Dame Judith Hackitt Asbestos disturbance Wellbeing conference

Valedictory interview First things first Managing mental health

Safety, health and wellbeing in the world of work

May 2016 ioshmagazine.com

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Comment

Official magazine of

The Institution of Occupational Safety

and Health (IOSH) is the worlds leading
One size seldom fits all. And one
professional body for people responsible
for safety and health in the workplace. approach to harm reduction is
Published by LexisNexis
Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS
unlikely to eliminate risk, however
+44 (0) 20 8686 9141
Editor
ambitious its scope and thorough its
execution.
Louis Wustemann +44 (0) 20 8212 1945
louis.wustemann@lexisnexis.co.uk
Deputy editor
Mark Glover +44 (0) 20 8662 2019
mark.glover@lexisnexis.co.uk
Assistant editor Recognising that fact spurred specialist Almost 100 years ago Herbert William
Keeley Downey +44 (0) 20 8401 1809
keeley.downey@lexisnexis.co.uk
metals multinational Johnson Matthey, Heinrich proposed the theory that for
Web editor whose occupational health director Don every 330 incidents involving workplace
Wendy Smith +44 (0) 20 8212 1973 Harrison features in our leader interview hazards, 300 will result in no harm,
wendy.smith@lexisnexis.co.uk
this month (page 48), to action last year. 29 will produce minor injuries and one a
Advertising manager
Sayda de Maurier +44 (0) 20 8662 2069 Though its zero-harm programme was major injury or death.
sayda.demaurier@lexisnexis.co.uk reducing accidents and illness, Johnson There have been variants and
Recruitment manager Mattheys group environment, health refinements by other academics to this
Sam Mackenzie +44 (0) 20 8212 1920
sam.mackenzie@lexisnexis.co.uk and safety team took time out to draw up ratio often represented as a triangle
Production manager new procedures for the companys tasks with the near-misses at the base and
Angela Waterman which, however infrequent, risked the the single serious injury at the apex
angela.waterman@lexisnexis.co.uk
severest injury. The team then audited the proposing ratios that vary by industry
Design manager
Elliott Tompkins groups plants worldwide to check they or by hazard. Some have questioned
elliott.tompkins@lexisnexis.co.uk were upholding the revised standards. whether the theory has any validity (the
Advertisement production The drinks maker Diageo went through source of Heinrichs data is obscure), but
John Woffenden +44 (0) 20 8212 1935
john.woffenden@lexisnexis.co.uk a similar process when it realised its it has stuck in the minds of many OSH
Marketing manager zero-accidents initiative, which, like practitioners.
Rakhee Patel Johnson Mattheys was bringing down It seems sensible that sweating
rakhee.patel@lexisnexis.co.uk
Publisher
the injury total, had made no dent in its the small stuff, driving down minor
Chris Jones fatality rate. accidents and near-misses, should not
chris.jones@lexisnexis.co.uk
As Diageos governance manager, Aidan only cut total injury rates but should also
LexisNexis aims to provide authoritative and accurate
information at all times. Its publications are, however, ODonnell, put it: The saying that if you drain the reservoir of hazardous acts that
for guidance only and are not an official information look after the pennies the pounds look allows the worst to happen occasionally
source. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or after themselves is not true in this case. when all the gaps in an organisations
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or otherwise, without the prior written Its response was to develop a protective measures align.
consent of the publisher and editor. severe and fatal incident prevention But the experience of Diageo and
For any queries regarding late deliveries/
non-receipt please direct to Juliette Walker, programme with new rules controlling others is that its an approach that fails
Magazine distribution administrator high-hazard activities such as work at to deliver results where they are most
juliette.walker@lexisnexis.co.uk; +44 (0) 20 7400 2817
ISSN 2396-7447  IOSH 2016
height and workplace transport. These critical.
instructions were supported by increased Work to minimise low-level incidents is
funding for controls, including access no bad thing but, if you make major hazard
equipment for work at heights over 2 m. controls wait on it, you might be living on
IOSH Magazine is printed by
ISO 14001 certified printers They were also strictly enforced, without borrowed time.
on 55% recycled paper the hearts and minds approach often
stock and despatched in
biodegradable polywrap used to encourage safe behaviour when
Printed by Headley Bros,
Ashford, Kent the stakes are lower.
The positive effect of the intervention
on the major and fatal injury rate was
almost immediate.
But its easy to see how so many
organisations have come to concentrate Louis Wustemann
on counting the pennies. Editor

MAY 2016 1
Contents
May 2016

In focus News

4 10
p5
Hackitt: OSHCR needs
a radical rethink
The outgoing HSE chair tells IOSH Magazine
she thinks the consultants register is flawed
4 Potential roof fall drops 10 Peers knock back govt
160k from metal casters plan to limit time off for
p14 bottom line public sector safety reps

OSH on UK board agendas Syngenta fined 200,000

for chemical release
Four-fifths of UK employers say safety and 5 Construction co director
health is regularly discussed by senior managers lands six-year gross
negligence manslaughter
sentence
p26 OSHCR needs reform,
Wellbeing conference says outgoing HSE chair
6 HSE faces 12% grant cut
Health and Wellbeing at Work delegates
Selig added guard to
learned about the importance of encouraging
laminater after injury
men to discuss mental health problems
8 HSE turns to PI to find
repeat offender
p42 UK SMEs fail to prevent
Competency framework supply chain slavery
Fabricator fined after FLT
driver struck steps
11 Qatar fails to curb abuse
of World Cup workers,
says Amnesty
12 Unions urged to lobby for
ISO 45001 changes
13 Prison for contractor over
trench collapse fatality
14 OSH is regular board
agenda item in four in five
UK organisations
Solar installers left
to their own devices
before roof fall

Thames Water helped IOSH develop the self-

assessment tool that allows practitioners to
evaluate their skills and experience online
IOSH News
16 Members can gain
exclusive access to
Accidents and Incidents 6
Wellbeing 6 1 Business Ethics 6
self-assessment tool
Time running out
Vision and Mission 7 Business Resilience 8
0.9

2 3
0.8

to nominate for the 1

Values 8 Business Risk 5

Assess skills
0.7

Strategy 8 0.6

0.5
Change 6
council election Set goals Map pathway
Stakeholders 8
0.4
Communication 8
17 No Time to Lose 16
0.3

0.2 campaign highlighted

Responsibility 7 0.1
Corporate Governance 4
at UK and international 18 UAE quarry shares its
conferences
0

Resourcing 5 Culture 8 safety and health story

IOSH 2016 speakers on Welsh alliance stages
Professionalism 5 Data 7
influential leadership inaugural conference
Policies 8 Decision Making 8
Economic benefits of OSH International flavour to
Plans and Projects 8 Finance 8 to be focus at Ireland food and drink awards
Performance 8 Future Thinking 4 conference
Hazards and Risks 6 19 CPD stars
NI salons receive safety
Management Systems 7
Legal 6

Average of Assessed Level Percentage and health guides
Average of Objective Level Percentage
Pitfalls of taking safety
shortcuts highlighted
Edinburgh branch chair
gains fellow status
20 Branch events

2 MAY 2016 
Features
25 Conference preview
We interview two more
speakers ahead of the
IOSH 2016 event
26 Health and Wellbeing at
Work conference report
Mental health, gender
differences, reducing MSDs
and new NICE guidance
30 Exit interview: Judith
Hackitt
The outgoing HSE chair
on FFI, budget cuts and
problems with consultants
36 First response: asbestos
The critical steps you
need to take if asbestos is
disturbed
42 Thames Water: in the
frame
How the London utility
helped shape the new
competency framework
Regulars
Columns
7 Shelley Frost
12 Lawrence Waterman
11 Regulatory tracker
22 Online/Letters
23 Reviews
Creative safety solutions
57 Lexicon
D is for disproportion
58 Off duty
Colin Maskell, health and
safety training manager
42 for RGF Logistics and
motorcycle racer
30 COVER
STORY 59 Products and services
61 Recruitment
48

48 Leader interview
Don Harrison, Johnson
Matthey, on simplifying
policies

36

MAY 2016 3
News
For the
latest news and
comment, visit
ioshmagazine.com

Potential roof fall drops 160k In Short

from metal casters bottom line HSE interim chair

George Brechin has been
appointed as interim chair
of the Health and Safety

A metal caster and fabricator has been fined 160,000 for
work at height failings after an employee almost fell through
a fragile roof. The judge set the penalty based on the
potential for serious harm.
M J Allen Holdings, a metalwork casting and
machinery company, failed to provide suitable
work at height equipment and did not train its
employees, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
investigation found.
Canterbury Crown Court was told that, on
19 September 2014, three of the companys
maintenance team had to remove a broken ceiling
fan and used a mobile elevating work platform to
access the foundry roof.
The men were at a height of 10 m, and using
crawling boards on the non-ferrous foundry
building when one of the three slipped, his foot
making a hole in the asbestos roof sheeting.
MJ Allen Holdings, of Ashford, Kent, had
ultimate responsibility for safety on site, and
notified the HSE of the incident as a dangerous
occurrence under the Reporting of Injuries,
Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
In applying the new sentencing guidelines for
health and safety offences that took effect in
February, the judge established MJ Allens level of
culpability as medium, a harm category of 2
(seriousness of harm set at A with potential for
death or life-limiting injury, and likelihood said
to be medium. The companys turnover it had
sales of 35m in 2015 put it in the medium
Syngenta fined
200,000 for
chemical release
category, meaning that the starting point of the
fine was 240,000, with a range of
100,000 to 600,000.
The company entered an early guilty plea, so
judge Adele Williams set the fine at 160,000.
For breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at
Height Regulations 2005, the firm, which
specialises in aluminium, iron and bronze
castings, fabrications and machining and is part
of a family-owned group, was also ordered to pay
costs of 5,767.
HSE inspector Guy Widdowson told IOSH
Magazine: The right equipment including
harnesses or even the mobile elevating work
platform, should have been used when accessing
the broken ceiling fan.
Executive (HSE). He served as
chief executive of NHS Fife for
ten years before he retired
on 31 March 2012. Between
January 2014 and March 2015 he
was interim chief executive of
the State Hospitals Board for
Scotland.
bit.ly/1WBdzDZ
US silica dust limit
The US Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
(OSHA) has halved the exposure
limit for respirable crystalline
silica dust. The new limit is
50 micrograms per m3 of air
averaged over eight hours.
Employers have until 23 June
2017 to comply.
bit.ly/1pbrGCm
Police sickness absence
The number of police officers
and staff taking long-term
sick leave has risen 35%
from 4,544 in 2010/2011 to
6,129 in 2014/2015 in England
and Wales. The number of
employees on long-term sick
leave (28 or 29 days or more)
also rose by 13% in the same
period. Since March 2010 the
number of police officers
employed fell by almost 17,000.
The data comes from 40 of 46
police forces.
bit.ly/1SpSsEP

Alkaline burn fine

Agrochemicals multinational
Syngenta has been fined
200,000 after a toxic herbicide
stored under pressure was
released at its plant in
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Between 3.5 and 3.8 tonnes
of paraquat dichloride solution
leaked when a maintenance
technician accidentally opened
a valve on an ISO tank pressure
vessel. The chemical, marketed
by Syngenta under the name
Gramoxone Max, is an irritant to
the eyes and respiratory system.
Syngenta pleaded guilty at
Leeds Crown Court on 16 March
to breaching Regulation 4 of the
Control of Major Accident Hazards
Regulations 1999, which requires
operators to prevent major
accidents, and Regulation 5(1) of
the Provision and Use of Work
Equipment Regulations, under
which work equipment must be
maintained in good repair.
Syngenta should have
properly assessed the real risk of
the valve being opened while the
tank was under pressure, said
HSE inspector Angus Robbins.
Metal finishing firm Poligrat
has been fined 8,000 plus
1,072 costs after a worker
poured caustic granules into an
intermediate bulk container (IBC)
to neutralise cleaning chemicals
before they were disposed.
A chemical reaction caused
alkaline burns to his face and
legs. Poligrat was prosecuted for
breaching the Health and Safety
at Work Act and the Management
of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations.
bit.ly/1TjnYkE

4 MAY 2016 

Construction co director lands six-year
gross negligence manslaughter term
The owner of a construction firm has
been sentenced to six years in prison
for manslaughter after a worker was
killed and another seriously injured at
a demolition site. The director of a
second company was jailed for
eight months.
Builder C Smith and Sons had
been contracted to demolish the
structure, formerly outlets for
retailers Harveys and
Carpetright.
The building was due to be
demolished remotely because
this posed the least risk to
workers. However, between
winning the contract and work
starting on site, C Smiths
owner, Michael Smith, decided
the structure should be
OSHCR needs reform, says outgoing HSE chair
The Occupational Safety and
Health Consultants Register
(OSHCR) needs a radical rethink,
according to Dame Judith Hackitt,
who recently left the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) after eight
years as chair.
I have my doubts as to
whether OSHCR in its current
form can deliver, she said. We
would probably be better off to
have a much more radical rethink
and look more closely at when
expertise is needed and how
thats defined.
OSHCR was set up by the HSE in
2011 after the government report
Common Sense, Common Safety,
by Lord Young noted the lack of
an accreditation scheme for OSH
consultants.
At the launch in 2011,
Hackitt said the register would
provide an independent way
of demonstrating professional
competence in occupational
dismantled piece by piece
instead.
C Smith subcontracted
Building and Dismantling
Contractors (BDC) to dismantle
the roof. Its workers had to
remove the roof sheets at
height before unbolting the
supporting structure.
The roof comprised steel
corrugated panels with plastic
skylights. The skylights had
deteriorated and were also
health and safety consultancy and
should also encourage those who
have not yet met these standards
to do so.
However, in an interview with
IOSH Magazine shortly before she
left her post in early April (see page
30), Hackitt said: I dont think it has
done what it set out to do at all.
The register did not filter out
poor general OSH consultants.
The good ones listen to what
their customers want and provide
proportionate solutions, she said.
The not-so-good ones impose and
sell through fear. [They say] you
must do this or you will be locked
up or whatever.
Hackitt said there was a role
for specialist consultants such as
occupational hygienists, but she
questioned whether generalist
consultants were needed. My
first preference would be for the
business to deal with the risks
themselves, she said.
covered by corrugated
steel sheets.
On the morning of
21 January 2014, a 47-year-old
BDC employee fell 9 m through
one of the skylights onto the
concrete floor, fracturing his
spine, pelvis, right leg, heel
and wrist. At about 4pm the
same day, 42-year-old Scott
Harrower, another BDC worker,
fell through a skylight and
sustained fatal head injuries.
The day before the accident
Harrower had a near-miss
when he stepped through one
of the skylights but managed to
stop himself falling.
The companies appeared at
Manchester Crown Court,
where BDC was found guilty of
offences under Section 2(1) of
the Health and Safety at Work
Act and of breaching regula-
tions 4 and 7 of the Work at
Height Regulations. These
Registration with OSHCR is
voluntary and the register currently
has details of 1,778 consultants. It
is open to individuals who have
achieved chartered member
status with IOSH, the Chartered
Institute of Environmental Health
or the Royal Environmental Health
Institute of Scotland. Fellows of the
International Institute of Risk and
Safety Management with degree-
level qualifications and members
of the British Occupational Hygiene
Society and Chartered Institute of
Ergonomics and Human Factors
also qualify.
Applicants are asked to
commit themselves to continuing
professional development, have
professional indemnity insurance,
and provide proportionate advice.
There are many good
consultants out there but
unfortunately we only seem
to hear about the bad
ones, said Craig Foyle,
News
require employers to properly
plan and supervise work at
height and ensure it is carried
out safely. The companys
owner, Allan Thomson, was
jailed for six years, fined
400,000 and ordered to pay
55,000 court costs.
C Smith and Sons was found
guilty of offences under Section
2(1) of the Health and Safety at
Work Act and for breaching
both the CDM (Construction
Design and Management) and
Work at Height regulations.
Michael Smith was jailed for
eight months, fined 90,000
plus 45,000 costs.
Health and Safety Executive
inspector Sandra Tomlinson
said: The roof dismantling
works were not properly
planned or supervised and
adequate precautions, such
as netting, were
not put in place.
chair of the IOSH consultancy
group. The consultancy group
is working closely with the IOSH
representative on the OSHCR
board and has also raised
concerns over the effectiveness
of the scheme. In addition the
group is also trying to raise the
profile of what good consultancy
looks like.
Hackitt: sees no role for generalist consultants
MAY 2016 5
News

HSE faces 12% grant cut

risks, specifically those linked to Legionella,
silica dust, carcinogens and asthmagens in
woodworking, welding fumes, and muscu-
loskeletal disorders in food production.
The Health and Safety Executives (HSE) government The plan commits inspectors to making

funding is due to be cut by more than 12% over the next 20,000 proactive inspections in 2016/17 and
says they will inspect up to 1,000
three years, according to the regulators business plan. asbestos removal sites.

The reduction from 140.9m in The plan identifies

2016/17 to 123.4m in 2019/20
follows a 35% cut in the grant
since 2010/11. Public funding
will count for 60% of the HSEs
235m budget in 2016/17. The
remaining 94m will come from
the executives activities,
including the fee for interven-
tion charging scheme, up from
86m in 2015/16.
The executives recently published
strategy, Helping Great Britain Work Well,
places emphasis on industry bodies and
dutyholders responsibility to help
improve national injury and ill-health
statistics.
The plan (bit.ly/246ugJD) commits the
HSE to reviewing its sector strategies and
publishing updated versions aligned with the
UK strategy by the end of the year.
By mid-2016 it will also find three
significant industry iniatives to support.
challenges from economic,
technological and sectoral
changes, particularly in oil
and gas. It states: More
than half of the UKCS [UK
Continental Shelf]
offshore installations are
operating beyond their
original design life,
noting that the HSE will
begin to publish inspection scores in its
offshore statistics report.
The plan says the regulator is aware of
potential cyberthreats that could affect the
risk profiles of major hazard sites.
It will also publish an ill-health strategy
by the end of the year. This is a long-term
project that will incorporate partners
including the NHS and aim to promote
behavioural change.
The plan states that the HSE will
sustain inspector focus on major health
The regulator is aware of
potential cyberthreats that could
affect the risk profiles of major
hazard sites
The HSE plans to review and simplify
chemicals health and safety regulations,
specifically the Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002,
the Control of Lead at Work Regulations
2002, and the Dangerous Substances and
Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002.
It will also publish draft guidance this
autumn to take forward a proposal to
place less emphasis on written risk
assessments without
reducing standards.
By April 2017 the HSE wants to conduct
20,000 proactive workplace inspections as
well as those prompted by injury reports
by dutyholders.

Selig added guard to laminater after injury

Cap seal manufacturer Selig
UK has been fined after an
accident at its Berkshire site,
in which a workers arm was
dragged between two rollers.
Thomas Joness arm was
fractured in several places
and he sustained muscle and
nerve damage while trying to fix
Seligs bespoke 28 m laminating
machine on 15 October 2013.
The laminater produces
sealing products, including
foil for coffee jars and Seligs
patented Lift n Peel seal for
milk and juice bottles. The
machines splicing function
had caused problems since its
installation in autumn 2012;
it sometimes failed to cut the
sealing material or to wind it on
to an empty reel. Selig was aware
of these issues and told workers
to use a stick or broom handle
to hook the material back on to
the reel.
On the day of the accident,
material had failed to adhere to
the new empty reel and started
to pool on to the floor at a rate
of around 70 m a minute. Jones
attempted to cut off this excess
material and reattach the tail end
to the reel. His hand was caught
in an in-running nip between two
rollers and he was pulled in up to
his shoulder.
At the time of the accident
the injured person wasnt using
the stick; he was using his hand,
said Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) inspector Karen Morris.
Though Selig did not
sanction this method, Morris
said evidence given at Reading
Crown Court showed that other
workers were also using their
hands to resolve the problem:
What is clear is that there was
an issue with the machine and
that the operators started to
develop their own systems for
fixing it.
Before the October incident,
Selig sent a safety alert to its
operators advising them how
to deal with the laminaters
technical problems after a near-
miss when another employee was
almost dragged into the rollers.
In 2009 the HSE issued Selig
with an improvement notice after
a worker sustained injuries from
unguarded rollers on a previous
model of the machine.
The new laminater was fitted
with interlocked gates and
perimeter guarding but the area
where the accident occurred was
not fully guarded. Er-we-pa, the
machines German manufacturer,
told Selig it was not possible to
add more guarding because the
finished reels would strike it.
Instead Selig installed
pressure-sensitive mats to prohibit
people standing in the area next to
the danger zone.
The pressure mats were quite
small and it wasnt difficult to
reach over them, which is exactly
what the injured person did,
said Morris. The pressure mats
werent good enough.
After the accident, Selig
fitted the laminating machine
with a fixed guard and found
the reels of material did not
interfere with it. The fixed
guard is now on there and no
one can reach into the danger
area because its completely
blocked off, Morris added.
Selig UK pleaded guilty
to breaching Regulation 11 of
the Provision and Use of Work
Equipment Regulations and
Regulation 3 of the Management
of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations. It was fined 240,000
as a medium-sized organisation
(turnover between 10m and
50m) whose offence was
determined to be harm category 2
(medium culpability, level B harm
with a high likelihood). The fine
for this category can range from
100,000 to 600,000 and it would
have been 360,000 if an early
guilty plea discount had not been
applied. The company must also
pay 9,232 in prosecution costs.

