Health & Safety '10 Series gets off to a racing start

Health & Safety '10 - South, endorsed by the IIRSM, which addresses safety in construction, manufacturing and in the public sector, is now in its fourth successful year.Taking place at Sandown Park in Surrey on the 23rd and 24th February 2010, Georgina Bisby, looks at why this event continues to go from strength to strength

Having attended these regional health & safety events over the past couple of years, I can say from personal experience that one of the main reasons behind its success is the free seminar programme. Last year for example, some seminars literally had standing room only, and for good reason. The event's Official Educational Partner, the British Safety Council, is well-placed to be in touch with the current issues facing those in the health and safety sector and has tailored its seminar programme accordingly.

Looking at the topics on the seminar schedule for February's event, it is clear that this year will be no exception. More details about what the seminar programme has to offer HSM readers can be found overleaf.

As well as the educational content of the event, it's important to remember that there is also a substantial exhibition where major equipment vendors, service providers and distributors all have experts available to answer direct queries regarding application. Major areas are well covered at the exhibition with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) represented by experts such as: 3M, Specsavers Optical Superstores, ATG, Ansell, BM Polyco and DuPont. There is much concern currently about PPE equipment that is essentially a cheap copy of original equipment or equipment that comes with falsified CE certificates. The exhibitors at Health and Safety '10 - South represent best practice in the industry and can give advice on how to spot this counterfeit and illegal equipment as well as discussing individual specialist applications Recent HSE statistics show that over the past year 2156 people died of mesothelioma and thousands more of other occupational cancers and lung diseases. Therefore unsurprisingly respiratory protection and gas detection is addressed at the event with product solution exhibitors such as Arco, MSA, Industrial Scientific and asbestos consultants ACEPSI.

Falls from height continue to be the biggest cause of fatalities in the UK.

Chiefly in the construction sector but also, sadly, across every single industry. Both equipment providers, consultants and training companies in this specialist area are available in the exhibition area at Health and Safety '10 - South. Plus, companies such as Scafftag, that offer status tagging for all types of fall arrest equipment, as well as scaffolding and access equipment, can be found at the event.

With the implementation of the New Machinery Directive at the end of 2009 questions on machinery safety and hardware can be addressed by Laidler Associates and Safety Systems while general risk assessment advice can be sourced from companies such as Aviva Risk Management Solutions and Cardinus.

Beginning at Health and Safety '10 - South, another major piece of news surrounding the 2010 regional safety events is that they are now officially endorsed by the IIRSM (International Institute of Risk and Safety Management).

Speaking about this official endorsement Kelvin Soley, marketing manager for the IIRSM explained, saying: "We exhibited at the northern event for the first time in 2009 and found that many of the visitors who we spoke to were keen to learn what membership of IIRSM really means. The steady stream of visitors came from many different businesses of varying sizes - it proved a really worthwhile event and one which we decided to make part of our strategic approach going forward".

The combination of the very latest health and safety issues being addressed in the educational programme by the foremost authorities and the extensive exhibition make the Health and Safety '10 - South event an essential visit for those in the South of England. For those based elsewhere in England or Scotland then further information on alternative locations can be found at: www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk.

To register in advance for any of the events please visit the website. For those without internet access registration can be completed by calling the event helpline on: 0870 4866816.