The Health & Safety Event 2015 Preview

The three-day event will provide visitors with a diverse and exciting educational programme, the opportunity to meet the industry’s most respected organisations and the chance to network with other professionals. Additionally, appealing to time pressured visitors from a range of industry sectors, the event is taking place at the same time and in the same location as Maintec, Facilities Management 2015 and Cleaning 2015. This co-location of events ensures that any visitor will maximise the time they spend at the NEC.

Each year the event organisers work in partnership with the UK’s top safety product and service providers, as well as the leading safety industry organisations, to provide an exhibition and conference programme that are relevant to today’s workplace. This year, IIRSM (International Institute of Risk and Safety Management) will independently author the main conference at the event and BOHS, the British Occupational Hygiene Society, will officially support the event.

Comprehensive conference programme

The IIRSM conference programme will cover the latest risk and safety issues with presenters who are recognised experts, able to deliver insight and relevant experience across a wide range of industries.

In recognition of the event’s importance, the director of Long Latency Health Risks Division at the Health and Safety Executive, Karen Clayton will officially open the conference programme on the first day of the event. This will be followed by a seminar looking at ‘Health Risks to Construction Workers’, which will be delivered by Ian Strudley, head of Health Risk Management Unit Construction Sector, Construction Division: HSE, and Tracey Boyle of BOHS. The seminar will look at how the reduction in occupational illness have not kept pace with improvements in safety management in the construction sector. In the UK it is estimated that approximately 100 times as many people lose their lives from ill health caused by working in construction compared to fatal accidents. HSE is encouraging the sector to do more to ‘think health’.

Additionally, Emma Cundiff’s seminar ‘Developing a risk management programme’ is a must in the calendar of any health and safety manager or business director. Her seminar builds a bridge between Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Occupational Safety and Health, which on the surface are two worlds that are diametrically opposed. Emma believes that the skills used in the two disciplines are similar and therefore the two worlds have synergies that are advantageous to explore. Alongside Emma’s belief, there is also very real movement in the market whereby those with responsibility for safety and health are having other, aligned responsibilities ‘tagged on’ to their role. Amongst these are ‘the environment’ and increasingly ‘risk management’.

Emma acknowledges that her seminar might not be to everyone’s taste: "Health and Safety practitioners are used to being bounded by the law whereas ERM is not,” she says. "Organisations that have a risk management framework in place determine how much or how little risk they wish to take, but with the knowledge of the extent and type of risk they are taking. In my seminar I want to turn the concept of risk, as it is usually recognised as a negative in nature, inside out and look at how the likelihood of an opportunity risk might be maximised.”

Looking at the perennial concern of convincing the Board to take health and safety more seriously is Owen Purcell, lead partner – Risk EMEA, Ernst & Young LLP with his seminar on the third day of the event. Owen will discuss how to bring health and safety and risk management on to the C-level agenda and develop a compelling business case for ways to improve the risk management and health and safety practices of your organisation. Owen brings a unique perspective that will assist attendees in understanding the expectations and decision making process at board level. The seminar promises to be engaging and will include case study examples and guidance that can be easily interpreted to suit any health and safety professional’s needs.

Safety Dialogue

As well as its role in the conference both the IIRSM and the BOHS will take leading roles in other educational activities, including providing panellists for the ‘Safety Dialogue’ discussions. ‘Safety Dialogue’ is a round table discussion involving a live panel during which experts discuss the latest issues and open up the floor to questions from the audience.

Safer Logistics

Other free educational activities that take place include practical seminars from the event’s partners and the newly introduced ‘Safer Logistics Seminar Theatre’ and ‘Feature Area’, which promises visitors a wealth of education and advice tackling safety hot spots in warehousing and logistics. The aim of Safer Logistics is to encourage managers in the supply chain to take a proactive approach to safety. Safer Logistics is sponsored by Toyota and supported by partners such as the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA), the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA), and the Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF). Together they bring an unwavering commitment to workplace safety and a great breadth of expertise. An example of the content taking place around Safer Logistics at the event is a panel discussion, around the use of sprinklers in the warehouse, and the new UKWA CEO, Peter Ward, will facilitate.

As well as the educational content of the event, the major attraction is a substantial exhibition where the biggest names in health and safety are situated. Major equipment vendors, service providers and distributors all have experts available to answer direct queries regarding applications.

Core areas are well covered at the exhibition with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) represented by such well known names as: 3M, a leading manufacturer in the safety market offering an extensive portfolio of PPE, and Bollé Safety, a globally-known specialist in the design and manufacture of protective eyewear. Both will be launching new products at the exhibition.

The event is free to enter and it is highly recommend that visitors register in advance for tickets, especially for seminar places as these are extremely popular.

To register online visit www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk or call the event hotline on: 0870 4866816.

 

About the Health & Safety events:

The Health & Safety Events series represents a great use of time for visitors from virtually any industry and at any level, not just health and safety professionals. The venues are chosen for ease of access while the educational content addresses the most topical and pressing safety issues.

Along with event partners, Arco, DuPont and NQA and title sponsor 3M, the Health & Safety Events series is officially endorsed by the International Institute of Risk & Safety Management (IIRSM) and supported by the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and Safety Groups UK. The 2015 series includes 3 events:

The Health & Safety Event – NEC Birmingham 24-26 March 2015 (Educational Partner – IIRSM)

Health & Safety Scotland – SECC Glasgow, 22-23 April 2015

Health & Safety North – Bolton Arena, 7-8 October 2015

You can register online at www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk or by calling the event hotline on: 0870 4866816.

 

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