6 MAY 2016 
 Column
Shelley Frost

MAKING
IOSH executive director of policy

Many members have now completed the IOSH competency

self-assessment online. That has made me reflect on the

WORK SAFER
discussions which took place between many members and
IOSH staff over the past two years since the competency
framework was conceived.
OSH as a discipline and practice has been on
a rollercoaster of a journey over the past years
polarisation of opinion in the press fed a public
perception which was often less than complimentary.
The social, cultural and technological legitimacy of
the profession has been undermined at times and the
uninformed still see safety and health management as all
about compliance.
That attitude persists in some organisations. Safety
and health does not have the same status as other core
functions. It is not uncommon to find those in OSH roles
lacking the requisite skills, knowledge and experience to
carry them out effectively. This will continue while OSH
is viewed simply as a compliance issue: if you want only
to answer the question are we compliant? you need
someone who can complete a checklist.
But there are other
employers who recognise
Most OSH professionals
safety and health as a core
(I am no exception) business value and a key
were trained primarily contributor to their social
to understand technical licence to operate. This
requirements is becoming increasingly
important as we see in many
jurisdictions an increasing shift by regulators away
from guidance on achieving compliance but also stricter
legal or reputational penalties for those who do not
meet minimum standards. This shift increases the onus
on organisations and individuals to create their own
frameworks to make workplaces safe.
To do so, organisations need to identify competent
Health & Safety
professionals and to understand the skills, knowledge
and experience those professionals offer to assure
success in achieving their OSH vision. With this in mind,
Environmental Management
IOSH, supported by its members, decided to provide a
framework describing competence at all levels for those Training & Online
responsible for overseeing, implementing or advocating Consultancy Worldwide Available 24/7 Worldwide
safety and health.
Training in English, 190+ global exam venues
Most OSH professionals (I am no exception) were
trained primarily to understand technical requirements: Arabic, French & Spanish
legislation, risk assessment and management processes. In-Company
These remain key tools in a professionals toolbox. But Classroom Accredited &
our discussions about the framework concluded that, to
ensure safety and health in organisations, engagement
London, Birmingham, bespoke courses
and communication are also vital. Chorley, Newcastle Delivered worldwide
Knowledge of business strategy and planning and Bahrain, Dubai,
sustainable practice is vital to ensuring the OSH agenda
Georgia,Tunisia
remains relevant and positioned appropriately in an
organisation. Consequently the IOSH framework specifies
the need for technical, business, communication and
strategic competence to carry out OSH duties effectively.
Competency measurement will enable organisations www.rrc.co.uk
to bring out the differences between themselves in a
more sophisticated way than regulation can achieve. A +44 (0)20 8944 3100
competency approach will also do much to combat the
perception and legitimacy of safety and health among the info@rrc.co.uk
public and media. It will also help to position and equip
the profession better to contribute to business success.
This will support a better informed, less prescriptive,
more proportionate and more goal-oriented approach to
safety and health with less reliance on compliance and
regulation as the main drivers.

MAY 2016 7
News

HSE turns to PI to find repeat In Short

offender Contaminated cabin air

Toxins in aircraft cabin air are
passed on to flight attendants
and passengers, according to

A demolition contractor German researchers. They tested

140 patients, many of whom
has been given a four- were cabin crew, and found

month jail sentence after

traces of dangerous chemicals in
their blood and urine samples.
breaching asbestos These compounds may have
been leaked into the cabin air
regulations at two supply from engine fuel, oils or

separate projects. antifreeze. The health effect of

breathing contaminated cabin air
The buildings at the Chesham site posed a collapse risk is called aerotoxic syndrome.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had to
hire a private investigator to find Scot Ian Rich- where Aztec was in charge of demolition work. No bit.ly/1VYft0I
ardson, who went missing after the regulators risk assessments had been carried out for respira-
inspectors visited one of the sites his demolition tory exposure to asbestos at the site. HSENI has new CMO
company was working on. The client, Land Charter, told the HSE it was The Health and Safety Executive
Richardson, trading as Aztec Demolition, was unaware work had taken place and had alerted the for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has
the contractor at both projects, Milton Keynes police. The HSE was still unable to contact Rich- hired Professor David Fishwick
Magsitrates Court was told. ardson and contracted a private investigator to as its chief medical adviser. He
The first visit, to the former site of the Chesham track him down. already holds the post for the
Community Hospital in Buckinghamshire, was in Aztec was found guilty of breaching Regulations Health and Safety Executive
March 2014 after a member of the public 29(1) and (2) of the Construction (Design and in Great Britain and serves as
contacted the HSE. Management) Regulations 2007, which require safe chief medical officer at the
The inspectors found asbestos-containing demolition and dismantling and a written Health and Safety Laboratory
material among the site debris. Demolition record of the work. and co-director of the Centre for
arrangements had not been recorded in writing and The company was also found guilty of Regula- Workplace Health.
witnesses gave accounts of unsafe work at height tion 5(a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations
and inappropriate use of construction machinery. 2012, which requires asbestos checks before bit.ly/1MFgf18
The inspectors believed there was a serious risk demolition and maintenance work.
of injury from collapse of partly demolished Richardson was also ordered to complete US severe injury stat
buidlings. The client, Chesham Care, and the 200 hours of community service and pay costs In the first full year of a new
contractor were served prohibition notices. of 1,200. US reporting obligation, which
In October 2015, Chesham Care was fined After the hearing, HSE inspector Rauf Ahmed requires employers to inform
30,000 for failings under the Construction (Design said: Clients have a key role in safely directing the Occupational Safety and
& Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM). Inspec- construction projects. Effective arrangements at the Health Administration (OSHA)
tors tried to contact Richardson to no avail. start can have an amplified positive impact down of any work-related severe
The HSE was subsequently alerted to unsafe the various stages to completion, including making injury within 24 hours, 10,388
conditions at a site in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, informed and competent appointments. cases were reported, including
7,636 hospitalisations and 2,644
amputations. The stipulation
that employers report a
UK SMEs fail to statement each financial year.
It is part of a drive to prevent
reporting requirement. Though
eight in ten said they had yet
workplace fatality within eight
hours remains in force.
prevent supply forced and child labour by to discover slavery in their

chain slavery
Three SMEs in five are unaware
of larger businesses duties to
report on action to eliminate
slavery in their supply chains,
according to the Chartered
Institute of Procurement and
Supply (CIPS).
Since 1 April, under the
Modern Slavery Act, businesses
with turnovers exceeding 36m
have been required to publish
a slavery and human trafficking
making larger businesses more
accountable for their suppliers
practices. The reporting
obligation is intended to have
a cascade effect, encouraging
SMEs to ensure their supply
chains are slavery-free.
A survey by YouGov on behalf
of the CIPS in December 2015
found many UK SMEs unaware of
the act and unprepared to deal
with slave labour issues.
The research, which
involved 263 SMEs, found that
nearly 61% were unaware of the
supply chains, few had actively
investigated it. Two-thirds said
they had never taken action to
keep their supply chains free
of exploitation and 75% said
they wouldnt know what to do
if they discovered occurences
in them.
Ensuring workers are
earning the minimum wage and
carrying out site inspections
are among the steps SMEs can
take to ensure their supply
chains are slavery-free, says
the CIPS.
1.usa.gov/1qr94PF
Welder loses finger
A car component maker has been
prosecuted after a welder had
part of the third finger on his
right hand amputated on
17 June last year as a result of his
glove being caught in the drill
bit of a machine he was working
on. Lander Automotive was fined
27,000 plus costs of 1,574 and a
120 victim surcharge.
bit.ly/1NyYBH6

8 MAY 2016 
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News

Peers knock back government plan to

limit time off for public sector safety reps
The House of Lords has
voted to remove Clause
13 of the Trade Union Bill,
which would have allowed
the government to cap
the time public sector
union officials, including
safety reps, take off to
fulfil their duties.

One of the bills proposals relates to public
sector facility time the time off an
employer gives an individual to carry out
their role as a trade union rep. It is
proposed to grant ministers a power to
limit how much time off public sector
employers can allow union reps.
The power to restrict facility time was
described as wrong, potentially unlawful
and dangerous by Hugh Robertson, the
Trades Union Congresss (TUC) senior policy
officer for health and safety, on the Stronger
Unions blog before the debate on 16 March.
Lord Mackenzie of Luton, who was
health and safety minister under the last
Labour government, told peers that safety
reps time was mandated by the Health and
Safety at Work Act and by the 1989 EU
Framework Directive, which states:
Employers must allow workers repre-
sentatives with specific responsibility for
the safety and health of workers adequate
time off work, without loss of pay, and
provide them with the necessary means to
enable such representatives to exercise
their rights and functions deriving from
this directive.
Mackenzie told the house: The legal
requirement under the directive is for the
employer to comply in allowing time off.
This is as it should be, because it is
generally the employer who creates the
risks which have to be managed. It is not
for the government to second-guess in
respect of either public sector workplaces in
aggregate or individual workplaces in
particular.
For the government, Lord Bridges of
Headley said ministers would use the power
to limit facility time only as a last resort
if spending in a part of the public sector
was unacceptably high or if a significant
proportion of the cost of facility time is
spent on trade union activities as
opposed to duties.
NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
Referring to employers duties to allow
sufficient time off for safety reps, Bridges
said: I cannot envisage any circumstances
under which this government would
introduce such a restrictive cap that
important statutory obligations could not
be met union duties such as health and
safety will remain a statutory obligation.
Lord Kerslake, who moved the amend-
ment striking Clause 13, described the
clause as giving ministers overweening
central power, with no justification
whatever.
Peers voted to accept the amendment by
248 to 160. The Lords also passed other
amendments to the Bill.
The TUCs general secretary Frances
OGrady said after the vote: These defeats
should be the nails in the coffin for the
whole Trade Union Bill.

Fabricator fined after forklift driver struck steps

A steel fabricator has been McGibbon was not wearing
fined for failing to manage a seatbelt when his truck
workplace transport overturned after hitting
movements, resulting in the some steps on 13 March
death of a driver. 2013. He died from crush
An investigation by the injuries.
iStockphoto/Jakatics
ordered to pay costs of 46,020.
A non-causative breach is one
which is deemed not to be a
significant cause of the
fatality.
HSE inspector David Welsh

Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) found that Severfield
(UK) did not enforce seat belt
use or control the speed at
which some forklift truck (FLT)
operators drove their trucks
Teesside Crown Court was
told that 27-year-old Kelvin
The company pleaded
guilty to a non-causative
breach of regulation 5(1) of
the Management of Health
and Safety at Work Regulations
1999. It was fined 135,000 and
said after the case: The
prosecution shows that the
companys management of FLT
driving operations and risk
control measures failed which
exposed employees to danger.

10 MAY 2016 

Qatar fails to curb World Cup
workers abuse, says Amnesty
A report by the human
rights organisation
Amnesty International
has accused the Qatari
authorities and the
football world governing
body FIFA of failing to
address mistreatment of
the Gulf states migrant
workforce.
Workers refurbishing Khalifa
International Stadium for the
2022 football World Cup have
been forced to pay recruit-
ment fees and had passports
withheld, the report claims.
The report also raised the
issue of inadequate workforce
accommodation. When
Amnesty visited the Al
Wakrah labour camp, there
did not appear to be any fire
alarms or extinguishers, and
the kitchen and toilet
facilities were dirty, and
located in close proximity to
each other. Malaysian
subcontractor Eversendai,
which is responsible for
workers amenities, has since
improved conditions.
Workers commonly signed
contracts that were written in
languages they did not
understand or, on arriving in
Qatar, found their salaries
significantly reduced,
Amnesty claims.
The 2014 Workers Welfare
Standards, developed by the
organisation responsible for
managing construction
projects at the tournament,
Regulatory tracker
Legislation/consultation/guidance
Consultation Reduction in sentence
for a guilty plea guideline
Khalifa International Stadium
the Supreme Committee for
Delivery and Legacy, seek to
ensure companies respect
their workers human rights.
But these standards are only
applied to major contractors,
Amnesty says, when greater
risks are associated with
subcontractors and labour
supply companies.
The report also flags up
over-reliance on self-auditing
to ensure enforcement, a
method Amnesty describes as
a poor enforcement tool.
The standards incorporate
a four-tier auditing system
incorporating monthly
self-audits by the contractor,
ad hoc audits by the Supreme
Committee, and external
audits by an independent
third party and by inspectors
from the Ministry of Labour
and Social Affairs.
However, two years after
the standards publication,
the third-party audits had yet
to begin, Amnesty claims.
The Worker Welfare
Standards also require
companies to provide a safe
place for workers documents.
Due date
Ends 5 May
However, some workers were
confused by requests to give
up their passports and were
unaware of their documents
whereabouts.
Eversendai said workers were
offered the option to let the
company hold their passports.
In a letter dated 5 March
2016, Eversendai told
Amnesty that passports were
retained for safekeeping
with the written consent of
each individual worker. The
company has now returned
passports to migrant workers.
The report also criticises FIFA
for its weak approach to
human rights due diligence.
The association had failed to
pre-empt the fact that Qatars
bid in 2010 would involve
primarily migrant workers who
could be subject to serious and
systematic labour exploitation,
says Amnesty.
The report concludes:
Unless there is fundamental
reform of Qatars respect for
human rights standards by all
actors, the 2022 World Cup risks
being built by an exploited
workforce.
Summary
Draft court guidance cutting current one-third penalty
discount for guilty pleas after first stage in court process
to one-fifth or one-tenth bit.ly/1VE3oPk
News
In Short
NZ updates safety law
The Health and Safety at Work
Act 2015 came into effect in
New Zealand on 4 April. The
first phase of supporting
regulations is almost finalised
and eight were implemented
with the Act, including those on
worker consultation, asbestos
and major hazard facilities.
Regulations specifying offences
and fees, and on work with
hazardous substances, will be
finalised this year.
bit.ly/1Vj7D2U
Riser fall
Reinforced concrete structures
specialist David Ashley
Construction has been fined
20,000. It admitted breaching
Regulation 4(1) of the Work
at Height Regulations after a
worker fell 13 m down a riser
shaft and broke his arm while he
was dismantling falsework at De
Montfort University, Leicester,
on 15 June 2015. There was an
unsafe system of work and
inadequate supervision.
bit.ly/1pdGYq5
AU$1.5 m fatality fine
Australian engineering firms
Frankipile and Vibropile have
each been fined AU$750k
(407,500) after a worker was
killed in 2011 on a high-rise
construction site in Melbourne.
The pile driving rig he was
harnessed to snapped because
ten crucial bolts were not
installed. The companies were
initially fined AU$450k in total
but an appeal argued that the
penalties were too low. The
companies were re-sentenced
and the higher fines were
imposed in March.
bit.ly/20WKKlN
Applies
England
and Wales
MAY 2016 11
News
Unions urged to lobby for
ISO 45001 changes
European trade unions
have been called on
to lobby national
bodies reviewing the
planned ISO 45001
safety and health
standard to improve
requirements for
worker involvement.
A policy brief
published by the
European Trade Union
Institute (ETUI) says
unions should also press
for the standard to
include explicit require-
ments for employers to provide
all protective equipment free
to workers.
ISO 45001, which is due to
replace OHSAS 18001 before the
end of the year, is now in draft
international standard (DIS)
form and national standards
bodies can make changes
before the final standard
is issued.
The briefing paper repeats
previous union concerns that
certification to the new
standard could be used by
regulators as evidence of an
organisations compliance with
safety and health regulation or
of a sound OSH culture.
But the standard only
evaluates systems and is
driven by process rather than
outcome, says the briefing; it
has no means of assessing an
organisations safety and
health performance.
The process of seeking to
achieve certification to the
ISO 45001 standard may
impose bureaucratic require-
ments that are not a necessary
part of good health and safety
management, it warns.
The brief says the draft
standards approach to worker
training, consultation and
information is at variance
with the requirements of the
EU 1989 Workplace Health and
Safety Framework Directive.
This outlines the minimum
health and safety requirements
that employers and employees
must adhere to and is the main
source from which much
12 MAY 2016 
Column
Lawrence Waterman cfiosh
Health and safety director,
BatterseaPower Station
28 April was the International Labour Organizations
World Day for Safety and Health at Work, promoting
the prevention of occupational accidents and
diseases. This is an awareness-raising campaign,
intended to focus international attention on
emerging trends in the OSH field.
This year the campaign concentrated on workplace
stress and was a reminder (if we needed it) that mental
ill-health in the workplace is even more of a Cinderella
subject than health in general.
According to the charity MIND, one in six people at
work in the UK is dealing with a mental health problem
such as anxiety, depression or stress. The arguments
for addressing physical ill-health: preventing the loss
of skills; the desirability of supporting colleagues; a
business case; and human solidarity apply equally to
mental ill-health.
There is one other factor: when someone is
iStockphoto/dasugen injured or physically unwell, it is common to define
a threshold of fitness that they must reach before
they may continue their rehabilitation at work. For
lower back pain and some other musculoskeletal
problems, keeping active is a crucial part of minimising
European OSH pain and shortening the recovery time. With mental
regulation flowed. ill-health, this continued activity is crucial for
The paper acknowledges many people because the structure of daily work,
that enhanced clauses on the social interactions with colleagues, customers
worker involvement in the DIS and others is essential if they are to recover or at
mark a considerable step least learn the skills to
manage their condition and
forward from earlier It is hard to see how
ISO 45001 drafts, but notes that function effectively.
staying at home, often It is hard to see how staying
in places it still emphasises
the need to make employers
alone, with the dubious at home, often alone, with the
aware as opposed to comforts of daytime dubious comforts of daytime
consulting them. television is conducive television, is conducive to
anyone recovering their
It notes that the Interna- to anyone recovering
tional Labour Organization mental wellbeing.
their mental wellbeing In some sectors, the
(ILO) published a paper on the
draft standard in February, problems of mental ill-
identifying areas of concern, health are stark. In Australia the campaign Mates in
including the lack of a specifi- Construction was set up to address the high suicide
cation for certified organisa- rate among young men in the industry. There have
tions to provide training and also been concerns expressed for many years about
personal protective equipment the pressures on and social isolation of many in the
free of charge. farming sector and their consequences in damaged and
Labour organisations such even lost lives.
as the ILO, the European Trade Early safety regulation was inspired by anecdote
Union Confederation and stories and experiences of accidents gave rise to
national unions do not have legislation and safer practices. We discovered rather late,
voting rights on the DIS but to the cost of workers exposed to health risks, that only
they can make comments to an analytical approach that evaluated hidden harms and
the national bodies evaluating long-term risks would prompt the management of those
the draft. risks as well.
They should call for The same analysis that shows clearly that accidents
stronger worker involvement cause much less harm than workplace health hazards is
within the standard, says the increasingly revealing that if we focus only on physical
briefing. In particular they health, we are dealing with only half of the impact on our
should ask for even stronger organisations and on our colleagues.
wording on issues such as the Many workplaces are havens from the stresses
independence of safety and strains of family life, money worries and other
representatives, paid time off issues that can create the context for periods of
for them to undertake their mental ill-health.
activities and for training (for But with more effort, we can make workplaces the
both representatives and best places to sustain people, to provide the support
workers), and the need for needed for them to stay well or, when ill-health strikes,
meaningful consultation and for them to recover.
participation in all health and The ILOs choice of stress as a focal point is
safety issues. appropriate and timely.

