IOSH president's diary

Branch to branch to branch….

25 March: In London for a face to face interview with Personnel Today magazine on the imminent Corporate Manslaughter legislation. Bit of a nightmare journey back home -  it was the day after a long bank holiday, three consecutive trains home were cancelled as a result of incomplete engineering works, so I got home eventually at about nine o’clock.

1-2 April: In Buxton for the Groups Committee Networking Conference.

8 April: A nice short journey across the Dartford crossing to attend the SE Branch AGM and address the members. Thank you to all the branch committee (both old and new) and the many members who turned out and made me feel so welcome. I have said it on numerous occasions and I will say it again and again - the best part about this role is meeting members.

9 April: I formally launched the new Essex Branch in Chelmsford and oversaw the election of the branch officers and committee. The meeting was held about 10 yards from where I spent the last 25 years of my career, and because of my long standing affiliation with the East Anglia branch (the parent branch) I knew just about everyone there. Their main speaker Ray Francis gave a very entertaining and informative presentation on stress – taming the beast.

The branch was successfully launched and it was my pleasure to do so. I wish it every success for the future and I am sure that knowing the characters as well as I do that it will flourish.

10 April: Up at 4am to travel to Edinburgh to meet the branch. Once again I was pleased to be part of such a vibrant and dynamic meeting (standing room only) with some 80+ members. The committee has secured a number of top flight speakers over the last few months including Judith Hackitt, new Chair of the HSE, and a recently retired Procurator Fiscal. This time round was no exception with a very interesting and informative presentation on the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act as it relates to Scotland.

I was there under false pretences – scheduled to deliver a short presentation, but really there to give out a Presidential Distinguished Service Certificate to Max Bancroft (their soon to stand down secretary). It was a picture to see his face when called forward to receive it, his modesty is such that I don’t believe he realised how much he has done for the branch over the years since its formation and how much that is appreciated by his colleagues on the branch committee.

11 April: Off to London again to attend a debrief meeting for IOSH 08 and to look forward to how we can improve even more for the 09 event in Liverpool.

Flashback to IOSH08

17 March: To Telford for an afternoon meeting with our international guests from the ASSE in the US and the CSSE from Canada, plus our colleagues from Singapore and mainland Europe. It was very enlightening to be able to discuss issues and initiatives that they are currently undertaking and likewise to update them on current IOSH issues. The evening saw me hosting an international event at a nearby venue to wish our overseas guests a good conference and for all of us to undertake that extremely valuable activity “networking.”

18-19 March: Then of course conference itself! I have to say that having been involved in occupational safety and health for some 30 years I have always been able to stand in front of an audience of managers etc and “spout on” for an allotted period of time with a few, but not that many, nerves. But standing in front of 400+ fellow safety professionals (my peers) is something else - I just hope the nerves didn’t show all that much.

I felt that conference went off extremely well - but then again I am biased.  The main IOSH, branches and groups stands did a lot of business and of course Declan Curry was fabulous as our host interrogator/mediator/chairman.

The bar was raised yet again this year with keynotes from Lord McKenzie (a great supporter of the safety profession), plus keynote responses from Andrew Selous MP and Paul Rowen MP. This was quickly followed up with a keynote interview carried out by Declan of Geoffrey Podger CEO of the HSE, which allowed members of the audience to put probing questions to Geoffrey.

Please be assured that all the returned evaluation forms (and comments made elsewhere) will be studied in detail to enable us to find out what you like/don’t like and make improvements for the 2009 conference.

During the conference I was asked to comment live on BBC Radio Leicester about the Hallaton Bottle Kicking event (yes you did read that correctly) due to take place over the Easter weekend. For those not in know, this is not really bottle kicking but two local villages (Hallaton and Medbourne) kicking a large beer cask around between the two villages and the one who gets it over the finish line (aka the village stream) gets to drink the beer. Seems sensible enough to me. It apparently draws hundreds to the “no holds barred” game that I surmise is a bit like the Eton wall game - but without the ball, far more players and with less, in fact no, rules. However, it seems that the good old ‘elf and safety’ excuse was raising its ugly head and because of numerous injuries over the years talk was of it being unable to run. Once again I pointed out that health and safety was not about stopping fun.

It’s showtime!

5 March: In Leicester for the Board of Trustees meeting, then off to Coleshill in Birmingham with Rob Strange and Lisa Fowlie to attend 14th Ruth Alston memorial lecture followed by a dinner with the Association of Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners.

