ARTICLE

An inspiring sector

12 November 2014

With Georgina on maternity leave, I will be taking over the reins of HSM for the coming year and I must say I relish the opportunity.

Having already met a number of key industry stakeholders and witnessed some of the latest technological innovations, it’s clear that the health and safety sector is one built around passion and integrity.

Health & Safety North, which took place at Bolton Arena on 8 and 9 October, provided ample opportunity to hear from top level health and safety experts in a broad array of educational conferences.

Speakers from organisations such as the Health & Safety Executive, 3M, Arco, DuPont and the British Safety Council delivered talks on every aspect of safety issues and, not surprisingly, the conferences were packed.

Perhaps the most resonant message across the two days was delivered by key note speaker, Ian Travers, deputy director of the HSE: "There are no new incidents, just new people repeating the same mistakes.” It seems that one of the greatest challenges of addressing health and safety within high risk working environments is one of communication. The day-to-day management of PPE compliancy for example, must be an arduous task for the busy employer working to tight deadlines.

Against this backdrop, what’s particularly inspiring is that the employees who work in often treacherous conditions are actually being listened to by manufacturers and suppliers. Most of the products within the pages of HSM have been developed based on issues raised by workers - whether they may be safety related, addressing comfort issues, focusing on ease of use, or based around energy efficiency. 

It is this level of communication that not only enables technology to advance at the research and development level but also help to improve the resources available for the UK workforce. 

Last month, I was privileged to attend the 17th BSIF annual networking day, which was held at The Belfry and was attended by leading health and safety delegates from across the UK. The event was the first in which Alan Murray played host as CEO and, once again, it demonstrated the industry’s focus on communication at every level. Alan Murray emphasised this desire by underlining the Federation’s drive to increase its engagement at a political level - not just with local MPs, but all the way to Westminster.

This month also saw the 40th anniversary of the landmark Health and Safety at Work Act - which John Hannett, general secretary at trade union Usdaw, describes as ‘one of the most important pieces of legislation that Labour, or indeed any government has ever introduced’. 

Since 1974, the UK health and safety sector has surpassed itself in terms of R&D, developing innovative safety technologies that not only adhere to safety regulations but often exceed them. 

It’s this level of passion that makes the health and safety sector stand out from the crowd and, over the coming year, I look forward to delivering up-to-date information on the newest innovations and providing regular updates on legislation and regulations.

I look forward to receiving your feedback.
 
Chris Shaw
Acting Editor
HSM magazine
 
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