It's show time

The successful Health & Safety series of regional events, organised by Western Business Exhibitions, is coming to Bolton.Taking place at The Reebok Stadium, on 5-6 October 2011, Health & Safety North offers visitors a valuable experience in terms of knowledge, the opportunity to meet the industry's most respected organisations and to network with other professionals.

With high-quality seminar content, the biggest names in the health & safety sector exhibiting and the addition of the new 'Cleaning & Hygiene Zone'Health & Safety North is an event not to be missed.Here, HSM looks at the latest news

Each year the event organiser's work in partnership with the UK's top safety product and service providers, as well as leading safety industry organisations to provide an exhibition and a conference programme that are relevant to today's workplace.

The British Safety Council is the Official Educational Partner for the conference and the event is endorsed by the IIRSM and Safety Groups UK.

One of the overall messages of the event is that safety should not be thought of as restrictive, but considered as a positive approach to good business management.

One seminar that captures this is the seminar entitled 'Safety is a "Can Do" Business' aimed at anyone with responsibility for health & safety in their business.

Delivered by Ken Smith, divisional director consultancy services from Arc Associates, the seminar will challenge the misconceptions and discuss the benefits of doing safety right to avoid any risks.

Ken Smith says, "Safety should not be restrictive but be concerned with a positive approach to good business management; it isn't about can't do but can do!" In addition, discussing the right steps to a sensible approach to health and safety will be Richard Evens, commercial training director of St John Ambulance presenting 'Health and Safety Gone Sane'.

Back in 2010, Lord Young pointed out that unqualified consultants had given health & safety a bad name and resulted in 'health & safety gone mad' stories.

Since then, the government has been announcing changes to reduce some of the bureaucracy often associated with health and safety planning. Richard Evens says that by having a clear and qualified understanding of the possible safety risks in an organisation and knowing how to minimise them is just one step, but having trained personnel in place when accidents do happen is also essential.

For those required to deliver some aspects of health & safety training, communications need to be finely tuned and developed to meet the expectations of wide ranging audiences at different levels and abilities. Addressing this issue at the event will be the presentation from Lisa Fowlie, health and safety advisor, University of Wales, Bangor, entitled 'Communicating Health and Safety Issues in Training: From (Bored) Board Level to Basics'.

Also looking at the impact of the recent and planned Government reforms of the health and safety regulatory framework will be the presentation entitled 'The Changing Health and Safety Landscape'.

Presented by Neal Stone, director of policy and research for the British Safety Council, the seminar will explore the significant changes taking place in the sourcing of expert advice and guidance and also the likely impact of reduced resources for regulation and enforcement.

Corporate Manslaughter Act update On day two of the event the seminar delivered by Kevin Bridges, Partner Associate, Pinsent Masons LLP, entitled 'What Lessons have been learnt from the First Corporate Manslaughter Prosecution?' will focus in the wake of the first conviction and fine imposed under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. The lesson to be learnt by employers is that it has never been more important to ensure that safety management systems are robust and senior managers understand their own health and safety obligations.

Kevin Bridges represented Cotswold Geotech and its managing director in this first prosecution and will outline the background to the case; the respective arguments advanced by the prosecution and the defence and what lessons can be learnt. They will go on to explain the significance, therefore, of having a clearly defined Incident Response Protocol, incorporating Legal Privilege over accident investigation reports and other internally produced documents.

A fascinating part of the programme is a case study type presentation from Naveed Qamar, group safety director of FirstGroup. He will outline the challenges of managing a workforce of 130,000 people and 2.5 billion passengers, where the challenge is to promote a proactive mindset as opposed to waiting for events to dictate. 'FirstGroup's Approach to Managing Health and Safety' will give an insight into how to provide safety leadership internally and externally and the results that can be achieved.

Something different for the conference programme this year is the drama based presentation called 'Safety Leadership and Culture' delivered by Shaun Curry and Harry Gallagher of Macnaughton McGregor. The session promises to be interactive, practical and effective and the organisers of the presentation say their style of delivery effects a long-term change in attitude - not just a short term change in behaviour - and helps to build lasting positive cultural change.

