Safety Groups UK

• Alan Butler Award Winners 2009
• Moving Goods Safely Seminars
• Safety Group Sponsors
• Memorandum of Understanding with IIRSM

Diary

• Group Meetings
• Next Safety Groups UK Meeting
• Other Health and Safety events

Health & Safety News

• Workers Memorial Day
• European Campaign 2010 -2011

Links / Resources

• HSE Podcast - Shattered Lives 2010
• Outlook: New and emerging risks in occupational safety and health

Contacts

• Safety Groups UK Management Committee
• Safety Groups UK Secretary

Congratulations to all the Alan Butler Award Winners 2009

The Awards were presented at the Safety Groups UK meeting and luncheon on the 25th January at the House of Lords.
The morning meeting included a presentation on 'health risks at work' by Robert Atkinson, OHS development manager, Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, and the meeting was also addressed by Safety Minister Lord McKenzie of Luton.
The meeting was followed by the Safety Groups UK luncheon, hosted by Safety Groups UK president Lord Brougham & Vaux. Guests included Judith Hackitt, Chair HSE, RoSPA vice president, Lord Hunt of the Wirral, representatives from Safety Groups UK sponsor companies and safety group members from across the UK.

Results Alan Butler Awards 2009

Category 1: Best Membership Retention and Recruitment Approach

Winner: Bradford Area Occupational Health and Safety Forum

Category 2: Best Overall Programme

Winner: North West Wales Health and Safety Group
Highly Commended: West & North Yorkshire Construction Safety Association
Commended: Isle of Wight Health and Safety Group

Category 3: Best Seminar / Workshop

Winner: Nottinghamshire Occupational Safety and Health Association

NOSHA Members receiving their award from Lord Brougham & Vaux

Highly Commended: North West Wales Health and Safety Group
Commended: Solent Occupational Safety Association and Suffolk and North Essex Occupational Safety Group

Category 4: Best Communication

Winner: Safety Health and Environment Forum (SHEF) Scotland
Commended: Birmingham Health Safety & Environment Association and Northern Ireland Safety Group

Safety Groups UK Moving Goods Safely Seminars

Safety Groups UK are organising a series of seminars in support of the HSE's Moving Goods Safely campaign.
‘Moving Goods Safety’ covers a range of hazards (slips and trips, musculoskeletal disorders, workplace transport, falls from vehicles).

Five Moving Goods Safely Seminars have now taken place including:

Moving Goods Safely Teesside Seminar
12 January 2010 at Middlesbrough Football Club

Report by Mike Nixon

Despite the wintry conditions during the previous week that seemed to paralyse most the area it was decided to run the event and in fact the snow and ice was thawing rapidly on the day.

Setting up exhibitor stands and registering all attendees went relatively smoothly and the seminar started almost on time with over 70 attendees.

Paul Smith, Teesside Safety Group Chairman welcomed everyone and highlighted the cooperation between SGUK, Teesside and Neshep to put on the event, sponsored by Nebosh. Presentations were made by David Cole, HSE; Roger Bibbings, RoSPA; Carol Grainger, HSE; Colin Smith, Central Weighing Ltd; Richard Clarke, Berrymans Lace Mawer; Rob Shaw,. HSL; Kerry Ross, Abacus Safety; and Steve Biddle, Road Haulage Association.

Some speakers overran their allotted times and adjustments were made to the breaks with the knowledge that the last speaker from VOSA had had to cancel the previous day.

The venue facilities were excellent and the lunch menu of soup followed by jacket potato and chilli, then by desert was extremely popular.

Over 80% of the feedback forms were returned with the presentation from Rob Shaw on Slips, Trips and Falls being most liked.

Thanks were given to the Teesside/Neshep committee members in particular Tracy Waters and John Raftery; Mike and Cathy Nixon for behind the scenes organisation; to the exhibitors; all the speakers for their input; the staff of MFC and all others involved but not specifically mentioned.
Our best wishes were also passed on to Maurice Adamson, the Teesside Secretary/Treasurer who was quite ill and in a home. Distinguished service awards had been presented to him by Neshep Chairman, Alan Bassett.

(Sadly Maurice Adamson passed away on 18th February 2010)

Four organisations have officially signed up to sponsor Safety Groups UK

Sponsor's benefits include a page in the Safety Groups UK pages of the RoSPA Occupational Safety & Health Journal.

