From experience - what you don't have can'tleak

This is Trevor Kletz's tenth book. Most industrialists retire without a word being written by them. A few who become household names, such as Sir John Harvey-Jones, offer the odd morsel, which soon hit the remainder lists. But ten books?

Well, Kletz writes well and has an interesting and important story to tell his former colleagues in the chemical industry and the wider public: to learn, from experience, how to make the chemical industry as safe as practicable. To quote Harvey-Jones: "Trevor single-handedly taught us to look at safety in a different way."

Kletz's other books are more specialised; this one gives the same message but within the context of his life and career in ICI in its heyday. It has three themes, one autobiographical, another about ICI culture and a third concerned with his work. All three are interesting but, in my view, he does not do full justice to any of the three.

I first met Kletz in the early 1970s when he came to York to give a talk on safety, which was then rarely mentioned in university chemistry courses. He made the subject fascinating, despite having only just been appointed as ICI's first technical safety adviser. He seemed to epitomise someone with vast experience at a very high level, whereas in fact he was at the threshold of his most important work.

The autobiographical details are disappointingly sparse. His career appears, at first sight, so easy: a scholarship to the local grammar school, a first at Liverpool University, offers of jobs. A hint of a problem appears when we learn that he stood th in the 11-plus examination and there were only places in the school. He muses on this briefly -but in reality it was a defining moment. There are other such moments in his career when his matter-of-fact style hides interesting thoughts; if he does not want to share them, why give away a little? It is unfair.

Again, his thoughts on ICI, as it prospered and then began its decline, would make fascinating reading given a little more indiscretion. It is hard to remember that ICI's annual results were once of great significance to the City. The antagonism between ICI divisions at Wilton and Billingham, at Kletz's level, would have been worth exploring in more detail. The differing cultures of the divisions in those days are interesting social history.

As for his career in safety, the really big stories were not there (thank goodness). But his drive, energy and passion for his chosen craft are there. Here, he is more forthcoming and his big message, "What you don't have can't leak", is well explained.

If I have sounded lukewarm, perhaps it is because I expected too much - which is a compliment to someone whose work has been crucial to the chemical industry.

David Waddington is emeritus professor of chemical education, University of York.