Rom Simson graduated in Chemical Engineering (1959), Applied Biology (1961) and Medicine (1967) from UNSW. He holds a postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Health (1975) from Sydney University and is a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (RACP).

He has been an NHMRC Travelling Fellow in Occupational Health (1976), a WHO Short-Term Consultant in OH&S Education in Sri Lanka (1979), and has contributed to his chosen discipline through a variety of roles including trainee mentoring and supervision, committee memberships, occasional examiner and both journal papers and conference presentations.

His professional experience includes work in engineering design and development, analytical and research laboratory work in the chemical and food industries; lecturing, teaching and demonstrating; and occupational health and medicine consulting practice in a number of industries as well as both private and government organisations (hospital OH; food; pharmaceuticals; household and aerosol products; pesticides; energy; printing; plastics, adhesives and abrasives; light and medium engineering; transport; and environmental management).

Significant activities have included reviews of company health and safety programs; a review of the (then) NSW WorkCover Medical Branch; Chairman of the Joint Advisory Committee on Safety and Health Policy of the (then) Australian Atomic Energy Commission; external Masters’ degree examiner; and as a breath analysis scheme police educator and expert witness.

Among the most satisfying professional and personal experiences he has had was to see five Registrars from the Royal North Shore Hospital's Department of Occupational and Staff Health, St Leonards, all pass their Fellowship exit examinations at the first attempt.

Most recent professional contributions are in the areas of health assessment and surveillance - from recruitment through to retirement; contributing to progressing occupational rehabilitation, in particular through case review, stakeholder liaison and case management meetings; and facilitating mediation/negotiation in difficult or sensitive cases of alleged workplace exposure to chemicals and other agents and in risk assessment and management strategies.

Rom also has a special interest in further developing, expanding and modelling the well known occupational health axiom: Work↔Health.

He retired from practice in 2017.