Giridharan Dhamodharan
Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira – Social Services
Wellington,New Zealand
1
Certification
8
years of professional experience
Emergency Management professional with a Master of Emergency Management and Master of Industrial Safety Engineering (Workplace Health and Safety) along with practical experience in business continuity, disaster research, emergency preparedness and operational readiness. Experienced in contingency planning, leading emergency exercises, delivering training and facilitation and engaging with communities through volunteering. Looking to contribute my expertise as an Emergency Management Advisor while continuously supporting the organisational outcomes.
Work History
Business Continuity Advisor
1 Year 11 Months- Analysed the services offered by the business to identify the critical services and their vulnerabilities.
- Evaluated critical services to identify potential threats and necessary contingency plans.
- Analysed existing resources, staffing, and location for critical services during crises, and developed an action plan.
- Assessed recovery time objectives for critical services to enhance responsiveness through a coordinated approach.
- Carried out employee training on the Business Continuity Plan to ensure preparedness.
- Adhered to change management and developed a BCP for the organisation.
- Currently working on a mock drill plan to train the Kaimahi to implement the BCP through multiple scenarios.
Research Assistant
2 Years 6 Months- Verified and digitised the survey data about the community's experience with “Cyclone Gabrielle” in Hawkes Bay and the “Do Not Drink Notice” issued by Dunedin City Council.
- Learned about the vulnerabilities, threats faced, and contingency plans used by the people during a disaster, which is helping me continuously think and improve the Business Continuity Plan strategies.
- Gained insights about community-level challenges, preparedness, and resilience during and post Cyclone Gabrielle and the issue of Do Not Drink notice - from the community through the survey responses.
- Learned about the key gaps and strengths in the community during and after the disaster.
Intern - Emergency Food Response Benchmarking
6 Months- Developed a research plan as a team, which was approved by the supervisor.
- Carried out a literature survey through shared responsibilities on emergency food responses by considering local and international initiatives.
- Developed surveys on time using Microsoft Forms to identify the existing situation regarding the emergency food response, which got approved and rolled out to the stakeholders by the supervisor.
- Facilitated three workshops on time with government, community-based organisations, and business stakeholders as a team.
- As a team, we analysed results and identified gaps to propose benchmarking for emergency food response for Wellington City, which was highlighted during the presentation.
- Developed a phase-1 benchmarking framework for Wellington City's emergency food response, which is under review for the next phase of the project.
Environment, Health and Safety Engineer
2 Years 3 Months- Worked towards achieving Alstom's Zero Deviation Policy.
- Delivered 1000+ EHS induction and refresher training for all employees and visitors.
- Led emergency mock drills to enhance preparedness and immediate response by planning on 12 different scenarios each year.
- Implemented emergency route plan for ambulance and fire services by developing Standard Operating Procedures.
- Managed PPE stock, including regular reviews, timely updates and procurement.
- Managed contractor onboarding and performed monthly contractor safety evaluations, which helped maintain internal and external stakeholder relationships.
- Ensured logistics safety compliance, including the safe loading and unloading of train sets, leading to zero errors in logistics operations.
- Investigated incidents, maintained records, and tracked action plans with detailed reports.
- Tracked Poka-yoke, Kaizen, and horizontal deployment of new ideas by presenting awards that led to employee recognition.
- Delivered safety talks every day through an engaging visual presentation for 2.3 years, which made me stand out.
- I have participated in design approval processes and evaluated systems for safety compliance, which helped me maintain people and stakeholder relationships.
- Reviewed and updated policies, standard operating procedures and emergency response procedures to support the organisation.
- Maintained EHS dashboards and rolled out weekly/monthly reports to the leadership teams, which made me stand out.
- Verified and monitored the Management of Change (MoC) to adapt to the new changes in the operations.
Executive Trainee - Safety Officer
3 MonthsGraduate Engineer Trainee – Environment, Health, and Safety
5 MonthsEducation
Master of Emergency Management
GPA: Distinction
Master of Industrial Safety Engineering
GPA: Distinction
Bachelor of Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering
Skills
Time management
Stakeholder management
Teamwork and collaboration
Relationship building
Presentations and public speaking
Training and mentoring
Certification
- Co-ordinated Incident Management System - CIMS III (Certification)
- Emergency Management – Welfare, from CDEM Wellington (Certification)
- Working in an Emergency Assistance Centre (EAC) by CDEM Wellington - Training
- Comprehensive First Aid course – (Certification)
- Psychological First Aid course, 2025 – (Certification)
- New Zealand Driver’s License (full) – Class A
- Fire Safety Training - Seed for Safety, 2021(Certification)
Interests
Ocean Swimming
Tramping
High diving
Community Engagement through volunteering
Referees
Referees are available on request.
Timeline
Intern - Emergency Food Response Benchmarking
Wellington City Council
01.2025 - 07.2025Read More
Business Continuity Advisor
Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira – Social Services
12.2024 - CurrentRead More
Research Assistant
Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) Massey University
07.2023 - 01.2026Read More
Environment, Health and Safety Engineer
Alstom Transport India
10.2021 - 01.2024Read More
Executive Trainee - Safety Officer
Rane Engine Valves Ltd.
06.2021 - 09.2021Read More
Graduate Engineer Trainee – Environment, Health, and Safety
TAFE Power Source Division (Amco Batteries)
11.2018 - 04.2019Read More
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering
Read More
MEPCO Schlenk Engineering College
Master of Industrial Safety Engineering
Read More
Massey University
Master of Emergency Management
Read More