6 March: travel to London to present an award on behalf of the Thames Valley Branch at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) on the South Bank. This is a new award set up with money set aside by the branch to encourage young people. The award a trophy, certificate and cheque for £500 to be presented annually to final year students who produce the best risk assessment for their production. This inaugural year saw the award go to:

Shay Elliot – Producer
Jean-Louise Schuller - Cinematographer
Louise Matthews - Production Designer
Michael Pearce –Director

...for their film “The Peculiar shape of my curious family.”

It is particularly pleasing to see branches such as Thames Valley becoming more involved in innovative ideas such as this and also to see the enthusiasm with which the young filmmakers took the issue of health and safety on board. My thanks go to Zlata Hume studio manager at the NFTS who has taken h&s on board so enthusiastically and ensured it gets due prominence in the curriculum, which can only stand all of the young filmmakers at the school in good stead when they are involved in their first Hollywood “blockbuster” production. Perhaps when I am sitting in future years in front of the TV watching the BAFTA or Oscar ceremonies I will see one (or all) of the above students receive such an accolade and will be able to say “ I gave them a safety award once, you know.”

Also thanks to Roy Featherstone Chairman of the branch and Chris Stops (committee member) for setting up the award and inviting me to the NFTS to present it. Long may the award continue.

12 March: About lunchtime I get a call from head office, “there might be a chance of doing a radio interview over the ‘phone with Chris Evans this evening on Radio 2 –are you available”? Perhaps foolishly, I say yes.

It seems that the story that morning of the Cheltenham race meeting being cancelled because of ’elf and safety’ fears about collapsing hospitality marquees has prompted Chris Evans to ask about the subject. We then go into what they would like to cover and do a bit of background, it seems that of particular interest is “when was the h&s baby born?” so I have to dig deep into the memory banks to remember what I was taught all those years ago on my NEBOSH Ordinary and Higher level courses.

5pm: I turn on the radio to listen to the show and wait on tenterhooks for my call from the studio, start getting worried when it reaches 6:05 and the phone hasn’t rung (is the line working)? It isn’t the fact that there will be 2 million plus listeners that makes me nervous, but the fact that there will be many of you, my professional peers, out there across the UK listening in on your way home. I just hope I can do a good job and represent the Institution and you fairly and properly.

Phone rings, deep breath and we are off and running. Four minutes goes so quickly and we have finished already. I thought Chris was very fair in his representation of OS&H and as a profession we got a good hearing.

Having now heard the podcast (how I hate listening to myself!) and having seen some of the comments (mostly positive – thank you) on the chat forum I feel that overall it went well, but then again perhaps I am biased. A four minute slot is not very long to cover all you would like, especially when the producers want to stick to the original brief. After all, it’s the ‘Chris Evans drive time show’ not the ‘OS&H show’, we are just one small part of the much bigger picture.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at IOSH 08 in Telford next week, please come and have a chat.

Commons dinner

Time to update the diary again before I get another slap on the wrist.

25 February: I attended a dinner hosted by IOSH at the House of Commons, we were joined by some 24 MP’s and 4 Peers.  Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch and this event was to discuss a range of issues relating to occupational safety and health and to present our views and update them on our campaigns.

I was particularly pleased to see that we had a mix of parliamentarians across the political spectrum who took the time to attend and contribute freely to the free and frank exchange of views during our “round table discussion.” Among them were many who have given valuable support to IOSH over the years: including Lord McKenzie of Luton, Michael Clapham MP, Terry Rooney MP, the chairman of the DWP select committee and Joan Humble MP a member of the DWP select committee. We were also pleased to have Judith Hackitt, Chair of the HSC and Dame Professor Carol Black to add to the debate.

The evening started with presentations from Lord McKenzie, Michael Clapham MP, Dame Professor Carol Black and myself to set the scene for the discussion during dinner.

I truly believe that events like this help us get across our message and also to get a better understanding of the issues between the profession and the lawmakers.

27 February: Back in Central London at Portcullis House along with Richard Jones and Ian Waldram to give evidence before the DWP select committee. This was to clarify the previously submitted IOSH written evidence and gave MP’S the opportunity to clarify and expand on issues from that submission.

28 February: Off to Dublin from Stansted (only 15 minutes from home – oh the joy of not having to go to Heathrow or Gatwick!) for the day at the invitation of the Construction Industry Federation to present Safe-T-cert awards (at grade A) to two companies Ascon & Rohcon and Patrick Lynch Ltd. These were the first coveted grade A awards to be awarded in Eire. For those who may not be aware, Safe-T-Cert is the sector specific safety management system for construction companies. In order to achieve the award they have to demonstrate that they have integrated safety management into their business operations. Each year they have to prove they are continually improving in order to retain their Safe-T-Cert   In addition to the recipients of the awards I was also pleased to meet Tom Parlon the newly appointed Director General. My sincere thanks go to Aiden Burke of the CIF for acting as taxi driver and keeping me on track for the event. A little known fact I learned during my visit - the M50 to/from Dublin is so designated because the traffic is twice as bad as that on the M25!

