospital Disaster Planning: An Injury Based Approach, Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Disaster Casualties, June 2009, Cambridge, UK. (CD-ROM)

Achour, N, Miyajima, M & Kitaura, M (2007) Response of Wheeled Equipment without Restoring Force to Sinusoidal Wave. The 10th World Conference on Seismic Isolation, Energy Dissipation and Active Vibrations Control of Structures, May 2007, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 28-31

Achour, N., Shimazaki, T. & Miyajima, M. (2006) Experimental Study on Stability of Medical Equipment Under a Sinusoidal Pulse. The Eighth International Summer Symposium, Nagoya, Japan, 4p

Achour, N. & Miyajima, M. (2006) Two Years On, What has been accomplished in Bam Healthcare Facilities. Symposium on recent Damaging Earthquakes around the World, JSCE, Tokyo, Japan, September 2009, pp. 106-113

Achour, N., Inagaki, J. & Miyajima, M. (2005) Japanese Health Care Facilities after the Hyogo-ken-Nambu Earthquake; Response to Recent Earthquakes. Proceeding of the Seventh International Summer Symposium, JSCE, July 2005, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 97-100

Achour, N., Miyajima, M. & Fallahi, F. (2005) Lessons from the Bam Earthquake; Planning and Organization of Health Care Facilities. Proceedings of the International Conference on Geohazards, Natural Disasters and Methods of Confronting with Them, September 2005, Tabriz, Iran, 8p. (CD-ROM)

Reports and professional journals

Achour, N. (2020) “Bracing healthcare facilities for impact of pandemics”, Health Estate Journal. July 2020, pp.19-22

Achour, N (2015), A ‘disaster prevention’ approach advocated, Health Estate, 69(6) 29-32. Accessible from: http://www.healthestatejournal.com/story/14477/a-disaster-prevention-approach-advocated

Achour, N (2015), “Reconnaissance report: Water supply failure incident in Library on 22nd December 2014”, March 2015, Loughborough University, UK

Achour, N (2014), “Report on the Reliability and Resilience of the Department of Chemistry systems and installations”, March 2014, Loughborough University, UK

Achour, N. and Pascale, F. (2012) “Ercis and Van Earthquakes (Turkey) International Investigation Team Reconnaissance Report”, Loughborough University, UK

Glass, J., Achour, N., Parry, T. and Nicholson, I. (2012), “Responsible sourcing of construction products and materials: results from an industry survey”, Concrete Magazine, February 20120, 47-49, ISSN: 0010-5317

Achour, N and Price, ADF (2011) “Planning for more resilient healthcare in emergencies under increasing risks and decreasing budgets: Preliminary report on the workshop findings and way forward”, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, 7p

Achour, N. (2011), “Healthcare Resilience Tool”, Design and Decision Making to Improve Healthcare Infrastructure, Loughborough University, pp.35, September 2011

Achour, N., Buxton, D. & Price, A.D.F. (2009) Resilience of Healthcare Facilities, Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) Interim Report, September 2009, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, 66p

Achour, N. (2009) Resilience of Built Healing Environment, In Price et al. (Eds), HaCIRIC BHE Final Study Report, Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC), Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, pp. 119-133

Achour, N. (2008) Post-disaster healthcare: What is missing? Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) Newsletter, 14(3), pp. 10-11. Accessible from: http://www.adpc.net/v2007/ikm/asian%20disaster%20management%20news/2008/newsletter_10-mar_final(v2).pdf

Choudhry, S, Achour, N. & Price, A.D.F. (2008) Sustainable approach of construction of healthcare facilities and assessment of coherence offsite and traditional methods with the approach, ENSURE programme end of training report, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

Miyajima, M., Achour, N., Kosa, K., Tasaki, K., Uno, H., Salamy, M.R., Arai, Y, Fallahi, A. & Alaghebandian, R. (2005) Iran, Bam Earthquake (2003) Reconnaissance Report, December 2005, Tokyo, Japan

Achour, N and Miyajima, M. (2004) “Disaster Response” in Boumerdes Earthquake The 21st May 2003, Japanese Reconnaissance Team’, In Hamada, M and Ramdane K.E. (Eds), October 2004, Tokyo (CD-ROM). Accessible from: http://www.jsce.or.jp/library/eq_repo/Vol2/04/algeriareport.pdf