News of The London Health and Safety Group

News for 2009

16 November 2009 Resolution of Stressful Work Conflicts Henicka Uddin from ACAS, presented three case studies that have occurred recently. There were no slides for this presentation, so there is no download. Henicka started by observing that conflict and animosity between individuals and groups was a natural and fairly frequent state of affairs. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, ACAS is frequently invited to assist when an organisation is faced with an intractable situation. She frequently acts as a Conciliator, and uses shuttle diplomacy with the aim of trying to get the two sides to understand each other's position and to come to an acceptable accommodation. Henicka concluded by advocating that organisations should monitor stress levels in the work place and encourage individuals and groups to become self-aware of their effect on others.		14th December 2009 Health and Safety when Working Overseas Michael Smith from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine gave a thought provoking talk about the extra health and safety precautions that must be taken when working abroad. Michael’s talk encompassed a wide range of topics that need to be considered as part of the risk assessment process for staff working overseas. These included, Competence and Experience, Health, Equipment, Travel, Area Accommodation and Politics, and Insurance. The assessment must be proportionate and involve the traveling worker. Also, there must be mechanisms for allowing flexibility if circumstances change. In other words, it is not possible to take the "one size fits all" approach. Each assessment must be customised to suit the current prevailing circumstances. The talk also touched on consideration of workers' access to rights under UK legislation while based overseas. This is a serious subject but Michael sparked up the presentation with a touch of humour that is clearly evident in his presentation, which is available as a download.
_____________________________________ 19th October 2009 Construction of the new East London Railway Line Andrew Petrie, Safety Manager for London Overground Railways gave a most interesting insight into the safety challenges involved in this massive and complex construction project. His presentation is available as a download. The project envisioned developing the old East London Underground line so it becomes a part of the Overground network that forms a ring around London with a connection to Croydon in the south and Dalston in the north. This involved a massive programme of construction work to modify existing facilities and install new track, stations and bridges all in close proximity to Londoners going about their normal business. The project allowed the specification of many safety features to be built into the new facilities such as accessibility for passengers, CCTV, fire fighting, automatic train stopping, etc.		__________________________________________ 19th October 2009 Construction of the new East London Railway Line (cont) Safety during the constructional work was primarily the responsibility of the contractors with monitoring and input by the client; as per CDM Regs. So far, the safety record of the construction work has been well above average. However, there was one major incident when debris from an installation problem caused severe delays to some passengers. This was the subject to a report by the Rail Accident Investigation Board. As the new line uses both overground and underground facilities it has been decided to set up a new organisation, London Overground, to operate and maintain the new line. Hence they are striving to establish the best safety standards and procedures from Network Rail and London Underground. The extended underground line is due to reopen in May 2010 and the link to Clapham Junction should be complete by 2012. The session concluded with some wide ranging questions from an attentive audience.
________________________________ 18th May 2009 Effective Management of Legionella Mick Gray, Principal Occupational Hygienist for MWG Associates Ltd, gave an authoritative review of Legionella hazards. His presentation is available as a download. Mick based his talk on some notable case studies since the bacteria was first identified in 1976. Facilities Managers really must have safety plans in place to minimise and monitor the growth of this deadly bacteria. This applies particularly to evaporative cooling water systems and to hot water systems in buildings. Newspaper headlines make it clear that when there is an outbreak, then employers and the public can become serious ill, with the possibility of some deaths. To avoid the possibility of criminal prosecution, it is advised that organisations should review the effectiveness of their precautions to control Legionella on an annual basis.		_____________________________ 14th September 2009 Fostering a Safety Culture Neil Budworth, Corporate Health & Safety Manager of E-On Ltd and a previous President of IOSH, gave two stimulating presentations on Safety Culture and Occupational Health; these are available as downloads. Neil started with some definitions of Safety Culture, one being "Unsafe behavior that is tolerated, will reoccur". He went on explain how Eon had set about changing their safety culture. Getting top management's commitment and involvement is essential. Hence it is essential to explain the importance of H&S in terms that managers can understand and relate to. Then, technical rules and procedures can be established and enforced. Neil is also a keen advocate for a proactive approach to occupational health issues and that H&S Specialists should adopt a key role in addressing these issues. See his presentation for more details.
________________________________ 20th April 2009 Annual General Meeting The AGM was chaired by our President, Lord Brougham. The chairman, Peter Livock, gave a review of his first year in office. The Group had covered a wide range of topic and these had proved to be particularly popular because the meetings had been very well attended. One of the highlights had been the visit to the Olympic Construction Site. The visitors found it most interesting so it is planned to revisit the site next year to give other members an opportunity to get a first hand impression of the this impressive project. Peter concluded by thanking his fellow committee members for their support and continued efforts in sustaining the vitality of the Group and looked forward to continued success in the coming year. The Treasurer, Roger Lummis, presented the annual accounts. This showed that the finances were in good shape with a modest surplus for the second year running. The newly elected committee members can be seen on the Committee Page. The main changes are that Abi Piper has joined the committee as Membership Secretary, while Edmund Jacobs has regretfully stood down due to pressure of work.		________________________________ 20th April 2009 HSE Report on Activities and Priorities Margaret Pretty, London Partnership Manager for HSE, gave a review of HSE's Current Activities and Priorities. Margaret set out HSE's aim for world class performance and need to work with other people; particularly Local Authority Inspectors, senior Directors and other H&S Duty Holders. Over the last year HSE has adopted a multi-faceted approach to utilising their resources. For instance, they have run campaigns on particular topics; eg Slips, Trips and Falls, Legionella, Landlord Duties for CO from Gas Burners. Many of the topics have been focused on particular industrial sectors or even individual companies, especially where they have multi-site operations. The multi-faceted approach is planned to continue in the coming year. While still strongly advocating the need for "Sensible Risk Assessment". The pro-active approach will continue to receive most attention but enforcements and prosecutions are viewed as an essential part of HSE's role. For more details on HSE's activities and plans in London, see Margaret's presentation which is available as a download.
_________________________________ 16th March 2009 Electrical Safety Installation Regulations Tony Cable, from the Electrical Safety Council (formerly known as the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) gave an excellent presentation on Electrical Safety. His talk was based on the requirements set out in the recently revised, 17th Edition of the Electrical Regulations.		_________________________________ 16th March 2009 Electrical Safety Installation Regulations (contd) He explained the essential requirements of the Regs and the imperative of having new installations inspected and certificated by a competent electrician. Unfortunately, his presentation is not available as a download.
______________________________ 19th January 2009 Fire Safety Legislation Kevin Gorringe, Senior Fire Consultant at RPS Group gave a comprehensive presentation on the current Fire Safety Legislation. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 has been in force for just over two years so Kevin reviewed the current legislation and how the authorities are enforcing these regulations.		________________________________ 16th February 2009 Visit to the Olympic Construction Site The Group made a visit to the Olympic Park construction site. The visit started with a tour of the site to see the scale of the activities and to assess what has been achieved. This was followed by a presentation by Lawrence Waterman, Head of H&S. He described the challenges that had been encountered and the safety precaution that had been developed to meet the prevailing conditions.

NB:- These reports have been written by a member of the audience so they may not fully reflect the views of the speaker.
NB:- Previous news pages may be viewed through the links on the Archive Page.

Return to Top

Page updated:- 14.01.2011
Any comments or enquiries should be emailed to the Secretary .
The website and all its contents © 2005-2011 The London Health and Safety Group - all rights reserved.
Registered Charity No. 1,051,071 President: Lord Brougham and Vaux CBE Affiliated to RoSPA