Prison for contractor over
trench collapse fatality
A building contractor has been jailed for six months
after an employee was killed when an unshored
excavation he was working in collapsed.
A company owned by William Ryan Evans
was contracted to build a drainage field with
infiltration pipes laid at the bottom of deep
trenches. The pipes, which were 10 cm in
diameter and made of lightweight, perfo-
rated plastic, were to help distribute treated
effluent through the field.
Evans employed two workers and
subcontracted an excavator for the job at
Longstone Farm in Pembrokeshire.
On 26 June 2012 Hywel Glyndwr Richards,
54, entered the trench to remove a clump of
soil and the excavation collapsed on him. He
was buried and died at the scene.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
found that the work had not been properly
planned and the risk assessment was not
suitable or sufficient. The workers were not
correctly trained and equipment that could
have prevented the trench collapsing had not
been provided.
Evans was sentenced at Swansea Crown
Court on 11 April. He was found guilty of
breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work Act and was jailed
for six months.
HSE inspector Phil Nicolle said: Work in
excavations needs to be properly planned,
managed and monitored to ensure no one
enters an excavation deeper than 1.2 m
without adequate controls in place to
prevent a collapse.
News
Out now
Workplace health: policy and
management practices
Guidance from the National
Institute for Health and
Care Excellence on reducing
stress and promoting good
health at work, with advice
on job design and line
managers leadership style.
Now revised to include
guidance on managing and
supporting employees aged
50 and over.
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng13
NASC safety report 2016
Annual analysis by the
National Access and
Scaffolding Confederation of
injuries to access equipment
users and scaffolders in the
past year, including falls
from height, strikes by falling
objects and slips and trips.
bit.ly/1q3Jxfx
MAY 2016 13
News

OSH is regular board agenda item

in four in five UK organisations
A pan-European survey by the EU safety agency finds movements and moving machinery were
the most commonly reported hazards
that 79% of UK employers discuss safety and health after stress and violence.

issues routinely at top management level. A high proportion of UK organisations

The findings come from the second
European Survey of Enterprises on New and
Emerging Risks (ESENER-2) by EU-OSHA and
show the UK measured highly for board
engagement against the average of 61% for
the 28 EU member states.
The poll of 50,000 organisations
(bit.ly/1CnX5C9) finds 76% of employers
in the EU carry out OSH risk assessments.
The UK scored highly again: 92% of
employers confirmed they carried out
regular assessments, level with
Denmark.
The UK, Denmark and Sweden also had
the highest proportion of organisations
which reported their risk assessments
were carried out by directly-employed
staff rather than that by consultants.
EU-OSHA polled organisations with
more than five employees in 36 countries
the 28 EU members plus Albania,
Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway,
Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.
Complex legal obligations were seen as
major barriers to compliance by 40% of
organisations in the EU. Only 27% of UK
employers felt the legislative framework
was too complex but the proportion rose
to 55% in Greece and 67% in Italy. Almost
one in four EU employers (23%) said lack
of money was a barrier to sound OSH
management; 45% of Turkish organisa-
tions agreed but only 15% of UK employers.
Legislative compliance was cited by
85% of EU establishments as a key driver
to maintain OSH standards, while 79%
felt meeting the expectations of their
employees or their representatives was a
major reason for managing safety and
health well. Avoiding fines was a strong
incentive for 78% of EU organisations
(83% in the UK). Reputational concerns
were cited by 77% of employers and
maintaining or increasing productivity
was cited as a major influence by 64%,
falling to 53% of UK organisations.
The most commonly reported work-
place hazard was stress and physical
threat from dealing with difficult
customers, patients and pupils, reported
by 58% of the organisations in the EU.
This may reflect the shift in recent
decades to a service-based
economy in Europe.
UK employers led the 36 countries in
having action plans and procedures to
combat workplace bullying,
stress and violence.
Tiring work positions (including
prolonged sitting), repetitive hand or arm
(95%) used the services of an occupa-
tional health (OH) physician, matched by
Finland, France and Hungary, against an
EU average of 68%. In Ireland only 25%
contracted an OH doctor and in Switzer-
land the proportion fell to 12%.
Asked whether they had enough
information to include pyschosocial risks
such as high workloads and tight dead-
lines, in their risk assessments, 46%
(44% in the UK) said they did not.
Confidential counselling services had
been introduced by 37% of EU employers
who reported psychosocial stressors and
29% of those in the UK, in the past three
years. Around 60% of EU organisations said
employees had been involved in designing
interventions, such as conflict resolution
procedures, to reduce psychosocial risk.
Only 27% of UK employers felt
the legislative framework was
too complex
The UK had the highest proportion of
return-to-work procedures after long-
term absence, with 96% of employers
reporting that they had procedures in
place. This compares with the EU
average of 50%.

Solar installers by PV Solar in April 2011. He

was carrying a panel along the
to do to prevent a fall
from height.
left to their roof and fell through one of the The company

own devices
eight rooflights. The water in the pleaded guilty to three
swimming pool partly broke his separate breaches of

before roof fall

PV Solar, a photovoltaic panel
installer from Glasgow, must pay
more than 182,000 in fines and
costs after one of its employees
was injured when he fell through
a rooflight.
The rooflight was on a
swimming pool outbuilding at a
private home in Kent. The injured
worker was part of a three-strong
team replacing faulty solar
panels that had been installed
fall but he hit the pools side and
fractured his shin and spine.
The accident happened on
30 April 2013 but the 32-year-old
was unable to return to work until
January this year, and then on a
part-time basis only.
PV Solar was sentenced at
Canterbury Crown Court after
a Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) investigation, which found
none of the installation team had
been trained to use the scaffold
tower, ladder and safety harness
that was supplied for the panel
replacement work. The company
The water partly cushioned the workers fall
could also have provided
other equipment, such as full
scaffolding or hard covers for the
rooflights.
The HSE had served PV Solar
with a prohibition notice to
stop unsafe work on a fragile
roof in Bristol in May 2011. The
executive said the company
therefore knew what it needed
the Work at Height
Regulations 2005. It
was fined 153,000 and
ordered to pay 29,480
in prosecution costs.
He [the injured
worker] and his colleagues
were effectively left to their
own devices with equipment
that was not wholly suited
for the task at hand. In short,
better equipment, training and
supervision should have been
provided, said HSE inspector
Melvyn Stancliffe after the
hearing.

14 MAY 2016 
WHEN
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IOSH News
Members can gain exclusive access to
easy to navigate self-assessment tool
More than 1,000 members
used IOSHs self-assessment
tool in the first week of its
exclusive release and the
feedback was positive.
Invited to create their own
professional competency profile
and development plan,
members found it a fantastic
user-friendly tool that works
well and is easy to navigate.
IOSH president Karen
McDonnell said: Being able to
download my professional
competency profile was really
useful, and will be a big help in
how I plan out the next stage of
my professional development.
I would encourage all
members to give this a go. Only
IOSH members are getting the
chance at this stage to use the
tool so its a great opportunity
to not only have a framework
for your career, but also be part
of something that will have a
hugely positive impact on the
future of our profession.
Members were given
exclusive first access as part of
a beta release of the tool, which
means their feedback will help
shape it before full release
later this year.
IOSH also plans to develop a
knowledge library of
resources in 2016 to help
members work towards goals
identified in their professional
development plan.
James Thorne, IOSHs
executive director of
membership, said: IOSH
collaborated with a broad range
Time is running out to nominate for the
2016 council election
Members now have less
than a month to submit their
nominations for the 2016 IOSH
council election.
The council is IOSHs
representative body, providing
advice and guidance and
16 MAY 2016 
1 2
Assess skills
The self-assessment tool will help IOSH members develop as OSH professionals and demonstrate their worth
of stakeholders, from business,
education and occupational
safety and health, to develop
this new online self-
assessment tool.
Our members are valuable
professionals to the
organisations that employ
them. As their professional
body, we want to help them be
recognised for playing an
essential role in delivering core
business value and contributing
positively to their
organisations reputation,
resilience and productivity.
The self-assessment tool
will help our members develop
as OSH professionals and
demonstrate their worth.
The tool takes members
step-by-step through four
core groups of skills:
engagement and influence,
strategy and planning,
sustainable business, and
technical capability.
representing the views of
members.
In the summer, a ballot will
be conducted to elect new
members of council. Twelve will
be elected by vote to join after
the institutions Annual General
Set goals Map pathway
With each core group, they
find skills categories defined
by competency statements and
are invited to select the skill
levels that best describe their
competency in each category.
The result is a competency
profile that will form the basis of
their career development,
helping them to choose CPD
activities.
Engagement and influence,
strategy and planning,
sustainable business and
technical capability are based on
26 competency statements that
together form a framework
of competencies.
Karl Simons, head of safety,
health and wellbeing at Thames
Water Utilities, helped IOSH
develop the self-assessment tool
and his team were among the
first to use it (see Thames Water
case study on page 42).
He said: The new global
competency framework will
Meeting in November, at the
IOSH Networks Conference.
Successful candidates will serve
for three years.
To be nominated, each
candidate needs to be
proposed by two other
3
enable each member to now
actively understand their own
personal development areas,
which are much wider than
simply being a technical health
and safety professional as it
encompasses the development
areas that should be considered
for a rounded business
professional.
It also will enable the health
and safety professional to look at
the development areas within
their organisation, which is
very exciting.
IOSH members can access
the self-assessment tool by
logging into the IOSH website
and clicking get exclusive
member access today on the
MyIOSH page.
Anyone can find out more about
the self-assessment tool by
emailing shapingthefuture@
iosh.co.uk, or calling +44
(0)116 257 3600.
members, or a network. In the
election, corporate members
can vote for non-corporate
members and vice versa.
To request a nomination
form, email Laura Miles,
committee support officer, at
laura.miles@iosh.co.uk (+44
(0)116 257 3190). Forms must
be completed and returned
to The Grange by noon
on 27 May 2016.

No Time to Lose campaign
highlighted at UK and
international conferences
Delegates who
attended a number
of major UK and
international
safety and health
conferences over
recent weeks were
able to learn more
about IOSHs
No Time to Lose
campaign. Delegates at the Health & Safety Event were able to
The institutions find out more about the No Time to Lose campaigns
initiative to raise new focus on silica dust exposure
awareness of
occupational cancer was among
issues highlighted by IOSH
president Karen McDonnell at
the Occupational Safety and
Health Middle East (OSHME)
conference, in Abu Dhabi.
IOSH technical adviser Jill
Joyce also recently presented
about No Time to Lose at the 4th
International Strategy
Conference on Safety and Health
at Work, in Dresden, Germany.
IOSH vice-president Vincent
Ho, meanwhile, raised
awareness of the campaign at
the APOSHO conference in
India, and separately during a
training session hosted by
MTR in Hong Kong.
IOSH 2016
speakers on
influential
leadership
Safety and health experts
have highlighted what
influential leadership means
to them ahead of presenting
at IOSH 2016.
More than 400 people have
already registered to attend
this years conference, which
takes place at the London
ExCeL from 21-22 June,
around the theme Influential
leadership: delivering impact
sustaining change.
In addition, staff from the
institution attended The
Health & Safety Event, held at
the NEC in Birmingham, to
promote IOSH membership,
training products and No Time
to Lose. As part of IOSHs
involvement at The Health &
Safety Event, vice-president
Liz Skelton highlighted the
campaign while judging the
conferences Lions Lair
theatre programme.
For more information about
the campaign, including how to
access its free resources, visit
www.notimetolose.org.uk or
follow @_NTTL on Twitter.
Ahead of speaking at the
conference, Mary Lawrence,
head of health and safety at
law firm Osborne Clarke, said:
The difference in influential
leadership is the ability for a
leader to actually drive change.
In Short
Economic benefits of OSH to be focus of Ireland conference
How OSH professionals can
help employers to comply and
implement good health and
safety practices and reap the
economic benefits of doing so
will be the theme of IOSH Ireland
branchs annual conference.
This years conference
is due to take place at the
Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport on
8 June, with speakers to give
insight into the management of
occupational safety and health
compliance post-recession.
NI salons receive safety and health guides
IOSH safety and health guides
have been distributed to the
owners of 38 hairdressers, beauty
salons and barber shops in part
of Northern Ireland.
Business owners were
presented with Safe Start Up
guides during an event held
at the School of Hairdressing,
Beauty Therapy and Early Years
in Derry.
Paul Rafferty, environmental
health officer at Derry City and
Strabane District Council, who
oversaw the distribution of some
Pitfalls of taking safety shortcuts highlighted
The consequences of failing to
safeguard workers were spelled
out at a mock trial hosted by
IOSH Merseyside branch.
Branch members acted as
jurors at the conclusion of the
series of events, which has
covered four branch meetings
over the last 12 months. The jury
found a fictional firm guilty under
the Health and Safety at Work
Act after a painter and decorator
Its really about taking it one
stage further in terms of buy-in
and credibility.
John Green, director of
health, safety and environment
at construction firm Laing
ORourke, believes that being
able to ask questions of
colleagues is an increasingly
important part of leadership.
He said: Influential leaders
of the future are those who
understand that they dont
have all the answers; that the
answers exist elsewhere, often
IOSH News
The main aims of the
conference are to help
delegates set and achieve
high standards of risk
management, to overcome
difficulties in safety and health
management in a changing
economy and to implement best
practice in a business.
For more details about
attending, contact the IOSH
bookings team on +44(0)116 257
3197 or bookings@iosh.co.uk, or
visit www.iosh.co.uk/events.
of the guides, said: I was aware
that within the hair and beauty
industry there were gaps in
peoples knowledge of the law
on health and safety. I felt that
the IOSH Safe Start Up guides
were an excellent way of raising
awareness of these issues.
The Safe Start Up guides are
aimed at people who are setting
up a new business, or those
with an already-established
business who want to ensure
they are meeting safety and
health requirements.
had sustained serious injuries in
a fall from a mobile tower. The
company was fined 200,000.
Gareth McManus, from law
firm Pinsent Masons, and Jackie
Western, from the Health and
Safety Executive, took part in
the mock trial.
Branch chair David Collins
said the series had been a
success and brought the
scenario to life.
in the hands of those who
stand in the middle of risk
every single day.
Sir Clive Woodward, who
was coach of the England Rugby
Team which won the 2003 World
Cup, will be a keynote speaker
at IOSH 2016, while broadcast
journalist Tanya Beckett will
chair the conference.
To see the full programme and
for more details about booking
a place at IOSH 2016, visit www.
ioshconference.co.uk.
MAY 2016 17
IOSH News
UAE quarry shares its safety and
health story
IOSH members have heard
how a quarry in the UAE
has implemented safety,
health and environmental
standards.
The institutions UAE branch
visited the Al Futtaim Colas
(formerly Al Futtaim Tarmac)
Shawkah quarry in Ras Al
Khaimah to see the work being
done to safeguard employees.
The tour included a visit to
the workshops and the quarry
itself, where members were
told of how they assess and
control the risks associated with
activities all the way through
the organisation.
Members heard how modern
technology is used to profile
the rock face prior to blasting,
ensuring every blast achieves
efficient fragmentation
ratios and is designed and
conducted safely.
They were also shown the
quarry extraction and crushing
Welsh alliance stages
inaugural conference
A new alliance of Welsh
occupational safety and health
groups has been formed.
The South Wales Safety
Groups Alliance staged its first
conference on 13 April with the
aim of encouraging businesses
in the region to do what they
can to reduce work-related
injuries and illnesses.
The IOSH South Wales branch
is one of five organisations that
has come together to form the
alliance. It is joined by the Wales
branch of the International
Institute of Risk and Safety
Management, the South Wales
Construction Safety Group, and
the Cardiff and South East Wales
and Swansea and West Wales
Occupational Safety Groups.
Speakers at the event
included IOSH immediate
past president Tim Briggs and
18 MAY 2016 
process, the
transport
management
system that
has been
implemented,
and controls
used to reduce
the impact
of operations
XXXX
on the local
community and
the environment.
UAE branch
events co-
ordinator, Matt
Jackson, said:
In essence, Members heard how the Al Futtaim Colas Shawkah quarry assesses and controls risks
the business
has adopted and taken
European health, safety and
environmental standards to
complement local laws and
has successfully implemented
them across their Middle East
operations. The business has
also worked hard at supporting
representatives from the other
groups in the alliance.
IOSH South Wales branch
chair, Ann Jones MBE, said that
by working together the groups
can share information which
can enhance the way employees
are looked after.
As well as our annual
conference we propose that the
alliance will arrange other events
which can contribute towards
improving safety and health in
businesses, she said.
All of our groups have
the same objective. We want
workers in all industries to
be safeguarded. Key to this is
ensuring that businesses have
strong and robust plans to
manage risk in workplaces.
More than 200 people
attended the inaugural
conference.
the local enforcement and
federal authorities in adopting
best practice applications.
The team was very proud
of the safety journey they had
taken and as we made our
way onto the site it was clear
it had been a long but very
International flavour to food
and drink awards
The IOSH Food and Drink
Groups annual awards
has been opened up to
international entries for the
first time.
Companies based overseas
can now join UK-based
businesses in sharing successful
solutions to occupational safety
and health issues through the
International Food and Drink
Health and Safety Awards 2016.
Food and Drink Group
committee member Doug
Russell, who chairs the awards
judging panel, said: We are
keen to showcase good practice
and highlight experiences from
across the globe, whatever a
companys shape and size. By
sharing learning across borders
it can help to make the industry
a safer and healthier place to
work, no matter where in the
world you are.
rewarding journey.
The branch was invited by
Craig Streak, regional SHE
manager for the organisation
and a member of the IOSH
branch, and Graham Jones,
UAE operations manager for
Al Futtaim Colas.
The judges this year are
particularly interested in
innovations which have had a
long-term sustainable effect,
or can be transferred readily to
other workplaces.
The winner will receive
a trophy, certificate and a
750 cheque, with up to two
runners-up prizes also on offer.
Representatives from
the winning and runner-up
entrants will additionally have
the opportunity to present
about their project during the
UK National Food and Drink
Manufacturing Conference,
hosted by IOSH Food and Drink
Group, in October.
Further details about entering
this years awards are available
online at www.iosh.co.uk/
foodanddrinkgroup. The
deadline for entries is 3 June.

CPD stars
Barry Gaffney Grad IOSH explains how
he has gone from being a panel beater
to a senior safety adviser, and how he
has combined that with keeping his
continuing professional development
(CPD) record up to date.
Being a leading engineering and
construction firm, the safety
and health of employees is
central to J. Murphy
& Sons (Murphy).
Safety and health is one
of our five core values, under
the banner of never harm;
it is a major focus area of our
sustainability strategy and
is at the heart of everything
that Murphy does.
I am proud to be a part
of this area of the business,
developing and putting in place
systems designed to keep staff
safe and healthy. But I havent
always worked in safety and
health in fact, I started out at
Murphy as a panel beater.
While I did enjoy this role,
I was interested in safety and
health, so when a vacancy
arose as a safety and health
officer I thought it was a great
opportunity for progression
and I got the job. I started out
doing basic safety and health
training courses, and have
managed to work my way up
the ladder to where I am now,
Edinburgh branch chair gains fellow status
Chartered fellow Helen Pearson
as a senior safety adviser for
our transport depot.
IOSH has been a major part of
my recent progression. I joined
the institution about five years
ago, with the aim of furthering
my career. I passed my NVQ
level four and I am currently a
graduate member.
I view my CPD as a real
priority no matter how busy I
am. It is a great way of keeping
check of my progression
in safety and health. I am
constantly looking to update it.
Keeping your CPD updated does
take time but I always feel it is
worth it and I would certainly
encourage others to view it
in the same way.
There are so many different
ways of updating it. Among
the activities I have logged are
reviewing risk assessments,
conducting health and safety
briefings, developing evacuation
plans and developing depot
management plans.
I have also developed a
supervisor safety guide for
our foremen, which includes
The chair of IOSHs Edinburgh
branch has become a chartered
fellow of the institution.
Helen Pearson said she
was very proud to have
gained the status, adding
it was a reflection of my
ongoing commitment to the
promotion of health and safety
in the workplace and in the
wider community.
She said: I also see it
as an acknowledgement of
my support of IOSHs branch
Gaffney: My CPD is a great way of keeping check of my progression in safety and health
emergency procedures and
evacuation systems.
Essentially, keeping my CPD
updated is about logging the
activities I do. Organisation has
been crucial to this so Ive found
that using either a desktop diary
or a spreadsheet is a good way
of keeping track.
The help I have received
from IOSH in all of this has been
extremely valuable. I can readily
contact them for advice on
updating my CPD. I am currently
looking to work my way towards
being a chartered member.
Being an OSH professional is
a very busy life. We all have an
important role to play within our
organisations, whether it is by
designing management systems
or implementing them. With all
of that you could be forgiven for
thinking, I havent got time
for my CPD, but I would urge
people to make the time. It is
great for your career progression
network as a longstanding
member of the Edinburgh
branch executive committee
and of IOSH Scotland.As a
fairly young chartered fellow
I hope I can continue to set a
good example to other young
health and safety professionals
wishing to develop their
career in health, safety and
occupational hygiene.
Kirsty Jordaan, membership
development adviser at
IOSH, described Helen as an
IOSH News
and, more importantly still,
can help make you even
better at your job.
Murphy provides
construction and engineering
services to the main sectors of
rail, water, power and natural
resources, as well as offering
capabilities in building and
other specialist areas, such as
piling and design. With activities
including work on pipelines
and tunnelling there are many
inherent risks but our team of
OSH professionals works hard
to prevent our employees from
coming to harm.
For more information about
completing your CPD call the
IOSH membership team on
+44 (0)116 257 3198 or email
membership@iosh.co.uk.
You can also visit www.iosh.
co.uk to find out about IOSH
group or branch events taking
place near you.
outstanding candidate who
will make an exceptional
chartered fellow.
Meanwhile 16 other members
have passed their CMIOSH
interviews. They are: Michael
Carroll, Neil Coventry, Abdul
Farooq, Maxine Giffen, Daniel
Harrison, Neil Hodgkiss, Lynda
Jarvis, Andrew Kirk, David Lorey,
Emile MacDonald-Williams,
Nasir Mehmood, Roger Neal,
Eoin OMalley, Richard Parker,
Yasir Siraj and Suzanne Smith.
MAY 2016 19
IOSH News

Branch events
For more information on events, including
speaker details, visit www.iosh.co.uk/events.