The first article published in January 2010 was:

Choosing PPE

Paul Ness, Arco’s divisional director (safety equipment), offers guidance on selecting
personal protective equipment (PPE) and outlines employers’ legal obligations in relation to PPE.
View article

The memorandum outlines the arrangements for the collaboration between IIRSM and Safety Groups UK in the field of Health and Safety.

Keith Scott, Norman Stevenson and Kerry Ross

An official signing of the MOU by Safety Group UK Chairman, Kerry Ross and IIRSM Chairman, Keith Scott took place at the Alan Butler Awards luncheon at the House of Lords on 25th January.

Norman Stevenson, represents the IIRSM on the Safety Groups UK Management Committee.

Diary:

March 2010:

01 02 03 04 05
08 09 10 11 12

15 16 17 18 19

22 23 24 25 26

28 29 30

April 2010:

1 2

2nd March 2010

• North West Construction Safety Group
  Environmental Sustainability including case studies
  
  

3rd March 2010

• Gloucestershire Safety Group
  Work at Height AND CGS Services will provide an instructor to demonstrate Mobile Scaffold erection
  Chris Davies, Diamond Training
  
• North West Wales Occupational Health & Safety Group

Managing Return to Work
Catherine Wallace, Senior Occupational Support Coach for Wales (A4e Pathways to Work Programme) and Janet Williams, ATOS

• Norwich & District Safety Group
  Investigating Accidents
  Sue Thomas EJHO
  

4th March 1010

• Kent Health and Safety Group
  HSE Update
  Mike Walters, HSE

8th March 2010

• Birmingham Health, Safety & Environment Association
  

Construction Meeting - Selection of Mobile Elevating Work Platforms
Gerry Mulholland, Laing O'Rourke

• Merseyside & Cheshire Construction Safety Group
  Environmental Issues on site / Sustainability
• Safety Group Fife

  Occupational Health
  Dr Linda Bell, Business Medical Ltd
  

9th March 2010

• Isle of Wight Health & Safety Group
  REACH
  Tim Harris, Policy Advisor, International Chemicals Unit, HSE
• Sheffield Occupational Health & Safety Association
  AGM and "Role of the Environmental Health Officer"
  Principal Officer at the Environmental Health Department of Sheffield City Council
  

• South Wales Construction Safety Group

  Group AGM and HSE Annual Presentation
  Paul Harvey, Principal Inspector, HSE

• Thames Valley Health & Safety Group
  

  Vibration

• West & North Yorkshire Construction Safety Association
  Small Sites Strategy / Targeted Inspection Campaign Information
  HSE
  

10th March 2010

• Tayside Integrated Safety Association
  

  Site Visit - Drumderg Windfarm, Alyth

• Wessex Occupational Health and Safety Association
  Seminar: Office, Workplace Transport & Maritime Safety
• Worcestershire Health & Safety Group
  Noise and Vibration Regulations, Measurement / Audiometry
  Chris Jones, The Key Consultancy
  

11th March 2010

• Cambridge Occupational Safety Group
  Member's Workshop
• Lea & Ouse Valley Safety Association
  Ramblings - ALARP & SFAIRP and recent significant case law
  Roger Williams
  

• Mid Anglia Environment Safety & Health Group
  Asbestos
  John Claxton, HSE

15th March 2010

• London Health and Safety Group
  When a Slip or Trip becomes a crime
  James Chambers

16th March 2010

• Lancashire Occupational Health & Safety Group
  

WISEUP 2010 Seminar: Health and Safety Benefit or Burden

• Merseyside Occupational Health & Safety Group
  Involving Employees in Safety
• North Staffs Health and Safety Group
  The Health and Safety Quality Mix

  Wiltshire Occupational Safety & Health Association
  Ergonomics - Workstation and Transport
  John McGregor, Tyco Electronics
  

17th March 2010

• Grampian Occupational Safety & Health Group
  A Safety Advisor's Career in the Construction Industry
  George Wood
• Safety Health & Environment Forum (Scotland)

  Annual General Meeting

• Southampton Occupational Safety Association
  AGM
  Helen Woodvine, New Forest District Council

18th March 2010

• Avon Occupational Safety & Health Group
  What's What in Environmental Law
  Richard Voke & Ben Derrington, Lyons Davidson Solicitors
• South Cumbria Occupational Health and Safety Group
  Implementing workplace drug and alcohol policies
  Dr Howard Mason, Principal Scientist, Health Improvement Group, H&S Laboratory, Buxton
• Suffolk & North Essex Occupational Safety Group
  Visit: Dalehead Foods, BSE
  A presentation and tour around a meat manufacturing business

