Safety, Health & Environmental Forum (Scotland)

SHEF (Scotland) is the oldest safety group in Scotland; we have been promoting safety for over 70 years.

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We normally meet on the third Wednesday of every month from September to June at Reid Kerr College, Paisley, click here for more information.

Meetings are open to everyone and membership is available from £40 for new members. If you would like to join click here for the application form or get in touch if you want to know more.

• 25% of all accidents at work are drug and alcohol related
• 17 million working days per annum are lost through drug or alcohol related problems
• 60% of all fatalities at work are drug or alcohol related

Workplace substance misuse policies (drug and alcohol policy) are recognised as having a major impact in dealing with the problems associated with inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace. They reduce accidents, long-term sickness and compensation claims, whilst providing complete guidelines for company employees.

SHEF(S) is pleased to welcome Ian Tew from Synergy Health Laboratory Services Ltd. Synergy are experts in reducing Drug and Alcohol misuse in the workplace and they are the only dedicated company in the UK to provide every aspect for implementing a successful drug and alcohol policy.

If you have to implement a substance misuse policy or your policy is out of date and ineffective come along to Reid Kerr College, Paisley on the 18^th January at 2pm to get some guidance on what to do.

Thanks to those who came for the Christmas lunch at The Italian Kitchen (http://www.italian-kitchen.co.uk/) on the 14th December.  It was a great opportunity to relax, chat and enjoy some great food!

SHEF(S) at the Italian Kitchen.

People support what they help create. By increasing worker involvement in the managerial decision making process, the worker’s knowledge can be harnessed. In relation to health and safety this can be used to shape safe systems of work by considering the reality of working operations. If the development of procedures, method statements, risk assessments and other operational measures involve workers who have to implement such measures, they are more likely to be used than if workers are simply told to follow them.

ZERO HARM Worker Involvement – the missing piece! identifies how worker involvement fits into the development of health and safety management systems. While it sets out a framework for effectively managing worker involvement, it also identifies a large range of practical measures aimed at enhancing the existing arrangements in any organisation. Written by Nigel Bryson OBE to support organisations wanting to improve their health and safety performance, BRYSON consulting are specialists in maximizing the impact of workforce involvement to continually prevent injuries and ill-health at work.

Brian Nimick, Chief Executive of IIRSM will be speaking at our joint meeting with IIRSM members on the 16th November. Prior to his appointment, Brian was chief executive of the British Safety Council.  Previous appointments include Director General of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK and CEO of the Medical Supplies Agency. Brian has an MSc in Organisational Behaviour and Development. Brian will be discussing the next 12 months in health & safety including: plans for cost recovery, the latest RIDDOR figures and the regulation review following a meeting with Geoffrey Podger, HSE Chief Executive.

SHEF(S), Construction Skills and Reid Kerr College have arranged for construction students to visit the Scottish National Arena. Students will be given a tour of the site and shown how safety plays an important part in a succesful construction project. The event aims to highlight the dangers that young people will face on a construction site and encourage them to understand and speak up if they feel unsafe. Students were given a CSCS type quiz and the student with the highest score was presented with a quaich. Photographs are available in the Gallery.

Retail giant Marks & Spencer was fined £1 million yesterday for failing to protect customers, staff and workers from potential exposure to asbestos during refurbishment at one of its stores. The management was found to have been more concerned about the works being “unsightly” and “interfering with the shopping experience” of customers than the cancer-causing material.

It was told by Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC that the company, which he described as a “household name” was more interested in making profits out of its Reading store than properly planning for the removal of asbestos. He said the “tension” between health and safety and profit had caused the “lamentable problems” at Reading which had led to ceiling possibly containing asbestos falling to the shop floor when it was open.

“The response from Marks & Spencer was, in effect, to turn a blind eye to what was happening … It was already costing the company too much money,” the judge told Bournemouth Crown Court. “There was systemic failure on behalf of M&S management.  There has been no hint of a proper full apology for what happened.” The judge said that the plc has failed to take responsibility for the breaches. Read More.

Welcome back to a new session, we hope you’ve had a great summer and are excited by the programme we’ve lined up for the year ahead. To find out what’s planned visit the programme page and put the meetings in your diary now to ensure you don’t miss out.

The first meeting of the new session is a Legal update from Health & Safety Lawyers Association on the 21st September.  The speaker will be Jamie Gilchrist QC from Compass Chambers. Jamie has been extensively instructed in Health & Safety prosecutions covering a wide range of subject matters including construction, manufacturing, offshore oil & gas, health, catering and local authority functions.  He has considerable experience of representing corporate and institutional clients including Shell UK, Phillips Petroleum, Macdonald Hotels, City of Edinburgh Council, Parks of Hamilton and Grampian Healthcare NHS Trust.  He has also successfully defended company directors charged with contraventions of s.37 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974

Health and Safety Scotland, 7 & 8 September at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston is dedicated to helping you control risks to health and safety in your workplace. If you are responsible for the health and safety of your workforce in Scotland and NE of England, this is the event for you. Health and Safety Scotland provides industrial, commercial and public sector organisations with a truly cost and time effective educational experience.  With support from The British Safety Council in providing a comprehensive educational conference program the entire event is FREE to attend. More information is available by downloading the Invitation (85) and you can register online at the Health & Safety Scotland website.

RoSPA Scotland provides road safety training on a variety of topical issues relevant to contributing to the delivery of Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020. These training seminars are for those involved with young drivers or managing driving at work. More information and booking details can be found here:
http://www.rospa.com/about/aroundtheuk/scotland/road-training.aspx

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. When it happens, an Automated External Defibrillators (AED) can help make the difference between life and death.  On the 15th June, Joy Taggart will be presenting on Automated External Defibrillators and Defibrillator programmes for the lay, minimally trained rescuer who is often first at the scene.

Heartsine have been involved in the development of mobile defibrilation technology for many years, you can read more here.  Over the course of the presentation you’ll find out about how defibrillators developed from something weighing nearly 50kg to a neat box which can be used by anyone, anytime and anywhere.  You’ll get information about implementing an AED programme in your workplace – Why? How? What should be considered? – and you will get the opportunity to see and use an AED yourself.