Bristol and West 12 May Midland South Midland

12 May Behavioural safety and North 5 May 25 May
AGM and construction safety Western District AGM AGM AGM and underground
in the rural industries Time: 19:00-21:00 Time: 14:00-15:30 services presentation
Time: 08:00-09:30 Venue: McWilliam Park Hotel, Venue: Hollyfields Centre, Time: 19:00-20:30
Venue: BAWA Club, Filton Claremorris, Co. Mayo Birmingham Venue: Worcester Bosch Group,
Cotswold Way, Warndon, Worcester
25 May 12 May
Chiltern AGM and NTTL campaign West District AGM
South Wales
19 May Time: 15:00-18:00 Time: 18:30-20:00
17 May
Trees, grass and caterpillars Venue: Claregalway Venue: Ramada Telford Ironbridge,
AGM and sentencing guidelines
the Chris May memorial event Hotel, Co. Galway Telford
and criminal court trends
Time: 10:00-16:00
Time: 12:30-17:00
Venue: Capel Manor College, Enfield
Mid Shires Venue: Holiday Inn, Cardiff North
London Metropolitan
12 May
10 May
AGM
East Anglia Leadership and South West
Time: 19:00-21:00
13 May Management and AGM 18 May
Venue: Dunchurch Park Hotel,
Workplace transport Time: 18:00-19:45 DSEAR with a bang 2
Dunchurch
improvements case study Venue: The Victory Services Club Time: 13:00-15:00
morning workshop and AGM Carisbrooke Hall, London Venue: Boringdon Park
Time: 09:30-16:00 North East of Scotland Golf Club, Plympton
Venue: Cedars Hotel, 11 May
Stowmarket, Suffolk Manchester and North AGM
Staffordshire
West Districts Time: 18:00-19:30
19 May
10 May Venue: Jurys Inn, Union Square,
Environmental and waste
East Midlands Legal update and Public Aberdeen
management
19 May Services Section AGM
Time: 17:00-19:30
CDM one year on Time: 12:30-16:00
North Wales Venue: Stafford and Rural Homes,
Time: 19:30-21:00 Venue: Brookfield Masonic
19 May Stafford Technology Park
Venue: Nottingham Forest Football Hall, Westhoughton
AGM & IOSH President
Club, West Bridgford, Nottingham
Elects Address
10 May Tees
Time: 18:30-21:00
AGM 3 May
Venue: The Beaufort Park Hotel
Edinburgh Time: 19:00-19:30 AGM
and Conference Centre, Mold
19 May Venue: Chill Factore, Trafford Time: 17:00-18:00
AGM & the future of Quays Leisure Village, Manchester Venue: University of Teesside
health and safety Northern Ireland Middlesbrough Campus
Time: 13:15-15:30 13 May 19 May
Venue: Edinburgh Napier Healthcare Service Section AGM AGM
Tyne and Wear
University, Craiglockhart Campus Time: 10:00-12:00 Time: 13:00-16:30
17 May
Venue: Brookfield Masonic Venue: Belfast Harbour,
IPD and CPD seminar
Hall, Westhoughton Corporation Square
Time: 14:00-16:00
Essex
Venue: Virgin Money, Gosforth
1 June 19 May
South Coast
USAR the modern Health and safety for
9 May 19 May
Thunderbirds agency workers
AGM Safety last mock trial
Time: 14:00-16:30 Time: 12:30-14:00
Time: 13:00-16:00 and Branch AGM
Venue: Essex County Fire & Venue: University Technical
Venue: Hilton at the Ageas Time: 09:00-15:00
Rescue Service, Colchester College, Burnley
Bowl, Southampton Venue: Crowne Plaza Newcastle,
Stephenson Quarter
Ireland Merseyside South Downs
10 May 10 May 3 May Yorkshire
REACH, CLP and the Chemicals AGM and PPE presentation Annual legal update 19 May
Act, and Western District AGM Time: 13:45-16:00 from Anne Davies Health and safety: hearts and minds
Time: 19:00-21:00 Venue: The Village Hotel, Time: 19:00-21:00 Time: 08:30-15:45
Venue: Grennhills Hotel, Limerick Bromborough Venue: Arora Hotel, Crawley Venue: Doncaster Racecourse, Leger Way

20 MAY 2016 
 CISRS
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
SCAFFOLDERS RECORD SCHEME

THE UK SCAFFOLDINg WANT TO gET TO THE

INDUSTRY TRADE BODY. TOp IN SCAFFOLDINg?
ESTABLISHED 1945.
THEN YOULL NEED
pROFESSIONAL pROpER TRAININg
REgULATED
COMpLIANT
QUALIFIED
EXpERT
SAFE
Sg4:15
pREVENTINg FALLS
IN SCAFFOLDINg
OpERATIONS

Tg20:13
gOOD pRACTICE
gUIDANCE FOR
TUBE & FITTINg
SCAFFOLDINg

www.cisrs.org.uk
For further information go to:

From 1st March 2016

there is a requirement
to complete a CISRS
two day Scaffolding
Supervisor Refresher
course prior to
STEp Up renewing your
www.nasc.org.uk
For further details, please contact:

SUpERVISORS CISRS Scaffolding

Supervisor Card
Online
STORIES ON THE WEBSITE PLUS TOPICS THAT HAVE
KEPT MEMBERS BUSY IN THE FORUMS

to the HSE, commented SD, Associations guidance on

Online only news as I am sure this company may

think twice next time and run
Management of Shoring in
Excavations, which recommends
We put articles online at ioshmagazine.com throughout the month the gauntlet ... Same old story, shoring any trench deeper
as news comes in. Though most are republished in these pages, companies trying to stay on the than 1 m.
there isnt space for all of them. Here are a couple that didnt make reasonable side of health and safety
it into print. get hammered, when I believe a Threads in IOSH forums
more lenient/supportive message
HSE EVACUATED 3.5 M UNSHORED PIT to companies who do self-report
Unsafe pit was immediately behind site entrance. bit.ly/20XvjtC should be used.
FOUR CONVICTED FOR PRISON MEWP INJURY Another story, on the six-
Window replacement contractors failings led to crushed foot. month jail term for a company The IOSH forums busiest
bit.ly/23JCJFQ owner after a worker was threads recently were prompted
engulfed in an excavation by enquiries about:
collapse (page 13) also sent us Trespassers: the extent of
Feedback on IOSH Magazine because the inspector who back to the HSE inspector for an occupiers duty of care
articles and columns prosecuted the case was unsure clarification. Commenters were towards them
why the company had reported intrigued by Phil Nicolles quote bit.ly/1raBAG8
the incident and said the report that work should be planned so Fire exits: whether they
had long ago been filed and was no one enters an excavation deeper should lead on to roofs
Our lead story this month no longer accessible. than 1.2 m without adequate controls bit.ly/1Qi2K1Z
on metal caster MJ Allens Whether the notification was in place to prevent a collapse. Slippery floors: ways
160,000 fine for a near-miss justified in that case, a couple Interest centred on where the to increase the friction
on a fragile roof (see page 4) of readers thought it unlikely 1.2 m figure was contained in coefficient of paint
drew some online response. the prosecution would push up regulation or guidance. bit.ly/1pbV0Zy
Early comments were already poor reporting rates for Nicolle responded: It is Machine noise: does it need
prompted by doubts about dangerous incidents that did not not unusual for inspectors to use controlling above 85 dBA if it
whether a limb breaking a result in injury. 1 m-1.2 m depth as a general is outside the audible range?
fragile asbestos roof counted This guy wont be reporting indicator ie rule of thumb that bit.ly/1YDqEex
as a dangerous occurrence many more dangerous occurrences contractors understand and can Reclaiming training costs:
under the Reporting of Injuries, in the future I imagine, said work with in all but loose/granular can you recoup anything
Diseases and Dangerous Johnny. and wet soils. from workers who leave soon
Occurrences Regulations. We Not sure how this is a good He went on to note the after OSH training?
never resolved that question advocate for self-reporting events Construction Plant-Hire bit.ly/1MDNZMt

Letters
Zero with meaning
I was intrigued by the interview
with Andy Sneddon in the March
issue. He says he is not a big fan
of the concept of zero accidents.
I presume he is not a big fan of
hurting people at work either,
so why not support the idea of
striving towards zero harm?
I agree that in many cases
statements about the intention
to drive to zero accidents can be
quite hollow. Despite company
values that may be well
publicised on noticeboards
and screensavers, people
are very quick to pick up
on the body language and
subliminal signals given
out by leaders and they can
easily spot when such high
level statements are empty
platitudes. It is crucial, therefore,
that leaders should really believe
in their own company values, and
a goal of zero accidents, if there
is one, should mean exactly that.
Andy says he has a reticence in
talking to people at a senior level
because of where hes come from.
I would politely suggest that it
is an essential part of a safety
professionals remit to try to
understand the attitudes and
beliefs of senior managers.
We must ensure that senior
managements are truly
aligned to a companys
safety vision and challenge
them vigorously where they
are not. It is only by having
the leadership in the right
place first that we will have
any chance of building the
kind of culture in which a
quest for zero accidents becomes
meaningful.
Steven Osborn, CFIOSH

22 MAY 2016 
Reviews
Creative safety solutions
Thomas D. Schneid, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, 57.99 hardback,
40.59 ebook
I believe that training for safety advisers in the UK is
world class in its legal, technical and organisational
aspects but it often falls short in areas such as
influencing, persuading and negotiating. These skills
are vital to getting things done, so they should figure
just as strongly in training, and indeed books, aimed
at helping us keep organisations safe.
This book from the US is therefore a breath of
fresh air, and it contains lots of practical tips that will
help, especially the less experienced health and safety
adviser. Creativity is an attribute few would naturally
associate with us health and safety professionals,
yet this book lives up to its title by offering many
refreshingly new ideas for how safety programmes,
and those of us who are responsible for them, can
work more effectively.
This is the books second edition and the
publishers say there are 13 new chapter headings,
including Does Happy = Safe?, Combating Risk with
Innovation and Injecting Creativity into Training
Activities. Since there are just over 30 chapters in all,
this suggests the content has almost doubled since
the first edition.
Here youll find gems such as the ten
commandments for the safety and loss prevention
professional, how to make a business case for health
and safety (including a worked example) and how
to be a canny buyer of goods and services. Its in
an essay format, and it would be painless to read it
cover to cover, just by spending ten minutes reading
one chapter per day. Theres lots of good sense here
on how to be an effective influencer, for example by
recognising the motivation of the group youre trying
to persuade and by unlocking employees creativity.
For the UK reader though, it does have a drawback:
the focus is exclusively on the US. The currency is
the dollar, the enforcing authority is OSHA, and the
disability legislation quoted is the Americans with
Disabilities Act 1990. As a result, unless you work
for a US company, or have responsibility for North
American operations, much of the text will not apply.
Also, one of the recommendations here is for
practitioners to make best use of information thats
freely available. Good point, so why include the OSHA
white paper Injury and illness prevention programs
in full instead of just mentioning it? It takes up 20
pages (almost a tenth of the whole book) and you can
download it free as a pdf document from the OSHA
website (www.osha.gov).
I liked it though. Schneid is a constant optimist,
always looking out for ways to make his workplace
a safer and happier place. His enthusiasm and
commitment cant fail to rub off on the reader; they
did on me.
PAUL SMITH CFIOSH

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MAY 2016 23
We protect our workers
and show our suppliers
and contractors how to
do the same
Moby Leung iosh Affiliate Member
Senior Construction Safety Advisor
MTR Corporation Ltd
More than nine million passengers
safely use MTRs services worldwide
every day, thanks in no small part to
our 25,000-strong workforce.
As a company we ensure that each and
every member of staff not only knows
how to work safely, but also has their
health cared for while theyre at it.
That is why weve been promoting
healthy lifestyles and heat stroke
prevention to our workers in Hong
Kong, and also why we provided
our contractors safety managers
with training on how to manage and
prevent their people being exposed to
To find out more about IOSHs No Time to Lose campaign
email campaigns@iosh.co.uk, call +44 (0)116 257 3258
or visit www.notimetolose.org.uk
www.iosh.co.uk
Registered charity 1096790, VAT registration number 705 3242 69, IOSH Services Limited company registration number 1816826
harmful dusts, fumes and substances
at our workplaces.
On top of that, weve shown 450
CEOs and senior directors within our
supply chain how they can follow
our lead and protect their employees
from developing work-related
diseases. This is all part of our pledge
to IOSHs No Time to Lose campaign
to take action against occupational
cancers.
By taking our suppliers with us on
this journey, we hope the final
destination will be a world of work
that is safe, healthy and sustainable.
NO TIME
TO LOSE
email: info@iosh.co.uk tel: +44 (0)116 257 3100
MKT3464/200416/IM
 IOSH 2016
Conference
Preview
We interview two more speakers from the institutions June gathering
What will you be speaking about at IOSH 2016?
A badly-handled crisis with safety and health
implications can damage or ruin a reputation.
The saline poisoning murders at Stepping Hill
Hospital in Stockport catapulted our organisation
into a full-blown crisis. They put us in an intense
national spotlight, led to a four-year police
investigation and three-month criminal trial,
ending in international media coverage.
Alicia Custis The biggest-ever Greater Manchester Police
Head of investigation concluded with a life sentence
communications for staff nurse Victorino Chua in May 2015 for
and marketing killing and poisoning patients. I will talk about
at Stockport NHS the reputation management challenges for the
Foundation Trust poison probe hospital and our strategy and
approach to try to ultimately promote Stepping
Hill Hospital as one of the safest in the country.
What were the safety implications of the crisis?
Saline bags and ampoules, stored in treatment rooms
on hospital wards for regular and routine use, had
been deliberately contaminated with insulin. These
bags were understood to have caused three deaths
and many poisonings on two wards, so the health
and safety implications were huge.
The evidence indicated that they had been
deliberately contaminated by someone working at
What will you be speaking about at IOSH 2016?
I will be talking about collaboration and the importance
of coaching skills. In the field of occupational safety
and health (OSH) there is no silver bullet, but a culture
in which colleagues collaborate is obviously key to
excellent performance. Collaboration leads to better
solutions to safety problems. Collaboration leads to
better buy-in from management. And collaboration
leads to better employee engagement, which
Michael Emery ultimately leads to safer behaviour.
The skills that underpin a collaborative approach
Director of Securus
are coaching skills.
Health and Safety
Why should people attend the presentation?
Many OSH practitioners characterise themselves as
coaches and what they do as coaching. A growing
number have the title safety coach. Yet theres still
a widespread misunderstanding about what coaching
is. The prevailing view seems to be that coaching is
supporting the development of others, that its a form
of training. It isnt; coaching and training are very
different, almost opposites in fact.
How has coaching affected your life?
I have been involved in safety for many years and
Ive managed safety and health for several leading
organisations. I thought I knew what coaching was but I
iStockphoto/rihardzz
the hospital. Our storage of saline bags and ampules
was in line with standard practice, but we had to
take immediate actions and implement additional
security measures across the hospital site because
there was understandable panic.
To what extent was leadership key in managing
the crisis?
Leadership was critical. This was an unprecedented
event with far-reaching implications. Staff, patients,
government departments, public bodies, MPs, the
media and local people all wanted reassurance that
the leaders were managing this crisis robustly.
Our leaders needed to take swift and decisive action,
in collaboration with the police and others. They also
needed to be seen and heard; constantly updating
stakeholders and answering difficult questions as
openly as possible, while handling the confidential
issues surrounding a criminal investigation.
What does influential leadership mean to you?
It means a leader who can motivate and inspire
action in others through skilled communication.
They can help overcome obstacles and move a group
of people towards a particular goal or objective
because people want to follow rather than have to
follow. They have passion, energy and integrity.
attended a course and I learned that real coaching skills
are far more important than Id ever given them credit
for; the course blew my mind. I took myself off to the
Academy of Executive Coaching in London and became
qualified as a coach. Now I help other OSH professionals
be the best they can be, through one-to-one coaching
support or training in the use of coaching skills through
the IOSH-approved Coaching for Safety programme.
What role does coaching have in OSH in the future?
I think coaching skills are really important for the future
direction of the profession, which has been fixated with
technical competence for too long. This has resulted in
the stereotypical compliance-policemen, technically-
proficient but ultimately unable to provide the support
managers need. Modern organisations need more
sophisticated professionals than that; those that are
capable of collaborating with managers and supporting
them to find their own best solutions while still ensuring
that legal and other minimum standards are met. The
very best OSH practitioners coach; they have excellent
communication skills and a collaborative style that
means they are able to support dutyholders even when
they have little technical knowledge to contribute.
There may be no silver bullet when it comes to
developing a safety culture but collaboration and
coaching skills come close.
MAY 2016 25
Conference report

I
Well
keep asking myself what wellbeing is, said
Dame Carol Black, launching this years
Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in
Birmingham and perhaps echoing a question
that has occurred to many OSH practitioners.
Black, the governments senior policy adviser on
work and health, told delegates: Views vary, but please
dont medicalise it. Wellbeing is not the same as health
issues, though good health can be part of wellbeing.
She cited the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Developments definition of wellbeing as the state
of being comfortable, healthy and happy.
But you can be healthy without having a sense
of wellbeing, she observed. Unhappiness is not a
medical disease.
However it is defined, the topic is definitely going
up the national agenda, Black told delegates at the
event, which took place on 8 and 9 March and welcomed
more than 3,500 vistors over the two days.
She said BTs chief medical officer, Paul Litchfield,
had long spoken of the importance of leadership,
managerial behaviour and workplace culture as critical
to employee wellbeing, more so than simply providing
workers with fruit and bicycles. At last that message is
beginning to get real traction, said Black.
To support her point, she listed a clutch of recent
reports on the importance of wellbeing. One was the
Workplace Health: management practices guidance issued
in 2015 and updated in March by the National Institute
for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (see page 13).
The guidance emphasised the need for organisations to
prioritise managing the physical working environment
and work design, fairness towards employees and
ensuring their participation, but we need more
organisations to act on it, she said.
Black also cited the charity Business in the
Communitys short guide, Leading on Mental Wellbeing
(bit.ly/1RKSyRP), which argued that workforce wellbeing
depended on employers recruiting and promoting
managers with strong interpersonal skills. We dont

want them to be psychiatrists, we just want them to
recognise when something is wrong, she said.
The linked issues of sedentary work and obesity had
also garnered more attention in the previous 12 months.
The British Heart Foundation had reported that 38% of
office workers corresponded by email with people they
52%
Health England, said employers should stop viewing
health-related worklessness as an inevitable
outcome of progressive illness. There are two
reasons people fall out of work because of health,
PROPORTION said Varney. They either have a major event a

OF OFFICE
sat near, 52% regularly ate lunch at their desks and 38% stroke or heart attack or they have a chronic
delayed lavatory breaks. disease that gets worse and worse to the point they
On obesity, Black said: Its not just the fact that WORKERS feel they can no longer remain in employment.

WHO EAT
someone is overweight, its that they will have co- We seem to be quite good with sudden
morbidities, such as diabetes or hypertension. High accidents and incidents. We have good
body mass index (BMI) was correlated to being out of LUNCH AT rehabilitation but, with chronic diseases such as

THEIR DESKS
work (as was low BMI), she said.
Black outlined a pilot health programme on which
she has been working that involves ten National Health
Service organisations with 55,000 staff. The purpose
of the project was to encourage physical activity and
introduce healthy food options at work, health checks
for employees aged over 40, access to physiotherapy,
and mental health support.
musculoskeletal disorders, we know that people
will find it harder and harder to remain in work
as the disease progresses but we dont have that
conversation until its too late. It shouldnt be
inevitable that having a chronic disease means you
are going to leave work eventually.

We dont want managers

Its early days, she said, but we will be evaluating
those to see if they make a difference.

