Event signs leading player for '09
October 1st 2008 During its successful final show for '08 at The
Reebok Stadium in Bolton, the Health & Safety
Events series of regional shows signed up a
leading health and safety player. The BSC is to come on
side as educational partner for '09. HSM editor,
Georgina Bisby, looks back after an outstanding second
year and gives more details about how this exciting
partnership promises to make a difference to the
health and safety professional
'Success breeds success' as the saying goes, and with 50%
more exhibitors at Bolton in 2008 than in the previous
year it is abundantly clear to both visitors and exhibitors
alike that the Health and Safety '08 regional
series is growing quickly. A 20% increase in
numbers signalled that visitors appreciated the
easy-to-use elements of the event and the free
educational content was incredibly popular with
some seminars offering standing room only.
However, the legacy of Health and Safety 08 –
North will not be that there were lots of visitors
or lots of exhibitors and they all seemed to have
an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. The
legacy will be the agreement between the British
Safety Council and the organiser of the series,
which was signed in Bolton, for the BSC to
become the Official Educational Partner as from
2009.
Speaking to various BSC spokespeople at the
event, the reasons for their entering into this partnership
is because it offers them the chance to take their expertise
in training, advice and education to a wider audience and
at a different level. Brian Nimick, BSC Chief Executive,
offered an overview of the educational content that will be
delivered by the BSC, saying "We want to take the [health
and safety] debate forward and make further contacts with
influencers, regulators and innovators. The research we
conduct will mean that we will be able to address where
health and safety is going next as well as addressing the
day to day issues."
While the educational programme that the BSC will
deliver (firstly at Sandown Park, Esher at Health and Safety
09 – South on the 24th and 25th February 2009) has yet
to be announced and published at
www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk there is an
acknowledgment from the BSC that it has to be fit for
purpose and as well as exploring new avenues it must also,
for example, still be useful for CPD accreditation.
New elements
This doesn't mean that the
organisation is going to play safe
though. As Nina Wrightson, OBE
and Chairman of the BSC pointed
out: "I believe that one of the
most important educational
elements for health and safety
practitioners when they visit the
events in 2009 will be the
chance to meet like-minded
people. Isolation can be an issue
for those involved in health and
safety as they sometimes battle
lethargy or even worse, outright
hostility, to what they are trying to achieve within their
organisation. Our educational content will give them the
chance to re-charge their batteries by networking with
their peers and discovering new ways of working,
communicating their value to the bottom line or even
learning about new technology to make their task
simpler."
Emphasis on 'health'
Another new focus for the BSC will be making sure that
'health' is given the same emphasis as 'safety' in their
educational programme. With the epidemiology of health
being a less straight forward issue than safety, as exposure
is not as easy to predict as it takes place over the longterm,
it is often ignored. Plans are
in the early stages for the BSC to
host a number of debates around
health as part of their educational
programme with topics such as
'The Health issues of an ageing
workforce.' These are bound to
prove lively: "Health and safety
practitioners are like a bottle of
lemonade" says Nina Wrightson,
"once they get shaken up on an
issue they are liable to explode."
As well as the above mentioned
debates other innovative format changes to the traditional
educational programme may include workshops where
aspects of enabling relationships between different elements
in the workplace are discussed
with the aim of engendering a
team relationship. For example,
this may help a facilities
manager or an engineer to talk
with and understand the
pressures facing those working
in health and safety and should
lead to improved working
relationships and higher
standards of health and safety
across industries.
Focus on SMEs
As well as offering new ways in
which to deliver the educational
programme the BSC will also be
focusing on hitherto underserved
sections of the business
community. Small businesses
(SMEs) are to be addressed
specifically, as according to
Brian Nimick, "There is still a
large amount of work to do with
SMEs. Whereas big business,
those listed on the stock market
for example, have been
awakened to health and safety
there is still a great deal to do
in regards to smaller private companies not driven by the
stock exchanges' reporting requirements." Indeed, the BSC
website is already offering the 'Small Business Toolkit'
www.britishsafetycouncil.co.uk on its website and its
programme at both Sandown and Bolton will be an
extension of its work in this area.
Having been established since
1957 and now operating in over 50
countries the BSC's status as Official
Educational Partner for the Health
and Safety regional events will
improve the events even further
providing more reasons for visitors
to mark them in their diaries. We
could be on the cusp of these events
becoming the most important that
the health and safety industry has
to offer. 'Success breeds success' –
well that is for you to decide but it
would be great to hear your feedback both from the 2008
events or once you have visited Health and Safety '09 –
South.
Registering for the event or a seminar is free. However,
visitors are advised to do so in advance to guarantee a
place. Registration is via:
www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk or for those without
internet access registration can be completed by calling
the exhibition helpline on: 0870 4866816. More articles from Health and Safety Events: | 