Cleaning & Hygiene Zone launch A new element which brings something different to the event is the addition of the Cleaning & Hygiene Zone, sponsored by the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA), a trade association of suppliers to the cleaning industry representing over 200 manufacturers and distributors across the UK. The Zone will feature exhibits from a number of providers of products and services and it also presents the opportunity for health and safety distributors who are considering expanding into cleaning supplies to find out further information, including details on membership with the CHSA. The main objective of the CHSA is to raise the long-term performance of member companies by assisting them in offering excellence of customer service to end-users.

Exhibiting within the Cleaning & Hygiene Zone are; Chemaide, which develops a range of specialist maintenance, cleaning and hygiene products for industrial, commercial and institutional applications; Sebo, manufacturers of vacuum cleaners specifically designed for cleaning professionals, and Omnipole, innovative maintenance and window cleaning equipment manufacturers.

Speaking about the relationship between the cleaning and hygiene and health and safety sectors, Secretary for the CHSA, Graham Fletcher said: "There is a great synergy between cleaning, hygiene, health and safety, for example the threat of occupational skin care is overcome by the use of skin care programmes developed and sold by the cleaning and hygiene industry. Slips, trips and falls are controlled through the use of appropriate floor care preparations developed and sold by the cleaning and hygiene industry. And so it goes on. Every single business in the UK uses products or services of the type provided by CHSA members; therefore, we believe the new Cleaning & Hygiene Zone is relevant to anyone attending Health & Safety North".

Demonstration Zone provides practical advice As well as the educational programmes an HSM Demonstration Zone is also planned for the North event. Sponsored by machinery safety specialists Laidler Associates, part of the machinery division of TÃœV SÃœD Product Service Ltd, the zone will host more than a dozen demonstrations and will offer free theoretical and practical information about the latest legislation and technology.

Opening speaker at the HSM Demonstration Zone will be Simon Deighton from the Laidler group. His presentation will concentrate on 'PUWER' and he will also focus on the additional requirements needed when using electro-sensitive protective equipment (light curtains).

Also speaking at the zone will be Jonathan Wilson, health & safety sector manager, NQA, with the seminar entitled 'Making life easier for the Health & Safety Managers'. Jonathan Wilson explains the framework behind the Health & Safety Standard OHSAS 18001 and demonstrates how this standard can help health & safety managers to show 'best practice' at all times. His workshop includes guidance on how to ensure compliance with legislation that applies to your activities and identified hazards.

Attendees at this seminar will gain an understanding of how to develop a sound business case for the adoption of OHSAS 18001.

Part of the conference programme will also be more practical seminars hosted by the event partners such as 3M Occupational Health & Environmental Safety. Its seminar entitled 'Occupational Asthmagens' delivered by Alan McArthur, technical affairs engineer, puts Occupational asthmagens in the spotlight.

Occupational asthmagens exist in a broad range of industries and include substances such as flour and wood dust. 3M will highlight common asthmagens, their health effects and give guidance on control measures.

Also, event partner Ansell Occupational Healthcare, will be delivering a seminar entitled 'Cut Protection and Cut Index; The Reality Behind The Scores'. The presentation will be an insight into hand protection experiences and the deviation between laboratory test and shop floor reality. The seminar will look in-depth at the level of protection to better address glove performance requirements and optimise glove portfolio selection, as well as operator's protection and satisfaction.

Feedback from Health & Safety North in 2010 event was very positive and Stuart Holmes, Day Aggregates said: "I like coming to events such as this to see what is new, to get updates on seminars and conferences. I like being kept up to date with information and this is the perfect place to do that" Health & Safety North is free to attend and also has free parking. It is recommended that visitors should register in advance for entry tickets and especially for seminar places as these are extremely popular. You can register online at: www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk or by calling the event hotline on the number below.