Group think to be psychiatrists, we just

want them to recognise when
Black took part in a later panel session in which
participants were asked for their views on the future

something is wrong
of the health and wellbeing agenda. Dr Justin Varney,
national lead for public health and wellbeing at Public

26 MAY 2016 

briefed
Topics aired at the Health and
Wellbeing at Work event included
encouraging men to discuss mental
health problems and exercise to
reduce musculosketal disorders.
Words: KEELEY DOWNEY, LOUIS WUSTEMANN
Gender specific
Encouraging men to engage with health and
wellbeing messages was a theme running through the
conferences sessions.
Conventional stress management programmes rely
on self-reporting by employees to their managers or
occupational health services, said Sharon De Mascia of
Cognoscenti Business in a session on the second day.
Unfortunately that doesnt take account of the
fact that men often fail to recognise when they
have problems or to seek help.
Training managers to recognise symptoms
was one answer, she suggested, noting that
some research showed men were more likely to
accept help if someone else said they should.
Training male employees to spot their own
symptoms was another.
Men were also more likely to seek help
for psychological problems if an employer
emphasised that people usually recover from
these and that they could continue working
while being helped, she said.
De Mascia said research supported the idea
men were more comfortable talking to male
counsellors but other studies that suggest they
felt less judged when talking to women. The jury
is still out, she said. So I would give them a choice.
Gender differences cropped up again in a session
on ensuring risk assessments covered all workers.
Dr Joanne Crawford, head of ergonomics and human
factors at the Institute of Medicine (IOM), challenged
the adequacy of gender blind generic assessments.
She said there are gender-specific exposure
variations: average height differences between men
Dame Carol Black:
unhappiness is not a disease
Andrew Shaylor/REX/Shutterstock
Conference report
Men were more commonly worried about others
finding out they had problems, so assuring them that
any request for support would be treated in confidence
would encourage them to refer themselves, as would
offering remote means of first contact by email,
phone or video.
An ingenious way to convey a message about
mental health support to a young male workforce was
presented by Kesah Trowell, head of corporate social
responsibility at retailer Dixons Carphone, whose
employees are mostly men aged 19 to 24.
She said the company had publicised the charity Get
Connected, which offers confidential mental health
phone support for under-25s. However, take-up was
low initially. Her solution was to invite employees
to take part in an ultra-marathon, the Race to the
Stones, running 100 km along The Ridgeway between
Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, raising money for the
charity. More than 450 employees took part, she said,
becoming very fit in the process and raising 120,000.
The great thing about such a huge distance is that
the training you need to do is sustained over many
months, Trowell said.
Importantly, the corporate publicity included details
of how to contact the charity.
It subtly raised awareness of Get Connected,
Trowell said, noting there had been a rise in calls
to its helpline.
The worst disparity in the way men respond to
mental difficulties was highlighted by Andrew Kinder,
chair of the UK Employee Assistance Professionals
Association. In his presentation on small T traumas,
Kinder revealed that improvements in psychiatric
and emergency care had led to a fall in the number of
female suicides in the UK between 1981, when 2,466
women took their own lives, and 2012, when the figure
almost halved to 1,391. But the number of male suicides
rose in the same period from 4,129 to 4,590.
The gender difference might be explained in part
by De Mascias point that men were less likely to seek
help, Kinder said.
All embracing
and women mean the latter could be closer to some
hazards, while chemicals tend to circulate around
female bodies faster. Asthma and osteoporosis are
more common among women.
Assessments should also account for age-related
characteristics, Crawford said. After questioning
whether we fully understand how extended exposure
to hazards affects older workers, she advised
delegates to ensure this group is represented within
the risk assessment process. She suggested that
a forum could be set up for staff to discuss issues
they were facing.
We need to think about who is included
in the risk assessment process, she said,
adding that OSH practitioners should consider
whether assessments are relevant for the tasks
that workers are carrying out and not just for
the job title.
MAY 2016 27
Conference report

Crawford pointed delegates in the direction of the NICE
guidance, Workplace Health: management practices, which
now includes recommendations about employees aged
over 50 in paid or unpaid work. She also reminded them
of the European health and safety agency EU-OSHAs
Healthy Workplaces for All Ages 2016-2017 campaign, which
was launched in April.
Exercise regime
Richard Morford, physiotherapist at Colney Physio,
presented a case study of the benefits of exercise at
breast pump and baby bottle manufacturer Philips
Avents Suffolk factory. The plant has an ageing
workforce and sick pay cost more than 750,000 in
2014, said Morford. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
were the second biggest cause of absence.
So in 2015 the company launched a bonus for
employees with 98% attendance, new manual
handling training, early calls to staff off work with
MSDs and the launch of Work-out at Work Days. These
days included offered classes on work-focused
stretching and muscle strengthening, a lunchtime
walk with free pedometers and workshops on
smoking cessation and healthy eating.
Exercise sheets were posted on the Philips Avent
intranet and print versions were left in communal
areas detailing simple work-outs employees could
perform at work. The intention was to encourage
staff to take responsibility for their own fitness and
promote the idea of the need for regular exercise.
As a result of the programme, physiotherapy
referrals fell by 20% between 2014 and 2015, said
Morford. The company now has two five-a-side
football teams, good take-up on its offer of discounted
gym membership and five employees completed the
last Colchester Half Marathon in less than two hours.
Work isnt good enough to keep you fit, Morford
concluded. You have to be fit for work.

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MAY 2016 29
HSE chair
Exit interview:
Judith Hackitt
In her last official interview, the outgoing HSE chair discusses
fee for intervention, budget cuts and problems with consultants
Words: LOUIS WUSTEMANN
Pictures: ANDREW FIRTH
D
ame Judith Hackitt has chaired the UKs
safety and health regulator through a
time of unprecedented change. Since
she was appointed in 2007, the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) has absorbed its
former governing body the Health and Safety
Commission, moved its head office from London
to Merseyside, lost more than one-third of its
public funding and survived no fewer than four
government reviews of Britains safety and health
infrastructure.
Working with HSE chief executives Geoffrey
Podger and latterly Richard Judge, she has
overseen an overhaul of approved codes to many
regulations and controversial changes to injury
reporting duties, construction safety law and
a scheme to charge businesses for regulatory
breaches that do not warrant prosecution.
We met in the HSEs space in the offices of its
parent ministry, the Department for Work and
Pensions, in the same London street that is home
to the headquarters of manufacturers body EEF,
where she was due to take up her new post as
chief executive a week later.
Louis Wustemann: What has your time as HSE chair
taught you?
Judith Hackitt: Its taught me patience. Sometimes
things take a lot longer to achieve than my
background in the private sector made me used to.
30 MAY 2016 
Its also taught me that you have to say the same
thing lots and lots of times before people hear it,
especially when you are trying to change public
perception. There are things Ive been saying for
the past eight years, such as the need for children
to experience risk, the fact that risk management
belongs with those who create the risk and the fact
that personal responsibility is still an issue. Im
still saying those things and the media is still
reporting them as news but Ive been saying them a
long time.
So I have learned that you just have to keep on
saying things. You have to wait for people to take the
message on board; thats when they get it, when they
no longer listen to it as your opinion but they start to
agree with it.
LW: What would you like to be remembered for having
achieved in the job?
JH: For turning around perceptions about what health
and safety is all about. When I applied for this job
eight-and-a-half years ago it was because I was very
concerned about the negative perceptions of what
health and safety and HSE was all about and I wanted
to change that. I think I have done that in a number
of different ways. Not just in terms of challenging
nonsense but also in redressing the balance as I
saw it then where, when things went wrong, people
seemed to be saying why didnt the regulator stop
this happening?
 HSE chair

MAY 2016 31
HSE chair

I think we have moved things on in the past eight

years and people now recognise that, as we have said
in our strategy, thats not what our system is about.
Our system makes it very clear that risk management
rests with those who create risk, not with the
regulator.
LW: What have you enjoyed most about the job?
JH: The people in HSE. We have some fantastic people
working in this organisation and I have not once been
disappointed in any of them and have thoroughly
enjoyed being their ambassador and their champion.
Because they deserve to have a champion.
LW: Do you still see HSEs role as the same as when it
was established: policy, education and enforcement?
JH: All those three strands continue to be very
important. Yes, we are still here to enforce against
those who dont do the right thing, but our major
role is prevention of injury and death and that means
you have to educate people and to ensure the policy
measures are right. So yes, they are entirely relevant.
Dame Judith Hackitt
Dame Judith Hackitt trained as a chemical engineer
at Imperial College, London. After working for Esso
(now Exxon) Chemicals from 1975 until 1990 in process
management at the Fawley refinery she became
operations director and then group risk manager of
pigments maker Elementis Specialties.
She moved to the Chemical Industries Association
in 1998, becoming director general in 2002. She was
director, chemistry for Europe at the European Chemical
Industry Association in 2006/07.
She served as a health and safety commissioner
between 2002 and 2005, was appointed as HSE chair in
October 2007 and reappointed in 2012.
She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
and the Institution of Chemical Engineers and served as
the latters president in 2013/14.

LW: Is it still effective in all three?

JH: I think so, yes, and I think the evidence clearly
backs that up.

LW: In your time the government has cut HSEs budget

severely, alongside other public bodies. How has that
affected the executives ability to do its work?
JH: Its caused us to look long and hard at what we do
and how we do it. My own experience from the private
sector has helped support that. It was not unusual
to me that we were asked to look at how we could be
more efficient because thats what Im used to.
I think the many things we have looked at in terms
of how we work internally, whether our regulation was
fit for purpose or could be updated in such a way that
it was more accessible, have been good for us. Theyve
been good challenges and we are better for them.

LW: One of the responses to reduced funding was

for the HSE to retrench from inspecting what it
characterised as lower-hazard sectors and focusing
effort on construction and engineering among others.
That was seen as a gamble by some. Has it worked?
JH: Interesting that you use the word retrench. I see
it as us focusing on the areas of greatest priority. I
think in times of economic cutbacks its absolutely
right and proper that a body funded by public money
should be doing the things that have the most impact.
It was important to have a long hard look at where
you can have most impact and effect and thats where
you should focus your time and attention.
LW: Another consequence of the HSEs grant cut
was the decision to introduce fee for intervention
[charging employers for small regulatory breaches
flagged up by inspectors]. Many inspectors and
dutyholders say that has changed the relationship
between them, not for the better. Does FFI make life
more difficult for the inspectorate?
JH: Id be first to agree FFI has been a big change
for people both within HSE and for people on the
receiving end of our inspections. Do I think the
principle of charging people who have not done the
right thing until we tell them to is right? Yes, I do.
The principle is sound. But I am very conscious that
people continue to tell me, as you say, that this has
changed the relationship between HSE and the people
out there who used to value our free advice.
The extent to which that is real and the extent to
which it is perception we have to get to the bottom of.
Is it that people are afraid to ask for advice now because
they fear we might charge them or is it because they
have real evidence that if we ask them to come in we
charge them? I dont know and I think its something
that needs a lot more analysis to see where the real
problem is.
What I do know is there are a lot of companies
out there that used to value the advice they got from
inspectors that they now dont get, so because we
have cut back on the number of inspections there
are a lot of people who say, in effect: We miss you.
We used to like having visits from HSE, when we got

32 MAY 2016 
 HSE chair

I am very conscious that

people continue to tell
me that FFI has changed
the relationship between
HSE and the people out
there who used to value
our free advice
a breach, whether they like it or not. So its the
context in which organisations are paying, when
they may otherwise have high standards. Would you
have any advice for your successor on how to resolve
the issue?
JH: Id advise them that we need to look at the change
in the nature of the relationship and whether that
is in any measure large or small due to FFI and look
at what we can do to address that, recognising that
we will continue as an organisation to be in a position
where some of the things we have done in the past
when we had more public money we are no longer
able to do. So we have to find a new way of doing
that perhaps.

good advice and we would appreciate the opportunity
to have that back.
What interests me is that when you say to people
but we no longer have the resources to do that as free
advice, would you be willing to pay for it?, more often
than not people say they would.
So theres a conundrum for me in that people tell me
they would be willing to pay for advice but, when
it comes to FFI, they are afraid it has got in the way
of them asking for advice for free. So there is a
dilemma to be addressed there, but the principle at its
heart is sound.
LW: Some time ago, after the HSE rejected the idea of
recommending a directors duty to ensure workers
safety, you warned that not enough board directors
were taking their responsibilities to heart. Do you
think business leaders are better engaged now?
JH: I think it is improving all the time. Are we there
yet? No, we are not. This is a journey that will never
end, in many respects.
The fact that the new strategy we have just launched
says we need to increase ownership of health and safety
in all organisations is a clear statement, using other
words, of the fact there are still too many organisations
where its one person somewhere in the middle who
has been given responsibility for health and safety
and it isnt owned and led at the top and isnt seen as
integral to running a good business. And thats what
the strategy says we have to get to.
So we are still not there everywhere, but it is
better than it was and a number of things have moved
us in that direction. Corporate manslaughter, which
was a new offence around the time I was talking
about directors duties, the sentencing guideline
changes; those things have raised peoples awareness
and got their attention. There is more debate about
it now in boardrooms, but we are not yet where we
need to be.

LW: It seems to be the lack of discretion on the part LW: Accident rates in the UK and some illness
of inspectors that causes problems. Where once they measures were on a very favourable downward trend
could choose to give a dutyholder some cautionary until the beginning of this decade and the pattern
advice, they now have to charge whenever they see since then is less clear. Is that a worry?

MAY 2016 33
HSE chair
Consultancy in crisis?
Why didnt you ask me about health and safety consultants? Judith
Hackitt asks as I wrap up the interview. The issue had not come up
because I had not seen her single out independent advisers for attention
before, though she had complained on a BBC radio programme in 2015
about the OSH profession becoming overpopulated withprofessionals
or so-called professionals who make a living out of over-interpreting
what the law says for their own ends.
What concerns her about consultants?
There is a role for experts in health and safety in this system of ours
and its an important role. The problem is we have too many and we arent
as good as we need to be about differentiating between the different
types of consultants.
There are the real high-end experts in subjects like engineering
who really know their specialist subjects and they have an important
role to play. But then you get those who are more general health and
safety consultants. The good ones listen to what their customers want
and provide proportionate solutions. The not-so-good ones impose and
sell through fear. [They say] You must do this or you will be locked up,
or whatever. Those are the ones that need to look long and hard at what
they are doing and why. And if there was one thing I would have liked to
have landed better in my time in this job it would have been OSHCR [the
Occupational Safety and Health Register], because I dont think it has
done what it set out to do at all.
OSHCR was set up with HSEs support in response to Lord Youngs
report in 2010 which noted that anyone could set themselves up as a
health and safety consultant regardless of qualifications or experience.
I ask if she thinks it needs reforming or scrapping altogether.
I have my doubts as to whether OSHCR in its current form can
deliver, she says. We would probably be better off to have a much
more radical rethink and look more closely at when expertise is
needed and how thats defined. Rather than look at it as one big group
of people.
JH: Yes, it concerns me in so far as we are still
reporting every year a number of people who are
being killed and injured and are dying as a result of
harm thats been done at work. So it will always be a
concern; thats what this job is all about.
Am I concerned that the rate of improvement
is slowing? It doesnt surprise me because we
are getting to the point where these are the more
difficult things to go after. Thats why we have to
focus our attention on those areas where it seems
most difficult to make that move and make those
improvements.
LW: But some areas, such as MSDs [musculoskeletal
disorders], where there has been no improvement
in rates since 2001, but which are among the
highest contributors to days lost, are those where
There is more debate about
health and safety now in
boardrooms, but we are not
yet where we need to be
34 MAY 2016 
She notes that at the Construction Health Summit in January, when
almost 100 chief executives pledged to reduce industrial diseases, almost
half admitted not knowing what occupational hygienists did.
Am I going to say we dont need occupational hygienists? They will
help you engineer out the health risks in your business but, if people
dont even know they exist how is that going to happen? So we need to
take a different approach to show people what the different pools of
expertise are, rather than having this generalist occupational safety and
health field and help people to be more discerning about what expertise
they need to call on when.
I say I understand there is a case for segregating specialists such
as fire consultants, ergonomists and hygienists, but what about small
businesses who want a consultant to advise on the generality of risk in
their operations?
My first preference would be for the business to deal with the risks
themselves, she says. If its a small business the first question is why do
they need a consultant at all. Most of what they need to do is common
sense and if they engage with their employees they can put it in place
themselves. And wouldnt it be better embedded if they did that rather
than getting someone in to do it for them?
Overstretched small business owners may value the ability to contract
advice on their duties, I suggest.
Possibly, she says, but one of the things Ive learned from all the
work Ive done on mythbusters [the panel she chairs which adjudicates on
claims of excessive curbs in the name of safety flagged up by the public] is
that there are other forces at play here that cause people to believe there
are rules when there are not, or not ones that we have imposed.
So we have to look at those other actors who put bureaucratic
requirements on business, whether its insurers, third party accreditors
or consultants. Its time we put some time and effort into asking why we
are making businesses do this. Its a real drag on their productivity, so
lets stop.
HSE has withdrawn from intervention.
JH: Yes, and I think if you look at what our new
strategy says, it is getting back to some of those
health issues.
Again its about the approach. Rather than us
dictating what the priorities should be, whether it
is stress or MSDs, the message is clear; you are the
business and it is your business you need to look
at and decide what are the safety risks and the
health risks and focus on them. Dont wait for us
to tell you we are running a programme on stress
or MSDs because it may or may not be the top
priority for you.
LW: You said before people dont hear messages
until they are ready. What if organisations dont
respond to the strategys call to action?
JH: I think we are already past that point. The
level of enthusiasm and resonance at the strategy
launch events suggests to me that we have got
the issues right and we have a very willing and
receptive audience out there who are ready to work
with us. So if you had asked me that four months
ago I would have said you are right, I dont
know but, having been through the programme
we have been through in the first three months of
this year, I think we have landed it and people are
supporting it. The challenge is not whether people

want to work with us, but how well we engage those
people and get everyone marching off in the same
direction.
LW: What advice do you have for the next HSE chair?
JH: I think to recognise the value and the strengths
of this organisation, which are many. It has an
enormous capacity to deliver not just our regulatory
system, but to deliver change in that system.
If you look at what we have achieved in the past
eight years in changing our regulatory framework;
not changing the principles, but modernising
everything within, the way the rules and guidance
are written, we have done that. In the case of
[management systems guide] HSG 65 or changes
to the mines regulations, we have done it against a
backdrop of our stakeholders saying you mustnt
change this! Weve had to take them with us. And
now weve done that, those same people are saying
this is really good, we really like it.
I still think the changes to CDM [Construction
(Design and Management) Regulations] are sound
and I think they are bedding in now. They were
absolutely the right thing to do and the industry is
beginning to recognise that. And all of the changes
to ACoPs [approved codes of practice] and guidance
have made it so much more accessible to everyone
and easy to read.
HSE chair
LW: You are about to move next door. What challenges
do you expect in your new job?
JH: Many of the challenges will be very different
because I am moving into an employers organisation
that not only represents the UKs manufacturing
sector but is also an organisation that provides a whole
range of services to its members. So its different and
it faces a lot of challenges in terms of competitiveness,
innovation, all things that are about my engineering
background.
Clearly theres a link with HSE in as far as the
manufacturing sector like any other needs to embed
safety in being as good as it can be. So Ill be taking
some of my thinking from here into the new role.
But its very much more about working with the
membership and representing the membership to
government.
Engaging in the debate about European
membership is bound to feature, because its a big
issue for the sector. Its not about what I think, its
about what the members think and what they want.
So it will be really important for me to hear what the
members concerns and issues are about European
membership.
But there are other things on the agenda like skills.
How do we address the need for technicians and
engineers? These are subjects close to my heart and
close to my other interests outside HSE.
MAY 2016 35
Asbestos disturbance

First
response:
asbestos
In the first of an occasional series
on early crisis intervention, we set
out the steps to take if asbestos is
disturbed on your premises

Words: MARTIN STEAR

I
ts all too common; a hole drilled, a ceiling tile
removed, a wall demolished, cables run and so on.
But routine activities become problematic when
asbestos is disturbed. It starts with a suspicion, the
electrician or plumber becomes concerned about the
material they have just disturbed or the employee looks
worriedly at the dust on the floor or on their desk. The
job stops and matters soon escalate if its a building
site, the work stops; a factory or office and staff get sent
home; if a school, the school closes. Before you know it,
youre in the local news: Killer asbestos exposed.
What next? Concern, fear, significant expenditure,
bad publicity and possibly prosecution. Staff ask
whether they are at risk of an asbestos-related disease.
Should they see their doctor and have a scan? Does the
incident need to be reported to the authorities?

Clear instruction
When you receive the call or find the dust, what should
you do first?
iStockphoto/sturti

Whatever the exposure and whatever the risk, the

first response should be to stop the disturbance; the
second should be to isolate the location.

