Wednesday 13th April 2011 held at the Barbican
The turnout was very good and a good number of people stayed right to the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The First Speaker Neal Stone Executive Director Policy and Research British Safety Council gave his views on the Two H&S Reform Documents by the Government and Lord Young and common sense approach.
The second speaker Judith Hackitt CBE - Chair of the Health and Safety Executive bit back with her response Implementation and Application I thought that would set the debate scene for the day.
It is concerning that the HSE have to make a 35% savings (reduction) of resources etc. Ms Hackitt further went on to say that in 2008 they started on new strategies for did not foresee they would be in dire financial strains but does believe the Strategy has helped them.
It was encouraging when Ms Hackitt stated the importance of H&S in the workplace has not changed and remains front centre, the core of HSE.
Ms Hackitt also emphasised to all present to become part of the solution instead of keep talking about why not or no?
The First Master Class we attended - Supporting you in the Prevention of Risk, Hazard and Harm by Richard Cordery and James Finney from Cordery Castle. I thought we were going to walk out with a variety of information and solutions on different forms of risk etc. They started off well explaining Asbestos but then it turned out to be more of a sales pitch they were advertising their services regarding Asbestos.
The Second Master Class we attended - Bolle Safety (glasses/goggles) by Ian the General Manager of Bolle Safety. Even though this to was a sales pitch. Ian went into great lengths about the various forms of glasses/goggles they made, the materials used and why, Riddor, the legislation etc., the dangers slides shown depicting outcomes if not wearing protective glasses etc for certain jobs.
Lunch was very good hot food and dessert very nice. The bag and freebies were most welcomed.
The Third Master Class - Guardian 24: Beyond Lone Working by Jim Irving Chief Executive of Guardian 24. Again another sales pitch. But what Mr Irving had to say was very interesting and alarming that by 2015 half the workforce will be lone workers. Just as well he has all the H&S Gadgets for workers that the Company not the worker would have to pay for.
The Panel Debate was more of a Questions and Answers session. I thought it would be heated when the first two speakers this morning set the pace. The Panel which consisted of a variety of professionals in different fields gave good answers with facts & figures to back them up.
By the time 4pm Derek Allan - Executive Director at Local Government Regulation spoke on Liberation on Regulation my mind could not take in his presentation.
I have to say this was my favourite presentation (4.20pm) John Armitt - Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority -‘Safety at the Olympics 2012' Mr Armitt said he also had a hand in building the Barbican.
Mr Armitt's presentation was a welcome delight I was very impressed with the various Committees he set up e.g. H & S Committee Board for the Olympics. Mr Armitt made all Construction Workers have a health/medical check and a surprising number of the workers had low blood sugar level so he campaigned for the construction workers to ensure they had breakfast every day at a reduce cost.
There are 12 Doctors on site so when a member of staff is ill they are quickly seen to. This saved a workers life who had a heart attack was seen immediately and the ambulance was already on site.
Mr Armitt stressed that their H&S target had not been met yet I think he said they are at 0.16 and the target is for 0.1 so he is disappointed with this. Mr Armitt further spoke about the great importance of the Procurement Process which must not be underestimated and should be used to lay down Guidelines in terms of H&S.
Although I did not come out with the sort of information I thought I would because the classes were all about offering their services/products it was still an enjoyable day.
