Keep up to date with the experts

The British Safety Council has pulled out all the stops to ensure that the issues
being addressed as part of the seminar programme at Health & Safety ’11
South are topical,informative and expertly delivered,explains Neal Stone

This is the third year that the BSC
has undertaken the role of
education partner to Western
Business Exhibitions for the Sandown
Park event and we are expecting
attendances to surpass the impressive
turnouts in 2009 and 2010. 2011 marks a
new addition to the Health & Safety
Exhibition calendar. In addition to
Sandown Park, Bolton and Edinburgh a
new venue has been added for 2011 –
Dublin – with the first Exhibition
scheduled for 16th & 17th November.

Being the education partner to Western
Business Exhibitions for the four major
events in 2011 is invaluable. Not only
does the British Safety Council have the
opportunity to exhibit its wide range of
advisory, audit and training services but
also to help publicise our considerable
charitable work.

We are first and foremost a charity,
legally and ethically, with a rock solid
commitment to helping ensure that
workplaces both in the UK and
internationally are safe, healthy and
sustainable.

Over the last three years we have
devoted considerable charitable resources
to assist young people between the ages of
14-19 in full time education gain an entry
level qualification in health and safety
awareness. The British Safety Council is
certain that by helping young people
understand and appreciate the risks they
will face when they enter the world of
work we will help reduce the incidence of
workplace injuries and the occurrence of
work-related health problems. Keep an
eye open at Sandown Park for our ‘Speak
Up, Stay Safe’ campaign which has the
aim of given young workers the
confidence to speak up when confronted
with unsafe working practices.

Talking to those who attend the
exhibitions it is clear that the educational
and specialist seminars are seen by those
involved in managing risks to health and
safety as vital to their continuing
professional development. With budgets
under considerable pressure, including
those for training and development, the
seminar programmes, which are provided
free of charge, are seen as an excellent way
to be updated on strategic and legal
developments concerning health and
safety and hear from the experts on
particular risk topics. You will find the
investment of your time well worth it.

A rapidly changing landscape
It is fair to say that health and safety has
seen considerable turbulence over the last
twelve months. It was apparent even as
early as the Sandown Park Health &
Safety Exhibition last February that the
Conservative Party, if elected, had plans
for major reform of our health and safety
framework. This was born out by Lord
Young’s tub-thumping speech to the
IOSH conference in Glasgow in March
last year when he set out the barebones of
what was to become the programme for
health and safety reform endorsed by the
coalition government in October.

Although there are considerable
differences of opinion among health and
safety practitioners and observers
concerning the likely impact of the
proposed reforms, including the proposed
changes to the RIDDOR reporting
requirements and an easing of risk
assessment requirements for small
business, it is clear that the health and
safety landscape is changing rapidly.

It is likely that HSE and Local
authorities, the regulators for health and
safety, will have to change considerably in
order to cope with the significant budgetary
reductions they are facing. Not only will
they have to manage with less resources –
and this will inevitably mean cuts in their
advisory and information role – but the
introduction of charging for certain
activities that form part of the enforcement
function are being actively explored.

We have rung the changes for the
Sandown Park education seminars – with
a number of new speakers and new topics.

Whilst there will be extensive coverage of
key developments concerning health and
safety law and the Government’s proposed
reforms there will also be a strong focus
on safety culture and promoting safe
behaviours using a theatre group.

Particular risk topics as noise, fire safety
and preventing musculo-skeletal disorders
will also receive extensive coverage.

Come and take advantage of this
wonderful opportunity to hear from the
experts, engage with them and other
attendees and share your knowledge and
experiences in the question and answer
sessions. We look forward to seeing you at
Sandown Park.

Neal Stone is head of Policy and Public
Affairs at The British Safety Council