36 MAY 2016 
 Asbestos disturbance

MAY 2016 37
Asbestos disturbance
Spreading calm
One of the most important first responses to a small asbestos disturbance is
to reassure staff and, if appropriate, the public. There is no point in anyone
affected seeing a doctor or having a scan as there will clearly be no clinical
evidence of exposure.
We have all been exposed to asbestos, due to its widespread use in the UK and
its continuing presence in buildings. Such background exposure creates a small
burden of fibre in our lungs and, more importantly, only an extremely small risk.
On the day or days of the uncontrolled exposure at your site, the people
affected have received some extra exposure but certainly not their first. This
is contrary to the mistaken belief that we have clean lungs and the incident
suddenly creates a death sentence. Given that background exposure means that
all of our lungs contain a small amount of asbestos fibre, we can discount the idea
that one fibre can kill.
This does not mean that there is no chance of developing mesothelioma, only
that the risk may be low, very low or negligible. Most incidents result in low risk
levels. Drill one hole in asbestos insulating board, with an exposure of say
10 fibre/ml for five minutes and the lifetime dose is about 0.00008 fibre/ml years.
In an article in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene The Quantitative Risks of
Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer in Relation to Asbestos Exposure, John Hodgson
and Andrew Darnton assessed such a dose as presenting a near insignificant risk.
Do the same all day and the dose becomes 0.42 fibre/ml years, presenting an
estimated risk of roughly five in 10,000. This is, of course, unacceptable exposure
but you should be able to reassure people who have been very briefly exposed.
Though there is no need or requirement for those affected to see a doctor, the
incident and exposure should be recorded. The Approved Code of Practice (ACoP)
to the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012, for Regulation 15, states: For any
employee who was not wearing adequate RPE [respiratory protection equipment]
or has been potentially exposed to asbestos fibres in an incident, a note that
the exposure has occurred must be made on that employees health record. If
the employee does not have a health record, the note must be made on that
employees personal record.
38 MAY 2016 
iStockphoto/Christina Norwood
In those first few minutes, it is important that
you or whoever takes charge of the situation gets a
clear description of what has happened from whoever
disturbed the asbestos or noticed the disturbance.
Then you need quickly to close off all areas of
potential contamination as far as possible to prevent
further exposure.
In many cases isolation will be straightforward
and you can just lock off the room or stairwell where
the disturbance occurred. If the space is occupied, tell
employees to leave the area and not to take anything
with them. It is important to avoid unnecessary panic
and concern but you must get everyone away from
the disturbance.
If the disturbance is in a large open-plan floor, the
same principles typically apply but, if the disturbance
is localised, it would be reasonable to cordon off
only the affected area. The cordon size depends on
the disturbance; one hole drilled into an asbestos-
containing material (ACM) may warrant a modest
20 m exclusion zone, but a more significant
disturbance may require a larger exclusion zone, say
50 m to 100 m. Nobody must be allowed anywhere
near the disturbed material.
There may be multiple areas to close off. This
could be the area of work but also any areas that the
contractors walked through or took breaks in before
the alert was sounded.
In some cases, the building will need to be evacuated.
I have dealt with situations when asbestos cement roofs
have been power-jetted without control and asbestos-
containing slurry has spread throughout the building.
There are no hard-and-fast rules, so just consider
how far the dust and fibre is likely to have travelled
or been spread due to the disturbance. Once you know
more, you may be able to relax the level of isolation.
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MAY 2016 39
I want to make sure our
safety management is always
world class, which means I
personally cant stop learning
and developing
Saba Alai cfiosh
Safety Officer
Department of Physics, University of Cambridge

Ive seen and experienced a lot in more
than 25 years as an OSH professional.
Ive been an asbestos specialist, a local
authority safety adviser, and a waste
management safety specialist.
A recent change in career path, however,
has opened my eyes to a world of safety
and health that was previously unfamiliar
to me. I now spend my days risk assessing
the use of lasers, radioactive substances
and biological agents in research.
By having a practical and pragmatic
approach to safety and health, Im
enabling our researchers to push
boundaries in the name of science, and
also to go home in one piece at the end
of the day.
Theres always something new to learn
in this role, and IOSHs Continuing
Professional Development (CPD)
programme helps me to focus on what
I need to do next to stay up to date.
CPD is about more than attending
courses and IOSH events. Its also what
you experience at work and learn from
others the things that make life more
interesting and less routine.

To find out more about Continuing Professional Development

email membership@iosh.co.uk, call +44 (0)116 257 3198
or visit www.iosh.co.uk

www.iosh.co.uk email: info@iosh.co.uk tel: +44 (0)116 257 3100

Registered charity 1096790, VAT registration number 705 3242 69, IOSH Services Limited company registration number 1816826 MKT3465/200416/IM

The cost of closing a shop or of lost productivity
should not weigh in the balance. If halting production
would be unsafe, anyone who has to stay in the
exclusion zone should be provided with appropriate
personal protective equipment.
Anyone who has received bodily contamination
should change and shower, and their original
clothing should be bagged and disposed of. This does
not include people who have not had contact with the
disturbed material, but anyone using a power tool on
an ACM probably has some contamination.
If in doubt, close off as much of the area or
building as you believe is necessary, erring on the
side of caution, then seek advice from an
occupational hygienist or asbestos specialist.
Scope definition
Once contamination is contained and anyone who
has come into direct contact with the material is
decontaminated, the clean-up must start.
At this point, a clear description of what happened
is essential. Who did what, where did they go
and when? If a person drills a hole in an asbestos
ceiling tile and work stops, the situation is clear and
contained. If several people are involved and the
disturbance took place over hours or days the remedial
work may have to extend to toilets, mess areas and
even workers cars.
Many organisations choose to do an air test in the
affected area, which invariably passes, registering
less than 0.01 fibre/ml. I hear too many people say
they didnt find any airborne asbestos or the tests
came up clear. The air test is fairly meaningless and
at fewer than 10,000 fibres per m3 of air this is the
same as <0.01 fibre/ml it is easily passed, though if
there has been significant disturbance, it may provide
reassurance that levels have fallen.
If there has been disturbance, then asbestos-
contaminated dust and debris is probably still present,
albeit now settled on surfaces. Preventing access to
the location should prevent redisturbance.
Those responsible for the clean-up will need
marked-up plans, photographs and even video
evidence. A heat map with areas marked as heavy,
light and nil contamination will be useful, even if
it draws on subjective judgements. In the rush to
clean-up, dont forget to record carefully what has
happened.
Roped off
For a minor, contained disturbance of ACMs, the clean-
up can be localised. One hole drilled in the middle of
a department store doesnt necessitate destroying all
stock, despite the theoretical possibility that a single
asbestos fibre may have migrated metres from the
disturbance. A clean-up within a few metres of the
disturbance should suffice.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012
ACoP states that the steps required to clean up
such releases must be appropriate for the scale of
the release and the potential for further release and
spread of fibres. I have seen clean-ups that go beyond
appropriateness, with great expense spent on chasing
each and every asbestos fibre. Impervious surfaces can
be cleaned but porous materials need to be disposed of.
These response procedures should be written into
your asbestos management plan and communicated
to employees who may have to implement them.
Asbestos disturbance
If the space is occupied, tell
employees to leave the area and
not to take anything with them
Many dutyholders avoid telling their employees that
a building contains asbestos. I believe it is usually
better to inform your employees. If you do so and if
they know and understand the emergency procedures,
then you will probably have less concern to deal with if
asbestos becomes disturbed.
Who to tell?
Another consideration in the UK is whether to notify the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of the incident, as a
dangerous occurrence, under the Reporting of Injuries,
Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations
(RIDDOR) 2013. The HSEs website states that exposure
to asbestos is reportable under RIDDOR when a work
activity causes the accidental release or escape of
asbestos fibres into the air in a quantity sufficient
to cause damage to the health of any person. The
examples it provides include the use of power tools on
most ACMs and work that leads to physical disturbance
(knocking, breaking, smashing) of an ACM.
It is not always easy to match an incident to such
examples. What do you do if you find that a plant
room or ceiling void is contaminated as a result of
poorly carried out work historically? But they provide
an indication of what the HSE regards as a significant
disturbance. The common theme is that these are
incidents where ACMs have been disturbed, probably
without knowledge but certainly without control. An
asbestos disturbance incident probably presents a
low risk (see box on page 38), but each subsequent
incident adds to that risk. Fail to stop the tradesperson
disturbing asbestos on a Monday and they may very
well do the same on the Tuesday. So when the dust
settles, the most important consideration is why did
the disturbance happen? There are many possible
reasons and it could simply have been an accident but
the worst reasons are apathy in that not enough time
and effort was put into its prevention and arrogance
when contractors say blithely We dont work with
asbestos, or Our lads always stop if they see Martin Stear
something suspicious. If this is not arrogance, then it Martin Stear
is ignorance at least. is a chartered
Dutyholders place too much responsibility on occupational
workers on the tools. Asbestos registers are often hygienist, fellow of
the BOHS Faculty
unclear and ambiguous. Tradespeople are left to of Occupational
take chances. It often seems that employers and Hygiene and co-runs
contractors do not really see asbestos as a risk until an independent
such incidents occur. So while your first response consultancy. He was
should be to stop the disturbance, the exposure and an HSE principal
specialist inspector
then to isolate and decontaminate, your second should
from 1993 until 2004.
be to ask how do we stop this happening again?
MAY 2016 41
Case study

42 MAY 2016 

Thames Water:
in the frame
The Greater London utility group has been involved in IOSHs new
competency framework since its inception and is now building it
into development plans for OSH practitioners and managers
Words: STEPHEN MARRIOTT
K
arl Simons leads a 60-strong safety and
health team that includes more than 30 OSH
practitioners, eight trainers, six systems
analysts, 12 inspectors, five occupational
health specialists and a hygienist. As head of health,
safety and wellbeing at one of the UKs largest
utilities, Simons priority is to make sure the skills of
such a large group are the right ones to protect the
companys workers and contractors.
New team members are matched to job role
profiles to ensure they have the right aptitudes and
experience when they start. But judging the progress
and competence of those already in post, as their
roles and experience change, hinges on personal
development reviews.
Weve always been reliant on the skills of line
managers showing the path and next steps to their
sub-ordinates, says Simons.
In 2013, he joined IOSHs strategic directors
forum, whose membership included Shaun Davis,
group director of safety, health and wellbeing at Royal
Mail, Helen Davitt, group health, safety and wellbeing
Case study
manager at Vodafone, and academics Shaun Lundy,
portfolio leader at the University of Greenwich, and
Glasgow Caledonian University lecturer Ross McKillop.
The institution asked the groups members whether
they believed the OSH profession would benefit
from a competency framework to map its skills and
experience, and if so what it should look like.
The forum responded positively, Simons recalls. His
own view was that a framework would be a much-
needed replacement for ad hoc recording of reading and
professional events to satisfy continuing professional
development (CPD) requirements. You try to plan, he
says, but in reality Im looking back every few months
and saying what have I done? and uploading that as
my CPD.
The prospect of a system in which individuals could
map themselves against the skills and experience
appropriate for different echelons of OSH practice
and management and find out how to develop greater
competence offered the chance to shift from a reactive
programme to one where people could steer their own
development.
MAY 2016 43
Case study
Karl Simons (centre) shows colleagues the framework self-assessment tool
Slow burn
Once the framework had the go-ahead, the directors
forum met quarterly over the next three years,
reviewing and refining work by IOSH staff to develop
the structure and detail. IOSH didnt rush it, says
Simons. There was a lot of debate on the health side
in particular and how we developed a question set so
people understood the difference between wellbeing,
health and occupational hygiene.
The biggest challenge for us was to extend
it from being just a technical development into
business leadership. The modern health and safety
professional isnt just an investigator of incidents
and inspectors of sites. My team is strategically
aligned with the businesss operating model
and thats how we effect change and technical
development among frontline managers and the
workforce.
44 MAY 2016 
Thats what businesses are after now. Among my
peer group, many of us report directly to the chief
executive officers of the organisations we support and,
over the past 15 years, Ive watched the role of the
health and safety professional evolve to this point.
When chief executives interview now for a health
and safety professional they are looking for a business
leader. They expect you to have a team underneath you
that has the technical excellence and they expect you to
understand the technical side. But what they are now
asking is how are you going to lead this organisation
with me?.
But he emphasises that the OSH leaders in the group
were not just thinking of those at their own rarefied
level and worked with IOSH to ensure it was applicable
to practitioners at any stage of their careers.
What I really like is that if you look at any level
the steps are sensible ones, Simons says. So if
someone says they have no experience in how to
communicate health and safety correctly, the steps are
there for them to start.
On test
IOSH had a dual aim for the framework: that OSH
practitioners should gain a picture of their competence
levels and what to do if they wanted to raise them;
but also that, when individuals were willing to share
their results with their employers, organisations could
monitor the skills and development needs of their OSH
staff as a whole.
It was one of the questions we discussed in that
first meeting three years ago, says Simons. How do
you influence an organisations competency using the
framework? If you start with the managers you can
spot the gap areas across the organisation and begin to
close them.
He was keen from the start to explore this in
practice. Straight away I said to IOSH lets use

Thames Waters professionals as a pilot for how this is
going to work in an organisation.
In January this year, 24 of his OSH team sat in a
room and scored themselves using the framework
assessment tool. Simons says participants were not
selected but made up of those who were available on
the day. However, the remaining team members will
complete the assessment in the months ahead.
Most of those involved had been aware of Simons
involvement in the frameworks development but they
had no special preparation for the evaluation, so they
had no preconceived ideas, says Simons.
The results of the individuals assessments
were reports summarised in spider diagrams
showing their attainment on the various technical
and managerial measures. IOSH suggested training,
reading or other development options that would help
them achieve the level they had stated they would
like to achieve.
So its not just saying you are weak on
budgeting, Simons notes, but heres where you can
go to get help with improvement.
All the feedback from the January exercise was
positive, he says. Many of them said afterwards it was
great to be involved and that the tool had asked them
the right questions to be able to give a yes or no answer.
It gave us a sense we had the question set about right.
The triallists were invited to discuss any
development gaps in their reports with their managers
at their next monthly one-to-one meetings and
exchanged views on what the company could do to help
them raise competence levels. The important thing
here is we arent saying you have to do these things,
Simons says.
Its helped the managers have those discussions
based on science as opposed to what they know and
understand at that moment, because they are all
different.
Case study
You try to plan but in reality Im
looking back every few months
and saying what have I done?
and uploading that as my CPD
The IOSH competency
framework assessment tool
The IOSH competency framework self-assessment tool allows practitioners to
evaluate their skills and experience online, rating their competence by giving yes
or no answers to statements under a list of professional headings grouped in
four overarching categories:
Sustainable business practice; comprising business vision, sustainability, ethics
and values
Technical capability; including knowledge, expertise and application
Engagement and influence; including leadership and communication
Strategy and planning; including cost, resources, and decision making.
Most of the skills have eight levels, graded from awareness through basic and
intermediate to advanced. Under the Data heading, the lowest, awareness,
level requires a user to be able only to Recognise when to access OSH data. In
the basic stages this grows to identifying data sources, collecting OSH information
and reviewing it. At the intermediate stages, analytical and interpretive skills are
required and at the advanced stage users must be confident they can design data
collection and interpret it to help direct OSH policy.
By selecting the statement they agree most closely fits them for each
competency, framework users find their level and create their own professional
competency profile. They can also note the level they would like to attain.
Once the fields in the tool are complete, IOSHs software generates a
development plan that gives an overall picture of competence and shows where
there are differences between current skill levels and the individuals preferred
level. Each user will be allocated an identification number when they first use
the framework and the intention is that they should be able to revisit and
update their profile throughout their career using the code.
IOSH is building a knowledge library of resources and suggested training that
will be available to members to help them move through the competency stages
under each skills heading.
IOSH will aggregate data from framework users and as the numbers grow
it should be able to see where the most common competency gaps are and
produce extra resources to help close them.
More than 1,500 members have so far used the tool and the feedback has
been extremely encouraging, says Carolyn Issitt, IOSH head of development.
It is giving users a clear career pathway through which they can plan their
development as OSH professionals. As more and more members use the tool, we
are gaining a clear picture of how we can support them with relevant resources.
Though IOSH believes the aggregated information from the assessment
records of the OSH practitioners in a single organisation will be very useful, as
in the case of Thames Water, individuals profiles will always remain their own
property and not disclosed even to their employers without their expressed
permission.
The framework was released in beta form on 29 March and IOSH is inviting
all members to take the assessment by logging onto the MyIOSH section of
its website and clicking on Get exclusive member access today. For more
information, email shapingthefuture@iosh.co.uk or call 0116 257 3600 and feed
back any comments on the experience to the institution.
MAY 2016 45
 Case study

Accidents and Incidents 6

easy to get through the standard qualifications and find
Wellbeing 6 1 Business Ethics 6 the business part is left to the side.
Vision and Mission 7
0.9 Business Resilience 8 Luchmun says the assessment focused his mind on
0.8
two issues: what he needed to do to be better in his job
Values 8 Business Risk 5
and where he would like to be in five years.
0.7
The first of these priorities was tackled in a
Strategy 8 0.6 Change 6
development session in early March with his manager,
0.5
the head of health, safety and wellbeing for the
0.4
Stakeholders 8 Communication 8 waste water division. I shared my feedback from the
0.3 framework and my line manager was more than willing
0.2 to help expose me to those areas where I want more
Responsibility 7 Corporate Governance 4
0.1 experience, he says.
0 Since one competence area he most wanted to
Resourcing 5 Culture 8
develop was finance, they agreed he would manage the
waste water health and safety budget for the coming
year. The other aim was to understand more about the
Professionalism 5 Data 7 businesss priorities and pressures. So Im going to
be shadowing the senior management team at their
meetings, Luchmun says. And Im going to have
Policies 8 Decision Making 8
mentoring sessions with the managing director of
waste water to see what challenges he faces.
Plans and Projects 8 Finance 8

Performance 8 Future Thinking 4 Number crunching

Management Systems 7 Hazards and Risks 6 As well as giving individuals reports on their
Legal 6
competency results, IOSH took the data from the
exercise, analysed it and sent back an aggregated
Average of Assessed Level Percentage
picture of where the members of the Thames Water
Average of Objective Level Percentage
OSH team were on the framework, along with their
assessments of where they believed they should be. The
results were summarised in a spider diagram (left).
Simons has since presented this initial analysis to
his full team along with plans to invest to close the
wider differentials in areas such as strategy and
future thinking. He says this important source of

Its very easy to get through the

information on the strengths and weaknesses of the
OSH function will only be enriched when the rest of the

standard qualifications and find

team has gone through the assessment.
If I look across my body of professionals I should

the business part is left to the

be able to know the trends of where I am against
corporate objectives, so I can understand where as

side
a professional function we are lacking and need to
improve, Simons says.
The directors forum was keen that IOSH try to offer
He says he will be supportive of requests to progress employers the chance to assess their own functional
through the framework. Far from being afraid of being data. IOSH head of membership Carolyn Issitt says
inundated with requests for development funding, he that is precisely the plan. She can foresee a time when
says that would be a positive result: In my three years employers will be able to ask their OSH practitioners to
at Thames Water I havent said no to a single training attach electronic tokens to their personal competency
request from any of my team. records so the company can do its own aggregated
He did not exempt himself from the assessment analyses of how their staff map to the framework and
process and says his own report taught him that he to industry averages.
could work on improving his expertise in sustainable Simons plans to extend access to the framework
business practice, managing change and data beyond the companys OSH professionals. Three years
management. ago the Thames Water executive team made a decision
that we would put all our 450 frontline managers
Personal testimony through the Nebosh national general certificate in
One of Simons team who went through the self- occupational safety and health, he says. Thats totally
evaluation in January was Sean Luchmun, health, changed their understanding of practical application of
safety and wellbeing manager at Thames Waters waste health and safety law and risk management.
water division, who joined the company last year from He believes those managers would benefit from
construction contractor Amey. access to the framework and is working with IOSH to
He says the assessment took about an hour: I put them through the evaluation.
could probably have gone through it a bit quicker but Aside from the benefits to Thames Water, Simons is
Sean Luchmun I wanted to make sure I gave it the right amount of proud to have been involved in developing a free tool
Health, safety and attention. to help practitioners map their careers and increase
wellbeing manager,
He had no surprises in completing the questions but their competence: I may be biased because I have been
wholesale waste,
Thames Water they did give him plenty to think about: One thing it so involved, but the true testament is my team are all
raised was the business acumen side of things. Its very enthused by having gone through it.

