FORTH and TAY DISTRICT

of the

EDINBURGH BRANCH

IOSH

24th Meeting

Dewar Centre, Glover Street, Perth:  7.30 pm Thursday 1st September 2005.

Sederunt

A. Pill              D. Binnie                    S. Chisholm               S. Fowler B. Davies  D. Devey                    J. Goddard                     T. Mellon

A. Stark          B. Stainton                 A. Milne                      J. Morran A. Thomson          D. Mann

Apologies

K. Paterson    L. Scorgie                  R. Greer                     J. Gorgon D. Murray B. McDonnell             N. Doherty

1.         Chairperson                        Karen McDonnell

Karen opened the meeting at 7.30pm and welcomed everyone to the 24th Meeting of the Forth and Tay District.  Karen observed that the attendance was rather lower than usual and expressed the hope that the numbers of members attending improve at future meetings, particularly as the new venue is excellent.  She went on to outline emergency and administrative details pertaining to the Dewar Centre.

 

2.                  Minutes of the previous Meeting (7th April 2005)

The Secretary – Dick Mann – stated that the Minutes of the meeting held on the 7th April had either been e-mailed or posted out in the springtime.  Comments were invited, but none received and so it was proposed that the Minutes be accepted as a true record of that meeting.

Proposed:      Barry Davies                          Seconded:     Andy Pill

3.         Secretary’s Report             Dick Mann

The Secretary asked the meeting if anyone was still experiencing difficulty receiving e-mail from him.  No comments were made.  (However, if anyone successfully receiving e-mail from the Secretary knows of a member that isn’t, please let Dick Mann know.)

Dick told the meeting that the site visit to RAF Leuchars on the 2nd June 2005 had been very successful.  He also said that he had been e-mailed a group photograph taken on the day by a Unit photographer.  Unfortunately, due to a problem with the office computer at work, the photograph stubbornly refuses to be printed out or e-mailed forward!  (Watch this space, efforts are in-hand to get another copy of the photograph via a more reliable machine and competent operator).

4.         Correspondence               

An e-mail was received by the Secretary from Anne Smart – Media and Marketing Assistant at IOSH.  IOSH is looking for interesting stories or articles from Branches and Districts that might be published in future editions of the “Practitioner” (SHP).

The Secretary had forwarded to all members by e-mail details of events coming up locally that might be of interest to members.

A long e-mail had been received from IOSH Director of Communications regarding raising the profile of IOSH with the advent of Chartered Status and Chartered Safety Practitioners.  (See 5. below).

5.        Branch Liaison       Karen McDonnell

Karen informed the meeting that the Edinburgh Branch are very positive and keen to support IOSH in raising the profile of the Institution and its members within the community, particularly in regard to Chartered Status.  Ways that this might be achieved at District level could include:

·        Local promotion drives

·        Publicising ourselves through the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce (the District is now in the Chamber)

·         Inviting targeted guests – such as the head of the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce – to our District meetings

·        Disseminating interesting health and safety stories – personal or situational – that have affected members in their work.

Karen mentioned that the IOSH Branch Officials Conference would be held in November.  The Branch was keen for representation from the District to attend the Conference to gain an insight into IOSH’s activities and working nationally.  Any volunteers are asked to contact either the Chairperson or the Secretary.

6.        Any Other Competent Business

The Chairperson – Karen McDonnell – requested that any members who become aware of future events that might be of interest to others bring details along to the meetings.

Karen also informed the meeting that she has requested IOSH to make available extra copies of the “Practitioner” (SHP) magazine that can be put out at meetings for others to pick up and thereby learn more about IOSH activities nationally and internationally.

7.                Guest Speaker.

Robert Atkinson, MIOSH, RSP.

National Co-ordinator -  Safe and Healthy Working

Topic:                        Safe and Healthy Working.

Robert began his presentation with a brief introduction to his background in health and safety.  An impressive history includes:

-                     Survey industry (featuring high-speed dashes between sites!)

-                     Airline industry (good introduction to systematic thoroughness)

-                     British Aerospace, both health and safety and occupational health.

-                     NHS. (Health Board / Health Promotion / Occupational Health & Safety)

-                     National Trust for Scotland (NTS) – where properties, employees and visitors all brought problems!

-                     NHS (again)

-                     Leading up to a “pilot project” with the HSE and Lanarkshire Health Board out of which came “Safe and Healthy Working”.

Robert pointed out that his experience – particularly when working with NTS sub-contractors – was that people have differing perceptions of risks to health and safety and how to manage them.  Often small businesses simply do not manage health and safety at all.  That is why “Safe and Healthy Working” specifically targets and aims to assist SME’s and even individual employees.  The initiative is:

-                     funded through the Scottish Executive

-                     delivered through the 15 Health Boards across Scotland

-                     free and confidential for users

-                     targeted at SME’s and individuals who want help and advice

-                     strictly a non-enforcement service.