A little later than planned...

OK, I know it has been a long time since the last update but circumstances have got in the way. I fully accept the ”slap on the wrist” for being so tardy.

So what has been happening since the last update? Well, here goes:

On 22 January I chaired a meeting of the Communications and International Committee, the following day I attended a meeting of the board of trustees.

31 January saw me (accompanied by Lisa Fowlie our Immediate past president and Rob Strange our Chief executive) visit Rose Court in London for our regular quarterly update and exchange of information meeting with HSE.

4 February: Travel to Liverpool

5 February: I attended a lunchtime meeting with the Merseyside branch executive committee during which we discussed a number of issues. I then attended the branch meeting itself. My thanks go to the committee and the branch for such a memorable visit, as a result I am looking forward to IOSH 09 that will take place on Merseyside. I know we should have been there this year but issues with the venue and its readiness meant we had to revert back to Telford. I also thank Lisa for her attendance and support at the meeting - although Merseyside is her branch, I realise that it is no mean feat travelling from Anglesey just to hear me talk!

6 February: I travel to Sutton in Surrey to be interviewed by Occupational Health Magazine on my presidential themes and how IOSH is working in conjunction with others in the OH field to improve the health of the working age population.

7 February: I am in Ruislip to attend the funeral of Martin Bessant. Much has already been written about Martin that covers his work over many years for the Institution. Even when he knew he was terminally ill he continued for a long as he could with the moderating team on the discussion forums. I had known Martin for many years and consider myself lucky to have been able to call him friend as well as colleague. Martin and I were part of the original “gang of four” moderators. Of course I also knew him from other areas within IOSH including his years on the council of management. I for one will miss him, as will many others that have come into contact with him. I will always recall his gentle humour, commitment and dedication to the profession and IOSH in particular.

12 February: Travel to Leicester for a pre Council of Management meeting.

13 February: IOSH Council Meeting.

15-20 February: In the Kingdom of Bahrain to chair a session (by invitation) at the 8th American Society of Safety Engineers - Middle East Chapter (ASSE-MEC) conference and exhibition. This was a high profile event with many top quality speakers from across the globe on a range of interesting and informative subjects. There were too many in fact to list and unfortunately too many to attend more than just a handful of presentations.  It was also an opportune time to renew contacts in the Middle East with some of our members who are also part of the ASSE, IOSH course providers and active supporters of IOSH in the region. It will take me quite some time to read through all of the papers (thoughtfully bound in a large tome which added substantially to my luggage allowance) I was unable to attend. I was however, able to listen to the keynote address given by Geoffrey Podger the CEO of the HSE and also an interesting session on “The role of Internationally recognised qualifications in promoting regional heath and safety competence” presented by Barry Wilkes, Development Manager from NEBOSH.

My thanks go to the organising committee for the invitation and the opportunity to be a part of this event in, particular Abdullah M Al-Ghamdi the ASSE Middle East President and Tariq S Al-Ghamdi the Conference Director. I also thank everyone I met for their generous hospitality and friendliness.

It wasn’t all work of course and I managed to fit in, along with Jonathon Gorvin from International Affairs, a visit to the Grand Mosque in Manama (the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain) to get a better understanding of the region and Islam. Also thanks have to go to Alawi Shubber (one of our course providers who I am pleased to say will be our guest at Telford) and his family for putting on, and inviting us to, a desert party (including camel, traditional Bedouin dancers and music). Photos to appear on this site soon.

Fortunately, unlike Dubai earlier this year, we didn’t have any disruption caused by a visit from George W or torrential rain to hinder proceedings!

West Wales and a few more conkers!

After landing at Heathrow, I headed straight for Haverfordwest to present to the West Wales District.

I had lunch with the District committee and was impressed by the work they’ve been doing to advance the cause of IOSH and safety in the area. In particular I would like to thank Keith Jackson the district secretary for acting as taxi driver and getting me around.

The evening itself at Pembrokeshire College, which was preceded by a district committee meeting, was considered by the committee to be a great success with 32 members (a record attendance I believe) turning out to attend the meeting. To all those in attendance I also extend my thanks, and for the questions after the presentation.

At the weekend I went along to the presentation evening hosted by Ashton Conker Club. The 2007 World Conker Championships raised more money than ever for charities for the blind, and it was a pleasure to represent Team IOSH and hand over some cheques to Guide Dogs for the Blind and the RNIB. You’ll be glad to hear that I wasn’t yellow-carded for my behaviour. Although I suspect Richard Howard had it handy just in case!