46 MAY 2016 
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MAY 2016 47
EEF-3125 We steer your industry S+H EXPO ad_90x255mm.indd 1 20/04/2016 09:40
Leader interview

48 MAY 2016 

Don Harrison
Johnson Matthey
The metals and chemicals groups occupational health
director talks about not having a medical background,
self-confidence and simplifying policies
Words: LOUIS WUSTEMANN
Pictures: ANDREW FIRTH
W
e arent a high-hazard business,
says Don Harrison. The biggest
hazards come from a few tonnes
of chlorine here and there and
some flammables. Our factories look more like car
factories with robots assembling pieces of kit, with
the exception of the fine chemicals business which is
mainly pharmaceuticals manufacture.
Harrison directs occupational health (OH) provision
for the metals group which celebrates its 200th
anniversary in 2017. He also oversees the groups
safety and health policies and guidance, which apply
to 13,000 employees in 34 countries.
The businesss safety hazards are the ones common
to advanced manufacturing, he says: predominantly
slips and trips, though there are occasional chemical
burns and exposure. Ill-health cases are often tied to
chemical use too: This financial year we have had
12 occupational illnesses reported and five of them are
chemical exposure issues, things like skin irritation and
occupational asthma.
Johnson Matthey is the worlds largest producer
of catalytic converters for motor vehicles. Converter
production for diesel engines involves spraying
platinum nitrate solution onto a honeycomb ceramic
substrate where it absorbs the carbon monoxide in the
exhaust. Platinum is a sensitiser, leading to allergic
reactions and sometimes to occupational asthma.
Our biggest single issue is platinum
sensitisation, he says. For petrol engine converters
we use palladium but its also a member of the
platinum family. So we do skin-prick testing for all
Leader interview
our employees who are potentially exposed. The idea
is to pick up any developing sensitisation before it
results in symptoms.
Down by half
The number of ill-health cases halved from 30 to 15
in the 2014/15 financial year. It wasnt one thing
that did that, says Harrison. We did a lot of work
on containment, trying to make sure our processes
had lower exposure risks. We hired a consultant in to
provide design assistance.
Weve also insisted all our sites that use platinum
have pretty rigid constraints on who can work where.
Bear in mind some of these sites go back a long way,
so there were various levels of containment.
Along with tighter access controls to work areas,
the containment involved installing glove boxes to
separate operators from hazardous materials on
workbenches.
We have been running a behavioural safety
programme in the company since 2009 and we are
seeing the benefits of that, of better containment and
of work weve done with senior management to make
budgets available for these measures, he says.
Johnson Matthey benchmarks its OSH performance
against peers such as oil and gas multinational Exxon
(companies we admire) and sets standards for ill-
health cases and lost-time accidents, which we are
pretty much on target to meet, notes Harrison.
He says, though the company has always had
strong OH policies, in recent years it has begun to
apply some of the techniques that it uses in safety to
MAY 2016 49
Leader interview
In the scheme of things
Don Harrison reports to Johnson Mattheys group environment, health and
safety director.
There are four main businesses in the group, engaged in precious metal
refining, catalytic converter production, fine chemicals manufacture and new-
business development, which includes fuel cell technologies.
Each operates autonomously and has its own safety and health
infrastructure. Harrison has dotted line reports from OSH managers in
each division.
But he is based in the group environment, health and safety (EHS) function,
which is charged with refining and operating the companys management
system, the policies and guidance and auditing the divisions performance.
Im in charge of occupational health for the company, he says, but I also
have a role in policy development, so I own the EHS management policies and
the guidance.
50 MAY 2016 
help to achieve them: Things that work in safety also
work in health. The average health service works on an
outsourced OH resource bringing people in and testing
them to see if they are developing any sensitivity and
then manage them if they do. We are finding over time
that those groups are also amenable to behavioural
safety approaches and engineering approaches, hence
the containment initiatives.
In country
Harrison started in the chemicals industry as an
operator, moving up to shift supervisor for 16 years
before starting his OSH career.
I got my degree from the Open University, he
says. I ended up with a degree in psychology and the
psychology of organisations was my specialism.
The behaviour of people in organisations still
fascinates him and that is only more interesting when
the element of working with risk is added, he says.
From 2008, when he joined Johnson Matthey, to
2014, Harrison was group EHS assurance director.
When the previous occupational health director
left, I put my hand up for it because Ive always
been particularly interested in occupational health
and medicine.
Im not a doctor, he adds. My background is in
general health and safety. But I think an occupational
health manager doing the kind of work I do is very
valuable, as long as I have access to occupational
health physicians.
One reason I wanted
to get more involved
in occupational
health was to move
more towards being a
practitioner again
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MAY 2016 51
Leader interview
Sustainable development
Johnson Mattheys website makes a big play of its commitment to sustainability.
Our business ethic is one of creating technology to help the world be
more sustainable, Don Harrison explains. We invented the catalytic converter
and we make one-third of the worlds converters which help to reduce
environmental pollution. We manufacture all the legal opiates in Britain for pain
relief. We also reprocess metals, which helps with recycling.
So we have to take sustainability seriously internally or we are not what we
are trying to represent. So operating ethically is essential, not just because we
are nice guys but because otherwise we would lose a lot as our customers expect
it from us.
The group drew up a set of sustainability goals in 2006 to be achieved by the
year of its bicentenary in 2017. The targets included achieving carbon-neutral
operations, zero accidents and ill-health and doubling earnings per share.
Were not going to meet them all, Harrison admits, but he believes the goals
have inspired some impressive steps in the right direction.
Recently the company began sustainability audits of some of its suppliers,
checking the robustness of their OSH systems, environmental measures and
how ethical their business practices were. Sustainability is now a board-
level reporting issue and the board takes a very keen interest in sustainable
performance, he says.
To ensure that access he contracted four doctors,
based in the UK, the US, China and India. These
bolster the OH physicians and nurses contracted by
the divisions to service each Johnson Matthey site,
providing surveillance and case management.
They serve their individual sites and my physicians
liaise with them helping with any problems and
offering them clinical supervision, Harrison says.
We are just about to start making a platinum
product-based product at a European site and they
have never handled platinum on that site before.
So they have a physician but that physician has no
experience of running an OH service around a potential
allergen. So myself and the UK-based doctor will
spend two or three days there in May helping to train
them and set them up to run an OH service up to
that standard.
Harrison talks to the doctors weekly by phone and
makes occasional visits to the three based overseas.
If I get a question that needs clinical input, I
direct it to the appropriate physician, he says. It
greatly eases the local-versus-global issue because
occupational health means different things in
different territories.
Norms in the UK for instance are very different from
those in the US, dictated by the workers compensation
system which ensures payouts for employees who
sustain occupational accidents or contract diseases but
have no recourse to personal injury claims.
Having a network of physicians who can
interpret local requirements and culture is very
useful, he says. A lot of the problems we have had
implementing strategies around the world in the past
have gone away.
It also means that if we have a problem at
our plant in Mumbai, I dont have to jump on an
aeroplane to try to help them out with it.
How much travelling does he do? I do an audit
programme where I look at five Johnson Matthey
facilities around the world each year, and audit the
effectiveness of their occupational health programmes.
I spend a couple of days having a close look at how
52 MAY 2016 
they are implementing our strategies and polices at
those facilities and make recommendations.
He thinks the value of going himself is that there
is someone at the centre who gets to see everything
and ensures standards at the plant in Krasnoyarsk,
Siberia match those in the Royston, England, facility.
Over the years there have been a number of things
that I wouldnt have spotted from the feedback I get
remotely from these plants, he adds. At one plant he
found procedures for laundering coveralls were not up
to company standards and his visit prompted the local
management to build a new laundry for the factory.
Consolidation exercise
Over the past 18 months, the company has reviewed
its OSH policies and streamlined them. There were
approximately 70 environment, health and safety
(EHS) policies, says Harrison, covering everything
from personal protective equipment to process safety.
We found that trying to manage all those policies, in
various languages too, was quite tricky and the guidance
was a bit of a patchwork quilt. There wasnt guidance for
all the policies.
The revisions, which he expects to be completed
by the end of the year, will reduce the total to 58
by merging policies that fit together on topics such
as hearing and vibration and process safety and
project management.
Weve changed the format a bit too, he says. We
have included in the guidance some explanation of
why the guidance is there. We used to say the policies
contained what you have to do and the guidance
offered some ways you can do it. But we didnt go
further and say which were good ways of achieving the
policy requirement and which were less good. So we
are trying to do that.
The language has been revamped, to make it
plainer. We health and safety guys tend to talk in
jargon and the things we say make perfect sense to us
but not as much to the guys working on the plant.
Teams of operators have contributed to simplifying
the terms in the procedures and to get the terms
in the English language ones right so they will be
understandable wherever they are used in the UK,
US or Australia.
We have found that if we write these things in a
sort of American English it seems to translate better
across the world. American English is more direct,
less passive and our policies were written in British
English in an almost legalistic fashion. Weve tried
to make it more pop culture, not because we want
to be more trendy but to save ourselves the
job of answering the question: What does
this mean?
The whole group EHS team is involved
in all aspects of the function, he says.
Last year, it drew up eight life-
saving policies on activities
such as confined space entry,
electrical safety, work at height
and road safety which were
high-hazard activities.
We tried to predict
if, God forbid, we had
a fatality or a major
incident tomorrow,
what kind of thing
would be at the
 Leader interview

Don Harrison
Career history:
2014 present: Group occupational health and policy director, Johnson Matthey
2008 2014: Group EHS assurance director, Johnson Matthey
2000 2008: Responsible care process owner, BASF
1998 2000: Shift manager, BASF
1994 1998: Senior safety officer, BASF
1985 1994: Shift supervisor, BASF
1979 1985: Shift supervisor, Monsanto
1976 1979: Process operator, Monsanto

MAY 2016 53
Leader interview

bottom of it. We used industry stats to come up with eight

areas and drew up new procedures for them.
The team suspended its normal audit cycle to visit all the
plants and check the standards in these policies were met.
He says these opportunities to check operational

The temptation is to stay in

effectiveness are brilliant. One reason I wanted to get
more involved in occupational health was to move more

the ivory tower, cut off from

towards being a practitioner again after many years in
management.

people working lathes and on

Also, Im 60 and it wouldnt make sense for me to
be just doing strategic work for the last five years of my

the robot lines

career. Other people need to get up to speed in running the
health and safety management systems.

A question of confidence
In common with other leaders interviewed by IOSH
Magazine, Harrison says he has worked on building
his confidence.
Part of it is about dealing with people who are smarter
than me and who hold purse strings I want access to and
being able to sell them ideas, he says. And part of it is
having the confidence to stay grounded with the people
whose health and safety you are trying to protect. The
temptation is to stay in the ivory tower, cut off from
people working lathes and on the robot lines.
I came from the shopfloor, he adds, and I still have
this little voice whispering in my ear what would that
guy on the shopfloor in 1980 think about that proposal
youve just made? And the proposal might be in the
best interests of people on the shopfloor. It might be
the guy who is suffering a platinum allergy and whose
best interests are served by not having him in that
environment, but the alternative is him not working for
the company. And its that kind of decision where you
have to have the confidence to believe you are right.
I ask about the most difficult events he has had to
handle in his career. The most stressful are fatal injuries,
without a doubt, he says. His biggest fear is the 3am
phone call alerting him to a major injury at a Johnson
Matthey plant: But you try to engineer it so that doesnt
happen by making sure you go to sites and listen to people
you trust talking about visits they make, to try to ensure
our people are as safe as they can be.
In terms of managing, the hardest things are
committees and teams with large numbers of people
where there are competing interests and you are trying to
get them to understand a common goal. Managing teams
where you dont have any power over them, thats tricky.
Does he have any helpful tips?
Yes, dont do it! he jokes. The tip is to try to ensure
everyone feels they have a piece of it. You have to engage
and interest them.
He says the best way to bring people with you, and
something he has learned by observing the best OSH
practitioners, is to show how much
you care. The most successful people
I have met and the ones who have
impressed me most were the ones
who obviously cared, rather than just
trying to improve their careers or even their
companys position.
You can get into health and safety as
a career either because you really want to
or because that was the job that came up on
the noticeboard when you wanted a change.
My view is that the people who are most
successful are the ones who really want
to be doing this.

54 MAY 2016 
 IOSH 2016
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Lexicon
is for
disproportion
Words: BRIDGET LEATHLEY
T
he need for a safety measure turns on what
is known as the proportion factor, according
to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
This is the ratio of sacrifice to the benefits of
the measure in terms of risk reduction and includes
cost, itself comprising money, time and trouble.
In traditional business practice, a cost-benefit
analysis would weigh one set of costs against
another, giving both equal value a proportion
factor of one. However, if lives rest on one side of
the scales, the balance is skewed in favour of safety
and a disproportion, or even a gross disproportion,
is expected.
The 1949 Court of Appeal judgment in Edwards v
National Coal Board is most often cited as the source
of a definition of reasonably practicable but it
also introduced the term gross disproportion. The
judge, ruling that Mr Edwardss employer should
have shored the section of mine tunnel that collapsed
on him, stated: Reasonably practicable implies
that a computation must be made by the owner in
which the quantum of risk is placed on one scale and
the sacrifice involved in the measures necessary for
averting the risk (whether in money, time or trouble)
is placed in the other, and that, if it be shown that
there is a gross disproportion between them the
risk being insignificant in relation to the sacrifice
the defendants discharge the onus on them.
A few years later a similar personal injury
claim, this time in a gypsum mine, used only the
term disproportion. The judge in Marshall v Gotham
Co concluded: What is reasonably practicable
depends upon a consideration whether the time,
trouble and expense of the precautions suggested are
disproportionate to the risk involved.
The HSE does not tell us what the disproportion
factor should be, stating on its as-low-as-
Journalists reasonably-practicable pages (www.hse.gov.uk/risk/
theory/alarpglance.htm) only that the greater the
and politicians risk, the more that should be spent in reducing it,
like to say and the greater the bias on the side of safety. So
we dont have to keep on spending more money for
you cant incrementally small improvements in safety. But
put a value how much money do we have to spend for what level
of improvement? Journalists and politicians like to
on human say you cant put a value on human life but we
life but we know that, ultimately, we have to, since otherwise
every worker would have a dedicated supervisor
know that, making sure they do the right thing. There comes
ultimately, a point where additional expenditure cannot bring
proportionate benefits in safety. But where is that
we have to gross disproportion point?
To calculate a proportion factor, you must first
work out the costs of the potential control measure.
Expressing the time, trouble and expense of a control
measure as a single monetary figure should not be
too difficult, but less straightforward is putting a
monetary value on the benefits. The human capital
approach to such valuations looks at the cost of an
accident to the business. This includes lost time and
production, first aiders and sick leave, legal fees,
fines and insurance premiums and the expenses of
recruiting and training replacement staff. For major
incidents, it adds the toll on reputation and loss of
future business.
In October 2015 the HSE produced a report on
the costs to Britain of workplace fatalities and self-
reported injuries and ill-health (www.hse.gov.uk/
statistics/pdf/cost-to-britain.pdf). This provided
estimates of the human and financial costs of
different types of accidents and came up with a figure
of nearly 1.6m for a fatality, 7,500 for a non-fatal
injury and 18,700 for work-related ill-health. The
Department for Transport uses a willingness-to-
pay approach to calculate the value of a prevented
fatality (VPF) asking, in broad terms, how much
are we, as a society, prepared to pay to save a life?
The VPF is slightly higher than the HSE figure:
around 1.8m.
Before you spend a long time deciding which
monetary value you should place on a death or
injury, think about the bigger picture. Can you ever
know exactly how many deaths and injuries a safety
measure will prevent over its lifetime? If I know a
new control costing 5,000 will save the life of one
person in its first year, I cannot argue that it is too
expensive. But I dont know how many people will
slip if I hire the slightly cheaper floor covering for my
event marquee, I dont know how bad their falls will
be and how long it will take them to recover. If I have
a succession of visitors arriving in the rain wearing
slippery shoes, I may wish I had spent more money;
if the weather is fine, I might regret the extra spend.
If the test for practicality was that safety benefits
had to be in proportion only to the cost of the
measures, an organisation could avoid spending
money on safety by overestimating the cost of an
improvement, and underestimating its benefits.
Applying a disproportion test takes account of the
uncertainty in risk calculations. Organisations can
then build safety measures into their systems
and processes up to the point where they can
prove that spending any more would be grossly
disproportionate.
MAY 2016 57
Off duty
Colin Maskell
Health and safety training manager, RGF Logistics
My love of bikes goes back
to when I was a kid. My
brother had a little 50cc
Honda chicken chaser
and, when I first saw it,
I demanded to have a go.
I went 400 yards before
crashing into a bush.
A year later, I went to Butlins Minehead
where they had motorbikes that you could take
around a tiny circuit. I think I did one lap before
crashing.
Then, around 1996, about the same time that I
joined RGF, I thought Im going to go for this. I
did my test, passed it and got my first road bike, a
Suzuki 600s.
I quickly progressed to a Kawasaki Ninja 600cc
and was invited to a track day, where the thought
of being able to ride as fast as I could was hugely
exhilarating. It had got to the point when riding
on the road was getting dangerous for the speeds
that I wanted to reach. There was a fear of losing
my licence but, more importantly, a fear of losing
my life. I had had a few accidents on the road
caused by cars pulling out on me. Id broken ribs
and collar bones but I started to think that the
It had got track was probably safer; quicker but safer.
to the point On my first track day I was put into the
novices group - there are three groups at a track
when riding day: novice, intermediate and fast. After three
on the road days I decided that I was going to move up to the
next group, intermediate, where you have to prove
was getting yourself again, to show you can sustain yourself in
dangerous for that fast group.
At my favourite track, Mallory Park, near
the speeds that Leicester, I can more than hold my own; I
I wanted to consistently achieve close to one-minute laps. Im
very proud of the improvement in my lap times
reach over the years. Ive cut my time from one minute
58 MAY 2016 
27 seconds from when I was a novice to now hitting
one minute three seconds in the fast group.
About five years ago, I converted and upgraded
my Kawasaki ZX6R (pictured left) and took it on to
the track. It still has a daytime MOT certificate so
I can take it to the Isle of Man TT festival, riding
the mountain section as fast as I can. [There are no
speed limits on some sections of roads on the Isle.]
Ive crashed at Mallory, and Ive crashed at
Anglesey race track. In fact, it was on my first
visit to Anglesey that I came off. Even though
I was used to riding in fast groups at other
tracks, the rules state that, if its your first time
at a circuit, you begin with the intermediates. I
became a little frustrated with
the group around me and I
attempted to overtake another
rider as we were both going into
a corner.
I started to feel the front of
the bike go away from me but,
just as I started to wrestle back
control, the front wheel went on
to the grass, forcing the bike one
way while I went the other. I was
fine, but the brake lever wasnt
so lucky.
I was also at Mallory when a
rider fell, and was taken by one of the two on-
site ambulances to hospital in Leicester. An hour
later another rider crashed, requiring medical
attention and the remaining ambulance was
deployed. This lack of ambulance cover meant
the track immediately came to a halt. It shows
that the safety on these days is paramount.
The ambulance service is there, and so is St
John Ambulance but, if there is no emergency
presence, the races stop.
In a way, we did something similar at RGF
about three years ago. Were a haulage firm
and once had to order every single one of our
100 trucks across the country to stop and park
because of high winds; we took the decision that
it was too dangerous to proceed.
On track day, PPE is obviously essential; you
cant get on a bike unless you have an Auto-cycle
Union stickered helmet. You cant use a cheaper
alternative; it will not be up to it.
You also need good quality leathers. I have
come off twice in my current pair and you can
hardly tell. Ive never cut my skin or broken a
bone. Its the same when purchasing PPE in the
workplace; to pay just that little bit extra gives
you peace of mind.
Why do I like to ride? I get an adrenalin rush
from the day. It perhaps goes against your core as
a safety and health professional that youre doing
something where you know there is such a high
level of risk, but its about being able to ride the
bike as it was meant to be ridden.
Products & Services
FPA launches EEA
The Fire Protection Association (FPA), the
UKs national fire safety organisation, has
launched a membership body to represent
the emergency evacuation sector.
The Emergency Evacuation Association
(EEA) has been created in collaboration
with Evac+Chair and will offer members
publications, guidance and advice to
safeguard the interests of organisations
from all sectors and industries that have
an interest or responsibility in emergency
evacuation.
The EEA aims to follow the FPAs lead
by lobbying for improved safety standards.
A starting point for EEA will be to call for
standards to be introduced for evacuation
products, a sector that is currently
unregulated.
FPA marketing manager Jimmy Phillips
said: Were delighted to be able to provide
the industry with a one-stop shop for best
practice, guidance and lobbying.
www.emergencyevacuation.co.uk
Health and Safety at Work for
Dummies out now
Wiley & Sons new addition to its for
Dummies series, Health and Safety at Work
for Dummies, has been published.
The company worked with training and
consultancy firm RRC International to
produce the reference publication because
of its expertise in health and safety and its
ability to make the subject understandable
to non-experts. RRC wrote the publication
in the famous for Dummies series style
engaging and humorous.
The book, which was published at the
end of March, is in five parts and covers
topics such as putting simple safety
management systems in place and getting
to grips with practical ways of sorting
everyday safety risks across a range of
topics. It is accompanied by online articles
and cheat sheets.
www.rrc.co.uk
National personal safety champion revealed at awards
Richard Jones, Bovis Homes Group customer and sales service
director, has been named as the personal safety champion at
the Suzy Lamplugh Trust National Personal Safety Awards in
London.
Lone worker expert Peoplesafe sponsored the personal safety
champion category, the award for which was for the individual
who best facilitated the improvement of safety for employees in
the workplace, especially for those who work alone.
Joness entry outlined how he introduced a robust lone working policy and increased
the use of safety alarms threefold.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust works to reduce the risk of violence and aggression through
campaigning, education and support.
www.peoplesafe.co.uk
C500 gloves provide protection and comfort
The C500 gloves range from PPE manufacturer uvex provides the
wearer with comfort and protection from cuts.
They are highly breathable to reduce sweat, while Bamboo
TwinFlex technology means they boast a soft, silky yarn, offering
exceptional moisture absorption and temperature control.
uvex C500 gloves offer the highest possible level of cut
protection and abrasion resistance. They feature uvex Climazone
technology for maximum hygiene and comfort and are certified in accordance with the
Oeko-Text Standard 100.
Five coating materials are used in the C500 range. The liquid-resistant elastomer
soft grip foam coating provides excellent grip, while the breathable microporous coating
provides a stable climate inside the glove.
www.uvex-safety.co.uk
Swiss One to be licensed by JSP
PPE manufacturer JSP has taken over the running
of the Swiss One brand.
Swiss One Safety has gained an excellent
reputation for the design, manufacture and
supply of safety eyewear to the construction,
healthcare, emergency and military sectors
since it was established in 2000 by Jean-Pierre
Passaquay.
The brand is synonymous with the highest
standards of design and precision engineering associated with Switzerland.
JSP is planning significant investment and towards the end of this year will launch
several more designs.
The company will exhibit at Expoprotection in Paris in November.
en.swissonesafety.net
Cirrus Research unveils new doseBadge
Noise monitoring specialist Cirrus Research has unveiled the
doseBadge Mark V. The fifth generation will include new
enhancements to simplify workplace noise monitoring.
The doseBadge Mark V arrives as Cirrus Research celebrates
20 years since it brought the first doseBadge to market. Since 1996
20,000 units have been sold worldwide.
The original doseBadge was designed and developed as the worlds first personal
dosimeter. It eliminated the need for cables, controls and buttons on the product, which was
unheard of at the time.
The fifth generation of the doseBadge will be available this summer.
www.cirrusresearch.co.uk/products/dosebadge-noise-dosimeter
MAY 2016 59
Products & Services
Specsavers adds Love Moschino range
Employees can now benefit from even
more choice when they are provided with
corporate eye care through Specsavers,
which has added the exclusive Love
Moschino range to its designer collections.
With all eVouchers for DSE eye care,
safety eyewear, driving eye care and
optical care there is the option to use the
voucher as a contribution towards higher-
priced items. Employees often use this
benefit to purchase designer glasses and
now there are even more options to choose
from. The new range offers employees
a further 12 choices of glasses and three
more options for prescription sunglasses,
in addition to the 2,000 styles already
available from Specsavers.
Moschino is an iconic brand, known
for its signature heart motif, and the Love
Moschino collection is both extravagant
and classic.
www.specsavers.co.uk
Safety barriers should not compromise facility hygiene
Every product in the hygiene logistics
trail must contribute to overall safety
and health. In food and drink factories,
cosmetics manufacturing or pharmaceutical
environments, every product application
must adhere and contribute to the strictest
demands of hygiene.
A-SAFE, the inventor of the worlds
first polymer-based barrier system, has
developed complex hygiene seals and
You can find full length press releases on
our website:
www.ioshmagazine.com
To be included in our Products & Services
section, please contact:
Sayda de Maurier on 020 8662 2069 or
sayda.demaurier@lexisnexis.co.uk
60 MAY 2016 
ArcelorMittal improves safety with Smart Key Manager
Steel and mining company ArcelorMittal has improved
safety and reduced costs at its Fos-sur-Mer site in southern
France with theSmart Key Managerfrom SERV Trayvou
Interverrouillage.
ArcelorMittal installed three RFID-based Smart Key
Managers. Staff tap a personal code into the units keypad
to retrieve the key or keys to which management has given
them access online.
The Smart Key Managers webserver interface allows
the system to be checked and managed in real-time via a
web browser from a PC, tablet or smartphone. The system
indicates which keys are present or absent from the cabinet,
and who has taken each key and when.
halmapr.com/news/serv
UTN opens new training centre
UTN Training has opened its Central London Training
Centre, which will offer health and safety classroom
courses such as IOSH and CITB.
Located at Europa Park Industrial Estate, Canning
Town, the venue will complement UTNs three other London sites London West,
London South and London East.
The Central London Training Centre provides IOSH courses Managing Safely,
including refresher, and Working Safely. CITB courses include Site Management Safety
Training Scheme, including refresher, Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme, and
Health & Safety Awareness.
London Central is UTNs fifth dedicated training centre. The company also offers
training at 17 other sites in the UK.
www.utntraining.co.uk
reduced water ingress released in 2015. Since then
points through the use several blue chip companies
of strategically placed have benefited from the
rubber seals in an effort system, including United
to solve the issue of dirt Biscuits, Heineken, Nestl,
and debris collecting in McCain Foods, Mars,
ingress points and water LOreal, Dr Oetker and
infiltrating the product. Coca-Cola.
The new hygienic
barrier system, iFlex, was www.asafe.com
To advertise your vacancy, contact Sam MacKenzie:
T: 020 8212 1920 E: sam.mackenzie@lexisnexis.co.uk @IOSHjobs Recruitment

