Free health and safety conference in Glasgow this April
There is to be a free health and safety conference staged by the British Safety Council at the Health and Safety Scotland exhibition in Glasgow, on the 22 and 23 of April. This will be an excellent opportunity for Scottish business owners to find out more on how to protect their employees from injury or illness related to their working conditions and environment. The exhibition is being held at the SECC in Glasgow and it is free to register by going to www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk and following the link.
Official education partner
As the official partner, the British Safety Council have gathered expert speakers from the worlds of health and safety and the law to help employers improve the management of risks to health and safety at work. The topics covered will include many recent changes to UK legislation and speakers will also explain changes that are still in the melting pot but which will do much to foster a positive safety culture at work, including rules which will apply to contractors. The acting Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, Neal Stone, will be in the chair for both days and is excited about the seminars which are booked, saying that they will clarify some of the critical health and safety challenges facing businesses, the public and third sectors in Scotland, improving employers’ understanding of how to prevent injury and sickness at work, which is currently estimated as costing the UK in excess of £14 billion every year.
Programme in a nutshell
On Day One, respected safety and environmental consultant Dr Rosemary Campbell will be discussing the ‘it can’t happen to me’ culture which is having such an injurious effect on the wellbeing of staff across the UK. On Day Two, an interactive mock criminal health trial will be held in which a fictional construction firm and its principals will be ‘prosecuted’ following a workplace safety accident and everyone concerned will be cross-examined by real lawyers from the international firm of Pinsent Masons LLP. The attendees will then be the ‘jury’ and give their verdict. Other presentations will cover recent changes and trends in enforcement. There will also be advice on managing contractors – the law on this subject is something which some employers find difficult to get to grips with, so this will be a very popular seminar. Something which is often ignored when assessing workplace safety is noise levels, and this is the subject of another seminar.
Too important to ignore
Health and safety is often given a bad press, being seen by many as another manifestation of the ‘nanny state’ but its importance cannot be stressed enough. Proper training is at the base of every health and safety legislation and if everyone knows what to do to keep themselves and others safe, the high levels of workplace illness and injury cannot help but drop. Attending this conference will be a fun and instructive way of upping knowledge and spreading the word that health and safety matters.