In addition to being the Principal, CREATE, he is Professor of Construction Management, Nelson Mandela University. Professor John Smallwood has conducted extensive research in the field of construction H&S, ergonomics, and occupational health (OH), and to a lesser extent, primary health promotion, and health and well-being. Furthermore, both his MSc and PhD (Construction Management) addressed H&S, and he is a National Research Foundation rated researcher specialising in construction-related issues such as H&S.
Publication outputs include papers in international journals, conference proceedings and reports, chapters in books, and articles, interviews and an H&S column in industry magazines. Completed chapters for books include the health and safety chapter for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Architect's Handbook of Construction Project Management in the capacity as principal co-author.
He has developed, organised, and presented a range of regional courses, programmes, seminars, and workshops, and initiated and co-organised the First, Second, Third, and Fourth South African Construction H&S conferences, and addressed institutes and business organisations. 36 Years of diverse H&S experience includes contracts management for the regional entity of a national general contractor, consulting, lecturing, competition and star grading judging, and chairing of regional and national forums and committees.
He is registered as a Pr CM, and a Pr CHSA, is a Member of the Association of Construction Project Managers (ACPM), Association of Construction Health and Safety Management (ACHASM), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), and a member of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa (ESSA), International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), Institute of Safety and Health (IOSH), and South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Saiosh). He is a Past-President of the then South African Institute of Building, and the Association of Schools of Construction of Southern Africa (ASOCSA), and a Past-Councillor of the Council, South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP), and the then Institute of Safety Management (ISOM), and a Director, ACHASM. Other leadership contributions include, Regional Representative, Africa and Middle East, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) Work Group 99 (Safety and Health in Construction), Chair, Building and Construction Technical Committee, International Ergonomics Association (IEA), Director, ACHASM, Founder Member, Association of Researchers in Construction Safety, Health, and Well-Being (ARCOSH), and Past International Coordinator CIB Task Group 59 (People in Construction).