Why target SME’s?

-                     In a Scottish workforce of approximately 1.9 million, 96% of companies employ less than 50 staff and SME’s account for 51% of the workforce.

-                     Scotland heads the UK regional figures for sickness absence, ten days per year compared with eight days in England.

-                     Figures indicate that 15 – 24% of General Practitioner consultations are linked to work related ill health.

-                     SME’s are traditionally a difficult sector to reach, often because employers think that they cannot afford the costs of professionally managing health and safety risks, so they don’t try.

Partners in the Initiative

Health Scotland.  Federation of Small Businesses.  HSE Scotland.  Edinburgh Trades Union Centre.  Local Authority Environmental Health.  Job Centre Plus.  NHS Boards.  NHS Health Promotion.  NHS Occupational Health and Safety.  OHSAS.  Royal College of Nursing.  Occupational Health Nurses Forum.  SALUS.  Scottish Executive Health Department.  Scotland’s Health at Work.  Scottish Health and Safety Revitalisers Forum.  Faculty of Occupational Medicine.  STUC.

Service components and delivery

-           National Adviceline               0800 019 2211

-           Interactive website                www.safeandhealthyworking.com

-           (Scottish) Regional “hubs” and Regional Advisors

-           Workplace visits (if such visits are requested by the client)

There were 8284 enquiries to the Adviceline in July 2005, with an average call duration of 21 minutes.

Of 1343 visits made in July 2005;

-                     35% of visits were to premises with up to 5 employees.

-                     23% had up to 10 employees.

-                     12% had up to 15 staff.

(That is, 70% of visited clients employed no more than 15 staff.)

Sequence and main aspects of visits

-                     Recruitment through either the web site, the Adviceline, Regional Advisors or Partner organisations.

-                     The visit, following a broad checklist of topics dealing with Policies and procedures, Risk and COSHH assessments, identifying workplace hazards, Occupational health aspects and Promoting good health.

-                     A follow-up Report grades priorities for action using a colour code: Red, priority 1, Amber, priority 2 and Green a less urgent priority 3.

-                     Guidance is provided on how further help or advice on how to implement recommendations may be obtained.

-                     A return visit may be agreed to explain the Report and its recommendations and possibly suggest practical actions.

First phase evaluation of the scheme – 2003/2004.

-                     90% had implemented all or some of the Red recommendations

-                     57% had implemented all or some of the Amber recommendations

-                     61% had implemented all or some of the Green recommendations

-                     68% of employers and 60% of employees thought the advice to be “very useful”

-                     48% of employers and 28% of employees had already recommended the service to others.

-                     85% of employers and 94% of employees said they would recommend the service in the future.

-                     92% of employers and 96% of employees thought it likely they would use the Adviceline again.

Robert proceeded to explain to the meeting how the service was staffed across the regions of Scotland, the types of expertise available at Regional Hubs and how they worked with partner organisations.  He also illustrated how the actual practical advice on topics asked for by employers was sometimes significantly at variance to those expected from a “baseline survey” carried out in 2003.  For example, in the survey 83% thought that health and safety Policy work would be a priority for them; in fact, up to March 2005 it formed 29.8% of enquiry work for the service.

Statistics gained with the co-operation of Lanarkshire GP’s showed that in a single year (2003?) 1366 employees lost a total of 16,061 working days (the major losses were 199 employees off for 6152 days for mental health/stress problems, 243 lost 4858 days with musculo-skeletal disorders and 818 employees lost 3931 days through “accidents”.)

The Service is evolving and will soon become an integral part of a “joined-up” delivery system operating through a central organisation – The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives.  Robert showed the meeting the new logo for the organisation.  Eventually all the participating groups will use the new logo and others will be phased out.

Finally, Robert invited questions from the floor and was most enthusiastic and helpful in dealing with a number of enquiries from members in the audience.

The Chairperson – Karen McDonnell – then rose and commented how excellent it had been to learn about the work being done to make a difference in Scotland and that we should all think about how it might be of benefit in our own spheres of work.  Karen then invited Barry Davies to propose a Vote of Thanks.

8.         Vote of Thanks       Barry Davies

Barry commenced his remarks by pointing out that Robert Atkinson had bravely stepped-into-the-breach at short notice.  He had proved to be an excellent speaker and by no means a “substitute”.  The meeting agreed and fulsome applause was given when Barry asked the meeting to show its appreciation.

9.      Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 3rd November at 7.30 pm in the Dewar Centre.  The Guest Speaker will be Steven Boucher; the topic – CDM update.

Postscript

Members attending the Dewar Centre please note that the bar outside the meeting room closes at 7.30pm.  Members anticipating refreshments are presently requested to arrive in good time to order from the bar before it closes.  Soft drinks, tea, coffee and some snacks are available at this bar.