24th March 2010

• Nottinghamshire Occupational Safety & Health Association
  The CBI view of European Health and Safety Legislation
  Paul Southby, CBI
  
• Swansea & West Wales Occupational Safety Group
  Waste Management and the Environment (followed by the AGM)
  Lance Jones, Waste & Resource Action Programme (WRAP)
  

25th March 2010

• Newcastle Construction Safety Group
  TT2 Site Visit
  

• North Lincs Health & Safety Group
  AGM and Group Meeting - Radon

26th March 2010

• Newcastle Construction Safety Group

E Training
Arnold
Steve Thorpe, Ryedale Energy

• Swansea & West Wales Occupational Safety Group
  Annual Dinner Dance and Awards Ceremony

30th March 2010

• Teesside Safety Group
  

Road Death Investigation Team, (Traffic Police)
Cleveland Police

31st March 2010

• Manchester Occupational Health & Safety Group

Pest Control: All creatures small and great
Fiona Murphy, Ecolab

• North West Wales Occupational Health & Safety Group
  

Asbestos
Bradley Environmental

• South Yorkshire Occupational Safety Association

Mobile IT solutions for use in the improvement of H&S processes
John Hardman, Expolink Software

1st April 2010

• Kent Health and Safety Group

Occupational Asthma

Dawn Smith, HSE

• Sheffield Occupational Health & Safety Association
  

All programmes received from Groups are added to the information on the Safety Groups UK web pages.

Please send any updates to charlotte Henderson Email: contact@safetygroupsuk.org.uk

Date for your diary!

The next meeting of Safety Groups UK will include the AGM

Thursday 3rd June 2010
Further details will be announced soon

• Safety & Health Expo 11-13 May 2010
• Health & Safety '10
• Moving Goods Safely Seminars
• Business Advice Open Days
  

Safety & Health Expo

11-13 May 2010 NEC, Birmingham

Safety Groups UK will be exhibiting at this event: Stand J42

Volunteer!

Safety Groups UK are looking for Safety Group members who are able to spend an hour or two on the stand talking to visitors about the benefits of belonging to a local Safety Group.
Please contact Charlotte Henderson if you are able to help

The Safety & Health Expo is Europe’s largest annual event for the industry.

Visit the website for further details and free registration

Health & Safety Events '10

• Health and Safety '10 - Scotland (The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh 15th/16th September)
  Safety Groups UK will be exhibiting at this event
  
  
• Health and Safety '10 - North (The Reebok Stadium, Bolton 13th/14th October)
  Safety Groups UK will be exhibiting at this event

Visit the Health & Safety '10 website for further information

Moving Goods Safely Seminars

2nd June 2010
Launch Seminar for the re-established Leicestershire Occupational Safety & Health Association LOSHA

October 2010
hosted by the Scottish Chamber of Safety (SCOS)

Business Advice Open Days

Dedicated to providing free information and support to businesses.
What support is available?
• full team of experts at each event
• advice and support - health and safety, starting a new business, business growth...
• help to understand and meet legal requirements
• enhance your business - funding, marketing and new technology.

Book a place and future dates

1. News release from DWP
2. What can you do?

News release from DWP

The UK will officially recognise Workers Memorial Day to commemorate thousands of people who have died, been seriously injured or made ill through their work, Yvette Cooper announced.

This follows the Government’s consultation in July to explore options for official recognition of the day, which gained widespread support.

This year, the UK will join the many other countries around the world that officially recognise the Day on 28 April, the International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work. Formal recognition will reinforce the significance of the Day and raise awareness of the number of people who are killed, disabled, injured or made unwell through their work.

Work and Pensions Secretary of State Yvette Cooper said:

“I am delighted to announce that the UK will officially recognise Workers Memorial Day. This is a tribute to all those who have campaigned long and hard, including bereaved families, trade unions, campaign groups, and many other organisations and individuals.

“For the first time, the UK will join countries across the globe in remembrance of all those killed at work and for the families they have left behind, and the many more who have been harmed. It is also a spur to greater efforts to improve health and safety for today’s and tomorrow’s working population.”

While the UK has one of the best health and safety records in the world, official figures show that 180 people were killed at work last year and over 27,000 suffered major injury. Around 8,000 each year die from occupational cancers and lung diseases.

There have been an increasing number of commemorative events in the UK in recent years as Workers Memorial Day has become a focal point for bereaved families, unions, campaign organisations and local authorities among others. As more people have become involved in these events, there has been growing support for formal recognition of the Day.

