RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

September 17, 2008
RoSPA CONGRESS TO FOCUS ON SAFER WORK IN SCOTLAND

Representatives of leading Scottish businesses and organisations will gather next week to discuss how they can join forces to save lives and reduce injuries and ill health at work.

The RoSPA Scotland Occupational Safety and Health at Work Congress – entitled “Leadership, Partnership, Progress” – will take place at the Hilton Glasgow hotel on Wednesday (September 24).

Danny Carrigan, who chairs the Partnership on Health and Safety in Scotland, will give the keynote address. He will highlight the reality of work-related injuries and ill health - which includes more than 240 lives lost in reportable occupational accidents in Britain in 2006/07 - as well as making an appeal for a sensible approach to health and safety that seeks to manage risks rather than eliminate them altogether. And he will urge delegates to share their experiences and expertise with one another.

Dr Paul Stollard, Director of the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland, will focus on the Scottish context. Thirty-one workers were killed in Scotland in 2006/07 and the HSE’s current work includes preventing slips, trips and falls, transport accidents, stress and asbestos-related conditions.

Ian Tasker, Assistant Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, will outline ways of sharing the safety vision with the whole workforce, and Roger Bibbings, RoSPA’s Occupational Safety Adviser, will talk about the crossover between good health and safety management and competitiveness.

There will be presentations by Tom Stocker, Senior Associate at Pinsent Masons, about the legal consequences of health and safety failures, including the new corporate homicide law, and Dr Ewan McDonald, Head of the Healthy Working Lives Group and Director of Salus, about health and work.

Phil Beaumont, Professor of Employment Relations at the University of Glasgow, and Sandra Stewart, Managing Director of Stewart Solutions Ltd, will present a case study of a paper manufacturer in the Scottish Borders that is demonstrating high health and safety performance.

The annual RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards ceremony will take place at the Hilton Glasgow the day after the conference. More than 130 organisations will receive awards throughout the day, and the winner of the prestigious RoSPA Scotland Trophy will be announced at a gala dinner on Thursday evening (September 25).

Dr Karen McDonnell, Head of RoSPA Scotland, said: “The RoSPA Scotland Congress will provide the opportunity for delegates to be re-inspired about why preventing accidents and ill health in a work context is so important and the real contribution that they can make to achieving this.

“We are also looking forward to congratulating the winners of RoSPA Awards on their very significant achievements in making work a safer and healthier place to be.”

For more information about the conference, which is sponsored by Scottish Water Solutions, see www.rospa.com/scotlandcongress/