Programme: Health & Safety Best Practice Exchange

The programme below relates to the recent Exchange held on 5th July in Birmingham.

Outline Programme

09:00 – 09:45 Registration & Coffee

09:45– 10:20 Opening Plenary
Welcome: Jonathan Bramsdon, Acting Chief Executive, British Safety Council

Followed by:

The business case for championing health and safety ~ leadership and guidance to directors
Geraint Day, Head of Health and Environment, Institute of Directors
Jonathan Bramsdon, Acting Chief Executive & Marcus Whewell, Sales Director, British Safety Council

10:30 – 11:30 Choice of Sessions

Workshop: Avoiding costly slip ups - practical solutions to slips and trips
Stephen Taylor, Principal Specialist Inspector, Construction Division Technology Unit, Health & Safety Executive
*Surface roughness and contamination
*Common flooring materials and their slip resistance
*How to test for slip resistance
*HSE/HSL Slip Assessment Tool in theory and in practice

Workshop: Health & Safety Good Practice for Board Members
Geraint Day, Head of Health and Environment, Institute of Directors
* How can board directors best demonstrate a commitment to health & safety?
* Legal responsibilities and corporate governance
* Engaging and empowering staff
* Identifying and managing health & safety risks
* Procurement standards and contractor issues

Discussion Group: Implementing a Workforce Involvement Initiative
Joanne Doak, Compliance Manager, Diageo
* Ways to empower employees in health and safety
* Make-up of health & safety committees
* Ideas to improve employee co-operation
* How to involve staff in: communications, training, risk assessment, monitoring, audit and improvement ideas

Discussion Group: What can H&S professionals do to improve their image?
Jonathan Young, H&S Officer, Lee Filters
* What is the current state of our image at present
* Does the image influence safety performance and if so how?
* Root causes of our image
* What is the way forward in improving our image?

11:30 – 11:50 Refreshments & Networking

12:00 – 13:00 Choice of Sessions

Workshop: Are you ready for the workplace smoking ban?
Frankie Tierney, Partner, Herrington & Carmichael
* Premises used as a place of work and open to the public must be smoke free all the time.
* A breach could lead to a criminal conviction
* My employees know they cannot smoke on the premises but what do I do about the public?
* What do I as an employer have to do to make sure I comply with the legislation?
* My best customers are all smokers & I don't want to upset them - can I work around the rules?

Discussion Group: Learning from Accidents and Incidents
Jonathan Young, H&S Officer, Lee Filters
* Creating a culture committed to reporting and learning
* Open, team-based approaches to investigation
* Issues of training, guidance and support
* Procedures for gathering incident data
* Communicating, embedding and sharing lessons learned

Discussion Group: Integrating Safety and Risk Management
Colin Beall, Deputy Chief Safety and Environment Officer, Royal Air Force
* Is there a universal process for risk management?
* Jointly identifying the risks and hazards from business functions, activities, services/products
* Controlling risks in a unified manner to maximise success and workplace quality
* Ways to improve communication between those responsible for safety and risk management
* Enhance safety awareness by promoting a risk-informed safety culture

Discussion Group: Management of contractors
Stephen Acaster, Group Health & Safety Director, Persimmon Plc
* Assessing the risks
* Determining what information, instruction and training is needed
* Co-operation and co-ordination between all parties
* Establishing the level of management and supervision required

Discussion Group: Communicating Health and Safety Issues
Mark McLeod, Sector Manager, British Safety Council
* Using all internal communications channels
* Opportunities for staff dialogue
* Promoting the benefits of health & safety management
* Catching people doing things right!
* Support and training line managers to become 'advocates'
* Creating a Health & Safety culture

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch & Networking

14:00 – 15:00 Choice of Sessions

Workshop: Homeworking and Health & Safety
Nick Wilson, Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner, Regulatory Services Unit, Weightmans
* Figures on homeworkers - the invisible group?
* Work life balance
* Legal responsibilities
* Common hazards
* How to managing the risk
* Accidents and case studies
* HSE interest?
* Reference material

Workshop: How to Cope with the New Work at Height Regulations
Ian Greenwood & Gloria Birchall, Falls from Height Team, Health Safety Executive
* The legislation
* Risk assessment approach to selection of safe working practices
* Hierarchy of controls
* Planned systems of work and competence of users

Discussion Group: Helping Staff Minimise and Deal with Stress
Paul Crossland, Health, Safety, Security and Environment Manager, Wellcome Trust
* Recognising stress in the workplace
* What is good practice in managing stress in the workplace
* What can be done about the causes of stress in your organisation
* Solutions think-tank

Discussion Group: Implementing a Workforce Involvement Initiative
Tim Whelan, Managing Director, Castell Safety International
* Ways to empower employees in health and safety
* Make-up of health & safety committees
* Ideas to improve employee co-operation
* How to involve staff in: communications, training, risk assessment, monitoring, audit and improvement ideas

15.00 – 15.15 Refreshments & Networking

15:20– 16:15 Choice of Sessions

Discussion Group: The Role of Occupational Health in Absence Management
Chris Sawyer, Health & Safety Co-ordinator, BMI Three Shires Hospital
* Legal issues relating to absence management
* Common causes of absenteeism
* Lessons learned from taking a preventative approach
* Tried and tested policies and procedures

Discussion Group: Minimising Occupational Road Risk
Shaun Linnett, Safety, Health, Environment & Security Communications Specialist, National Grid
* Developing a risk management approach
* Risk assessment
* Practical control measures

Discussion Group: How to stop a truck (and why would you want to?)
Nick Anderson, Programme Development Director, TRL
* Vulnerability assessments for critical infrastructure and considerations for hostile vehicle mitigation
* Modus operandii, use of consistent methodologies for assessment and building the business case for perimeter protection - appreciation of all these areas can lead to a safer site

Discussion Group: What can H&S professionals do to improve their image?
Richard Trist, National Accounts Manager, British Safety Council
* What is the current state of our image at present
* Does the image influence safety performance and if so how?
* Root causes of our image
* What is the way forward in improving our image?