Staying safe

Safety & Health Expo 2014 (17-19 June at London ExCeL) looks set to be the largest UK national event this year covering health and safety, with more than 300 exhibitors. Part of UBM Live's Protection & Management series (which includes FIREX, IFSEC, Facilities Show, Service Management Expo and the Energy & Environment Expo), this event will run alongside the IOSH 2014 conference, RoSPA Awards, LiftEx and a new Energy & Environment Expo. That makes it big: indeed, UBM expects 45,000 people through the doors over the three days. Beyond the exhibition itself, event director Heather Beach says delegates can expect a comprehensive, free and CPD-accredited educational programme, covering everything from legislation updates to practical insights into behavioural safety, working at height, occupational hygiene and business driver safety. That's essentially the IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) conference, which this year will run with a theme of 'inspiring leadership'. Beach says delegates can expect more than 60 expert speakers covering over 30 conference sessions and 40 workshops. Opening the conference on Tuesday 17 June, IOSH chief executive Jan Chmiel will be addressing the delegates on that leadership theme. "This year's conference is about enabling insightful, future-oriented decision-making in an ever-changing world of work," he says. "The demands on leaders are great so we are responding with a high-calibre speaker programme." The opening day also includes a keynote by professor Sidney Dekker, best-selling author on human factors and safety, who is travelling from Griffith University, Australia to present his thoughts. Other leading lights over the two days of the conference will include: Steve Hails, director of health and safety for Crossrail; Neil Budworth, vice president for HSSEQ (health, safety, security, safeguards and quality) at AMEC Clean Energy Europe; and Dr Dominic Cooper, CEO of B-Safe Management Solutions. Also set to make an appearance are: Lawrence Waterman, head of health and safety for Battersea Power Station Development; Kevin Furniss, vice president of HSSEQ at AP Moller Maersk Terminals; and Danny Martland, director safety, health and environment for Military Air and Information at BAE Systems. This is a wide-ranging event: representatives from government, transport, healthcare, energy, law, construction, insurance, shipping, urban regeneration, defence and manufacturing, as well as psychologists and social scientists, will be presenting at the meeting. For the full speaker programme, visit: www.ioshconference.co.uk In addition to the conference, however, there will also be the CoreSkills+ workshops, providing practical and technical information and education on health and safety issues. Detail is scant as we go to press, but Beach tells us to expect coverage ranging from crisis management to mobile lone worker protection and the financial impact of insurance claims. As for the exhibition floor, big names include: Arco, Ashstead Plant Hire, BM Polyco, Brady, BSIF (British Safety Industry Federation), BSI, Casella, CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health), Denios, Draeger Safety, EEF, Fleet21, Ikar, Ingersoll Rand, IOSH, LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association), Nebosh, Oilfield Solutions, RoSPA, Seaward, Skyguard and Speedy. Space is limited here, but watch out for Seaward, which will be demonstrating health and safety software designed to provide secure record keeping and scheduling support for professionals responsible for maintaining safety at work. The firm says its new PATGuard 3 is intuitive and easy to use, allowing managers to record data (including images from cameras, mobile phones or Seaward's own Apollo 600 tester – tagged against sites, locations and asset IDs) and produce reports on workplace health and safety issues ranging from risk assessments to portable appliance testing and other inspections. Also, go to Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, which recently published eye-opening research around safety managers' equipment concerns. More than three quarters (78%) worry that staff will remove safety eyewear if it is not comfortable. Among the solutions: 82% say eyewear should be professionally fitted by experts to ensure a comfortable and safe fit around the temples, ears and across the nose. And talk to Skyguard about its palm-sized personal alarms, aimed at helping to mitigate risks while working alone with heavy machinery. Food manufacturer Mackie's of Scotland has issued all nightshift staff with the devices, which are easy to use in the event of an emergency, and enable controllers at Skyguard's 24-hour incident management centre to see where the employee is, listen in, assess the situation and send an appropriate response.