Ask a recruiter

I get a lot of first interviews for jobs, so there doesnt seem to be a problem
with my CV, but I never make it past that stage. What am I doing wrong?
There will always be occasions when
interviewees dont click with
interviewers. That is normal, and
unavoidable. When you are not progressing
to second interview on a number of
occasions though, it is worth examining the
way you approach interviews in more depth.
Appearance is a sensitive area. After
all, its your personal style, but it can be a
minefield. Just this week I was told that a
client objected to a man who came to an
interview unshaven. People can be put off by
too much jewellery, smells (of all kinds) and
clothes they deem unsuitable. It may seem
unfair, but its always worth leaving the
more flamboyant look for social occasions
Allied to appearance is body language.
Being slumped in your seat, arms folded
throughout an interview and failure to make
eye contact are all reasons I have heard for
candidates not making it to the next stage.
Then there is what you say and how you
say it. Do the answers you give correspond
to the information you have provided on
your CV? Are you giving short, monosyllabic
replies to questions? Conversely, are you
talking at such length that the interviewers
eyes are glazing over? Are you listening
properly and not interrupting the
interviewer when they are in full flow?
Attitude is another issue. You may have
attended a number of interviews and heard
the same question many times. However,
you still have to come over as keen,
interested and with a real determination to
work for that company.
Similarly, even if you have very valid
reasons for moving on from your current
job, new potential employers dont want
to hear an extended rant about the failings
of your current one. You can allude to
problems, but be diplomatic.
One area where many people fall down
is not asking any meaningful questions
either during or at the end of an interview.
During an interview, asking questions
arising from what someone has said shows
you are listening carefully. Also, be armed
with three or four prepared questions for
the end of the interview, but not What is
the salary?
My advice is to try a mock interview with
a friend or family member who you can
trust to be frank with their opinions. Better
to know beforehand!
Alistair Attwood is a director of the
recruitment consultancy Attwood Baker. They
are unique in being the UKs only specialist
HSE recruiter for the construction industry.
020 8943 4633
alistair@attwoodbaker.co.uk
www.attwoodbaker.co.uk

QHSE Manager
Location: Suffolk 40,000 to 45,000
Full Time / Permanent Role
To meet growth potential and new business expansion plans a new opportunity exists.
The post holder will make an important contribution to all operations in the challenging
environment of chemical manufacturing. As part of the role the post holder will:
Complete and implement a new QMS to be compliant with ISO 9001 for quality and
fully integrating the requirements of ISO 14001 environmental management with
OHSAS 18001 for occupational safety. The system is established in part and requires
completing in respect working instructions, RAMs, reports and related documents
Establish and develop excellence in working relationships with all external agencies,
client QA functions and certification bodies
Be responsible for managing and leading client audits in a culture of full compliance
and approval.
Be responsible for managing and leading audits from agencies and certification
bodies in a culture of full compliance and approval.
Train employees on quality procedures and objectives including but not limited to
cGMP
Manage REACH compliant status where product appropriate
Resolve quality related non-compliance recommending and driving change where
necessary
Define, implement and measure performance of all quality processes (KPI)
Implement a strategy for continuous improvement
Experience / Qualifications
Hold a professional qualification in quality, environment, and health & safety
management. In addition, an academic scientific qualification would be an advantage
Demonstrate experience in leading successful quality, environment agency and client
audits
Demonstrate experience in managing and maintaining an EA permit
Demonstrate excellent working knowledge of current and future quality, health &
safety and environmental legislation
Have a hands on approach to working practice to demonstrate leadership and
responsibility by example
Email: andrew.lancaster@wychem.co.uk
SHEQ Advisor
Up to 35,000 per annum + benefits
Ref: HS Donc
Operating from our office at Doncaster visiting sites across the North of England
Supporting the SHEQ Manager, the purpose of this role is to provide functional
SHEQ advice, guidance and coaching to construction / plant teams.
Advise, guide and coach all personnel with the implementation of the Company
Procedures
Advise on all current occupational H&S and environmental legislation
Conduct site inspections, audits and ISAs to ensure compliance with Company
Procedures and Policys
Attend Regional Construction Meetings
Assist Site Teams to improve SHEQ performance on site
Carry out investigation into accidents / incidents as required by SHEQ Manager
Maintain/promote liaison with officials and professional bodies (e.g. HSE, ROSPA,
IOSH, BSI, EA etc.)
Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and codes of practice
To report to SHEQ Manager on compliance / non-compliance with regards to
safety, health, environmental and quality system and suggest /promote ways of
improving performance
Undertake formal SHEQ training as necessary to attain acceptance by the
relevant professional bodies
Conduct company inductions for new starters
Production of safety alerts, bulletins etc. as required
Carryout SHEQ training on the sites / workshops as required
Support the business to win work. When directed complete Pre-Qualification
Questionnaires (PQQ) and tender enquiries.
Carryout community liaison as directed by the SHEQ Manager
Conduct and chair project safety committee meetings, produce minutes,
ensure actions are assigned and distribute accordingly. Attend group and
regional safety committee meetings as directed by the SHEQ Manager.
To apply please send your CV and covering letter to recruitment@breheny.co.uk

MAY 2016 61
 Head of Health, Safety and Environment
Required to join a prestigious market leading housing association, based from their
Bromsgrove head office.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Health and Safety to work for a market leader who pride
themselves on providing affordable housing throughout the UK. Reporting to Director Level, you will
support the organisation in driving safety culture forward.

To be considered for the role of Head of Health and Safety you will hold:
Senior level health and safety professional with experience of managing safety strategically.
NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent level health and safety qualification.
CMIOSH.
Experience within a property related environment (Social Housing, Care, Property, Real Estate, Retail,
Facilities Management etc).

Salary for the Head of Health and Safety is paying up to 50,000 60,000 plus company car or car
allowance and benefits package and we have interview dates lined up over the next coming weeks,
so please send your CV in ASAP to be considered!

Tel: 01252 759 162

Email: aleks@principalpeople.co.uk
Job reference ID#: 22134

Health & Safety Manager

42,000 negotiable for the right candidate
The Health and Safety of our residents, staff and visitors
is paramount at Abbeyfield. Based from our office in St
Albans, we are looking to recruit an experienced & suitably
qualified Health and Safety Manager to help our Charity
maintain these high standards.
The Health and Safety Manager will be required to take the lead on all corporate
health and safety issues (including fire safety) and ensure full compliance across the
organisation. You will be supported in your role by a Health and Safety Administrator
and you will work closely with the Senior Management Team on all matters.
The key skills, experience and qualifications the Health and Safety Manager is
required to have:
Be an experienced hands on operational Health and Safety professional, ideally
with experience of working in the Care Sector in a Safety Management role.
NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent qualification
CMIOSH status ( or working towards it)
Experience in dealing with Fire Safety
The confidence and ambition to drive health and safety forward and the ability to
influence others to do the same
Experienced in interpreting, understanding and implementing health and safety
and fire safety legislation
Engaging and communicative and able to liaise at all levels in the organisation
The ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
The ability to write relevant Corporate H & S Policies and Procedures in a large
organization
It would desirable if you have experience of dealing with Asbestos, CDM and
Legionella issues also.
Please state salary expectations and notice period when applying for this role.
To apply send your CV and supporting statement covering how your experience will
help to deliver the main duties of the role to healthandsafety@abbeyfield.com
Closing date for applications is Wednesday 18th May at 10am.
Interviews to be held on Friday 27th May 2016.
HEALTH & SAFETY
AND ISO COMPLIANCE MANAGER
The Chambers Group operates the largest independent recycling business in
Surrey and has operations over various sites in the county.
We are looking to recruit a Health & Safety Manager to be responsible for all
aspects of health & safety and ISO compliance. This is a challenging and diverse
role and, ideally, the successful candidate will have industry experience and
strong communication skills as well as excellent IT skills. A NEBOSH Diploma or
equivalent is essential.
Reporting to the Directors, the Health & Safety and ISO Compliance Managers
responsibilities will include:
Advise senior managers on all aspects of HSE and provide practical back-up for
them.
Support site management to implement SHE policies within the company.
Promote safety awareness and continual improvement for a zero loss safety
culture.
Ensure a high level of compliance to relevant legal, procedural and contractual
requirements.
Maintain effective communication and provide a variety of H&S training courses
in-house.
This is a permanent, full time position with core hours of 08:0017:30 Monday to
Friday.
Maintaining the companies ISO compliance.
Salary c 40k plus excellent benefits available to the successful applicant.
Please apply by email, enclosing a current CV and salary package, to Susan Foster
at susan.foster@chambers-group.co.uk
All applications will be acknowledged and treated in the strictest confidence.

62 MAY 2016
 HEALTH & SAFETY PROFESSIONALS
TAKE YOUR NEXT STEP
HEAD OF HEALTH & SAFETY
Yorkshire, 65,000+
One of the UKs largest utility contractors
providing upgrades, maintenance and
construction services requires a client-
facing head of health and safety to drive
strategic leadership across a range of
industries. Dealing with some of the biggest
utility contracts across the UK, the business
is looking to employ leaders in the industry
to provide best practice with a strong
focus on customer satisfaction. You will
have construction, civil engineering or utility
sector experience.
Ref: 2721630
Thomas Anthony
T: 01904 613461
E: thomas.anthony@hays.com
HEALTH, SAFETY &
ENVIRONMENT MANAGER
Surrey, 50,000-60,000
A prestigious automotive design and
manufacturing organisation is looking for
a Grad IOSH HSE manager to embed and
drive forward a positive safety culture. You
will partner with the business to implement
appropriate safety practice across the
manufacturing and corporate environments,
as well as keeping up-to-date with legislation
and senior leadership. Experience in safety
within the automotive industry would
be beneficial.
Ref: 2723328
Charlie Donoghue
T: 020 7259 8724
E: charlie.donoghue@hays.com
SENIOR HEALTH
& SAFETY MANAGER
Glasgow, up to 45,000
A reputable public services organisation,
tasked with the conservation and
enhancement of heritage sites is looking
for an established manager. You will take
a lead on the delivery of an effective and
robust management culture across a varied
estate. Your experience in health and
safety, behavioural safety and change
management will prove great assets to the
business. You will have a NEBOSH Diploma
or equivalent degree qualification.
Ref: 2723772
Christopher Holmes
T: 01244 401677
E: christopher.holmes@hays.com

hays.co.uk/hs

CP-14886-IOSH Magazine 28.04.16-V5 .indd 1 14/04/2016 09:34

Management Opportunity
Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Manager
Full time, Barnstaple, Devon
60K - 70K + bonus + benefits

The Role
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING Seeking a practical and professional EHS Manager to:
Develop and manage all aspects of EHS compliance
Barchester Healthcare is looking for an outstanding Director of Health, Safety Rolling out staff training and strategic initiatives
and Wellbeing to enable maximum compliance against legislave and corporate Providing technical support
requirements within a posive safety culture. Managing our corporate compliance partnerships
This is a fantasc me to join Barchester Healthcare, as we roll out one of the
best rewards packages in the care sector. We oer a compeve salary and As a pharmaceutical business, our site security and controlled
impressive benets, not least an outstanding prot share scheme, unrivalled in drug production is critical therefore you will:
this sector. Set KPIs to monitor standards
Evaluate trends to inform continuous improvement plans
Reporng directly to the Director of Quality and Clinical Governance, you will Implement effective incident and CAPA management systems
ensure Barchester provides a safe, secure and well maintained environment to
live and work.
You will be expected to: Requirements
Excellent leadership
Support everyone in the organisaon to engage in a posive safety culture.
Strong communications skills
Design and implement Fire Safety and Health and Safety systems. Ability to influence and negotiate at all levels
Provide assurance to the Board that business risks are controlled and Commanding authority
well managed. Developing trust
As a visionary leader, you will: Well organised and analytical
Calm and methodical
Guide and movate managers to develop the organisaon alongside you.
Experience in previous EHS management roles
Acvely support your team to achieve personal and professional development.
Rigorous knowledge of current legislation
If you have the unique qualies required for this excing role, please email your NEBOSH Diploma (or equivalent)
CV and covering leer to: execuve.recruitment@barchester.com Chartered member of IOSH
Once we receive your CV a member of the Barchester Execuve Recruitment
team will call you for a condenal discussion.
Please send your CV with covering letter to
actavis@fitzgeraldhr.co.uk by 30th April
www.barchesterjobs.com

MAY 2016 63
 THE GO TO COMPANY
FOR HEALTH, SAFETY AND
ENVIRONMENTAL RECRUITMENT
Regional HSE Lead
EAST ANGLIA WITH ADHOC TRAVEL
60,000 - 70,000 RN 8573
An international manufacturing organisation
is looking to appoint a Regional HSE Lead
to provide a clear strategic direction while
improving HSE performance. This newly
created position will be working with the
Operational Management team and will be
focusing on working with management systems
and KPI's. Candidates must hold CMIOSH
status and have European experience.
Health and Safety Manager
LONDON 55,000 - 65,000 SL 8509
A London based contractor who work on
Regional H&S Manager
(MITCHELSTOWN) EIRE
55,000 - 60,000 + CAR JB 8455
A market-leading retail and distribution
organisation is looking for a Regional H&S
Manager to oversee their operations in the
South of Ireland. Covering roughly 60 sites in
the business, you will work with the wider H&S
team to develop the health and safety strategy
for the business and implement this across
sites. Suitable candidates will hold the NEBOSH
Diploma and have experience in logistics, retail
or manufacturing.
HSE Manager
UK WIDE C45,000 DC 8564

Contract
some of Londons most iconic infrastructure A national support services provider is currently
projects is currently seeking a H&S Manager seeking a HSE Manager. Embedded within a
Opportunities to join their team. You will develop and
implement H&S systems and procedures
defence PFI contract, you will be required to
define, develop and drive strategic plans across
and advise the project team on all HSE multiple sites. Suitable candidates will have
H&S Advisor x5 related issues. Suitable candidates will hold proven HSE management experience within the
UK Wide the NEBOSH Diploma and have previous FM sector, ideally across hard facilities and PFI
220 per day + experience in a construction environment. contracts. Candidates will also hold the NEBOSH
Diploma and be CMIOSH (or working towards).
travel expenses BH 8541
SHEQ Advisor
H&S Manager SOUTH EAST Health and Safety Consultant
40,000 - 45,000 + PACKAGE PMU 8512 SOUTH EAST
London An opportunity has arisen for a SHEQ Advisor 33,000 - 40,000 + PACKAGE TMU 8609
300 325 per day BH 8615 to join a civil engineering specialist working A successful health and safety consultancy is
on large scale utilities projects. Within this looking to grow its team by appointing a home
Safety Manager role, you will assist in the development of safe based Health and Safety Consultant. This role
Dublin operational procedures which identify and will see you deliver health and safety services
460 per day BH 8244 evaluate all relevant hazards, and minimise to clients across a range of sectors, ensuring
operational risk. The ideal candidate will have that high standards of work are maintained. The
Project Safety Advisor a basic understanding of construction or civil ideal candidate will hold Grad IOSH status as a
Edinburgh engineering projects and will be happy to travel minimum, and have experience of working in a
250 per day DF 8601 across the South East. consultancy or various industries.

Message from Shirley

During a number of recent Executive Search assignments, the clients
have been persuaded to use an interim Health & Safety consultant
whilst looking for the next Director level candidate. In the past,
clients have shied away from using interims feeling that they are just
getting up to speed when the new permanent person starts. This is
no longer the case - recruitment for Director level positions typically
takes 3 months to offer plus the notice period. An interim person
may be required for up to 9 months to "hold the fort" and implement
strategic plans already made. On other occasions the role may not
be clearly defined and an interim is brought in to help scope out the
role including defining the level of experience and skills of the person
to be recruited. For lower level roles, contractors fulfil a valuable
resource for reasons of short-term project workloads ,
maternity leave and long-term sickness to name but a few. At Shirley
Parsons Associates our contract team is expanding rapidly to fill such
requirements. So the message is simple - never underestimate the
value of interims, they provide short-term assistance when you need
it most. For more information please contact Ben Hiner on 01296
611336. Alternatively come and visit us at the Safety & Health Expo,
stand N2265 21st to 23rd June.
Please contact us on:
01296 611336
execsearch@shirleyparsons.com

call 01296 611300 or email @Jobs_spa Also search for us

response@shirleyparsons.com @ShirleyParsons on Linked in
 The official careers site of

For career advice, jobs and to

upload your CV register now
free at:

www.healthandsafety-Jobs.co.uk/register/

From the publishers of

@IOSHjobs
www.healthandsafety-jobs.co.uk
 The new path to competence

Competence-based qualifications that reflect real life

Developed by employers to focus on skills required in the workplace Certificate in Applied Health and Safety (TechIOSH) 395 +VAT
Suitable for safety practitioners and general managers Certificate in Personal Injury Liability and Absence Reduction 395 +VAT
Case study-based distance learning
Diploma in Applied Health and Safety (GradIOSH) 950 +VAT
Assignment-based assessment - no exams
Certificates count towards full Diploma

www.ncrq.org.uk
Prices correct at 01/04/16 and apply to UK and EU students only. NCRQ is a registered trade mark.
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