More from Dubai

Things in Dubai became a bit surreal on Sunday night. During the day there were signs that “something was afoot” - roads, tunnels and bridges were closed off, including the footbridge over the highway which linked our hotel with the conference centre.

This was because George W was in town during his Middle Eastern tour and it was announced late on the Sunday evening that Monday was to be declared a national holiday and that roads would stay closed. This took the organisers and us by surprise. With roads to and from the exhibition centre closed this meant there was little anyone could do to get to the centre.

Getting from the hotel to the conference centre on the Monday morning was an experience, to say the least. The footbridge over the 2X 6 lane highway was still shut and guarded by security police, so we had to walk up the now empty highway some half a mile to a roundabout and then walk back for what should have been a simple 200 yard trip. But on the positive side, I needed the exercise.

No road access to the conference centre meant that our 140 conference delegates couldn’t get to the event. So the IOSH head office staff burned the midnight oil to rearrange what was originally a two day event into one.

Tuesday posed another challenge thanks to torrential (and I mean torrential) rain overnight on the Monday. Dubai normally only experiences on average five days of rain in a year, so the downpour led to major flooding. The car park of the conference and exhibition centre was more like a boating lake and knee deep in many places, I hope to have photos on the site soon to illustrate this. Tragically some 5 people died in accidents (mainly road traffic) directly attributable to the conditions that day.

Some delegates told us that it had taken them two hours to cover a journey that would normally take 10-15 minutes. We eventually finished up with all our speakers from both days and 80 delegates. Feedback on the IOSH conference is very positive and I thank all our speakers for their perseverance and the high quality of their presentations.

We also signed up 17 new members as a direct result of our attendance, and I’m sure it would have been more if it hadn’t been for the visit of George W and the appalling weather restricting attendance.

Midlands to Middle East

Earlier this month I went to our Midland branch with IOSH chief exec Rob Strange. I talked about how IOSH deals with the media – and particularly the bonkers health and safety stories we often read about.

My thanks to Nattasha Freeman (our President Elect and immediate past Chair of the branch) and Steve Savage (current Branch Chair) for arranging the event and venue. Also of course to the members who turned out to hear me speak. I have to say that although new to the role, the best part so far about being president is getting to meet the members, hear their views and exchange ideas - this is what IOSH is all about.

Then it was off to the UAE for the Intersec 2008 conference and exhibition in Dubai, my first overseas trip since becoming president. It was great to meet our members out there, and attend the Middle East branch exec committee meeting when I arrived.

I spent most of the day before the conference in interviews with journalists based in the Middle East and preparing to present my keynote at the conference the following day. My presentation ties in with one of my key issues for this year – migrant workers. Dubai has been described as the “biggest building site in the world” and I am led to believe that a third of the world’s cranes are based there. I witnessed this first hand just walking  from the hotel to the conference centre, and saw workers from various nationalities constructing a major monorail system, surrounded by numerous other construction projects.

I was also made aware that there are up to 5 million (yes million) additional migrant workers expected in Dubai over the next couple of years to tackle the large number of impressive projects in progress and in the planning stages. This is a huge challenge in terms of safety management for our 300+ members in the region.

Quick fire at Washington Hall

I’m on my way to Dubai for the Intersec Middle East exhibition, which starts on Sunday. IOSH is running the Safety & Health Middle East conference on Monday and Tuesday, which is parallel to the exhibition. It’s my first trip to the area, so I’m looking forward to meeting the IOSH branch members based out here and everyone involved in our conference programme.

I wanted to mention my visit to Washington Hall UK, the international fire training and development centre in Chorley. My thanks to Kevin Murray for organising it. I went along to see some of the trainees in action and was really impressed with the whole centre. My son is a fire fighter, so I have a personal interest in how fire fighters are prepared for running into dangerous situations that the rest of us would run away from.

My visit was just before Christmas, so one of the rescues that the trainees performed had a festive theme. Santa and one of his elves were trapped on a high platform. Santa was rescued immediately by fire crews, but I thought it was supposed to be ‘elf and safety first’!

The pictures from my visit are in the folder called 'Ray's photos' - go and have a look.

What a year!

It's been a busy year for IOSH, from Rt Hon John Hutton announcing a major review of workplace health at our annual conference, to launching a free interactive course for school students, and proving that we're not a bunch of kiljoys at the World Conker Championships.

We've made great progress with the media and national MPs, and I'm looking forward to continuing this next year.

It just leaves me to wish you all a happy and healthy christmas and new year. If you haven't already seen the IOSH christmas message, have a look at it here.