Commemorations will continue to be led by individuals, employers, trade unions and community organisations. In keeping with the outcome of the consultation, the Government will encourage commemorations to be held on the day itself throughout the UK. The Government and Ministers will help support and promote these commemorations.

• The Consultation is available on www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2009/
• Workers Memorial Day originated in Canada in 1984. The day is also recognised in other countries. It is now recognised as a national day in 19 countries.
• Since 1989 trade unions in the UK, USA Asia, Europe and Africa have organised events on and around 28 April. This date was chosen for International Workers Memorial Day as it is the anniversary of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the USA and also commemorates the day that 28 people were killed in a construction accident in Connecticut.
• Workers Memorial Day has been informally recognised in the UK since 1992.
• In 2001 the International Labour Organisation recognised Workers Memorial Day and announced April 28 as an International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work, which is an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work around the globe.
  

What can you do?

From TUC web site

Get your employer to allow some form of recognition of the day, such as one minute's silence to remember anyone who has died at your workplace.

• Ask your local council, or any other public body to fly official flags at half-mast on the day; and/or
• Write a letter to the local press;
• Organising a local meeting on health and safety and the need for more corporate accountability. You could focus on a particular issue of concern where you work, such as violence or lone working;
• Arranging an event such as planting a memorial tree in a public place, putting up a plaque, dedicating a sculpture, a piece of art, or a bench, to remember workers who have been killed at the workplace or in the community;
• Asking local religious centres to include Workers' Memorial Day in their worship during the Week;
• Distribute purple 'forget-me-not' ribbons, the symbol of Workers Memorial Day;
  
  
  
• Finding out what other unions, your local Hazards group, or regional TUC or Trades Council are planning and taking part or organising a joint event
  

Links:
Hazards www.hazards.org/wmd/
TUC www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/index.cfm?mins=293

European Campaign on Safe Maintenance

About the Campaign

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) organises two year campaigns on important health and safety issues. The new campaign is on ‘safe maintenance’ and launches in the UK between mid June and mid July. The campaign runs until late 2011.

Maintenance –related accidents are a cause of concern. For example, early analysis of the most recent two years’ data indicates that 25-30% of manufacturing industry fatalities in Great Britain were the result of a maintenance activity.

Maintenance can be defined as working on something to keep it in a working and safe state and preserving it from failure or decline. The ‘something’ could be a workplace or work equipment etc. Two main types of maintenance can be distinguished as follows:

• Preventive/proactive maintenance: carried out to keep something functional’
• Corrective/reactive maintenance: repairing something to get it working again – unplanned tasks, usually associated with more hazards and higher risk levels.

Safe Maintenance ‘Good Practice Awards’ are open to entry until 17th September 2010 for organisations to put forward examples of safe maintenance.
See flyer
Further information

HSE and EU-OSHA will have campaign websites. The HSE website will be available from the UK launch, providing information and resources on maintenance activities for organisations to get involved with the campaign.

European Week (w/c 18th October 2010) provides a focus for interested organisations to promote the campaign and its materials to their employees.

A certificate of participation will be available via the EU-OSHA website.

Shattered Lives 2010

February 2010

In this episode: Find out about the next phase of the HSE's Shattered Lives campaign, HSE visits a Sainsbury's store and a Merseyside college to find out how they are reducing slips, trips and falls.

An airport services company has been fined ninety thousand pounds after a man was crushed to death under a vehicle at Heathrow Airport, a construction company has been fined twenty thousand pounds after a cherry picker overturned, seriously injuring the driver and in Bolton a construction company has also been fined after one of its workers fell to his death from an unstable ladder.

HSE Infoline on how much office space we're entitled to whilst at work.

Listen to the HSE podcast: Visit www.hse.gov.uk/podcasts/2010/shatteredlives.htm

Outlook: New and emerging risks in occupational safety and health

from (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work)

Outlook brings together present and future trends of relevance to occupational safety and health, and offers an overview of the work of the European Risk Observatory on new and emerging workplace risks and their prevention.

The occupational safety and health status of the EU workforce is affected by many factors, not least its changing demographic structure, the spread of new technologies and a reduction in the importance of economic sectors that previously dominated, such as industry and mining.

This is bringing about changes not only in the numbers of jobs in each sector, but also the types of jobs that are available.

• The age profile of the workforce is changing.
• New technologies are creating new categories of employment.
• Globalisation means that health threats that were once distant easily spread around the world in a short period of time.

If the EU is to preserve the health of its workforce and maintain its economic strength and its competitiveness, it needs to meet these challenges proactively.

View Outlook