WILTSHIRE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Tuesday 14th January 2014 The Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Swindon
Agenda
09.30 - Coffee & Networking 10.00 - Chairman’s Introduction & Welcome 10.05 – AGM – Derek Boulton 11.05 – Hot Topic – O.H. Strategies/Business Provision, Amanda Horne, GWH 11.30 - HSE Strategy for 2014 – Andrew Kingscott, HSE Principal Inspector.
Attendees
Derek Boulton – Siemens Sarah Jane French – Wiltshire FRS Nigel Mulholland – Defence Academy Amanda Horne – GWH Chris Bailey – DTR VMS Bob Maitland – IRT Services Ltd GG West – Independent Kieran Cole – Swindon Borough Council Stan Akhurst – Swindon Borough Council Tricia Devaney – Swindon Borough Council Clair Meikle-Taylor – Swindon Borough Council Dean Williams – Swindon Borough Council Jon Smith – Honda Mark Hemphill – GWH Fiona Henderson – AFL Steve Wright – MOD Corsham Grahame Starraker – MOD Corsham Roger Johnson – Greensquare Group A Barrett – What No Safety C Evans – Wiltshire Council Peter Bennett – Independent G Clowes – National Trust A McDowall – Triumph F Tyler – Triumph M Evans – Safewell Ltd M Teal – Safewell Ltd B Neaves – T E Connectivity Matt Cole – RAF BZN Bob Lentell – RPS Gareth Butler – Apsire Defence Andrew Kingscott - HSE
Chairman’s Introduction & Welcome
The Chairman, Derek Boulton, welcomed all attendees to the Defence Academy and gave a breakdown of the agenda.
Annual General Meeting
Officer Appreciation
DB thanked Nigel Mulholland from the Defence Academy for hosting this meeting and his time as an executive member of WOSHA.
DB thanked Peter Bennett and Colin West for their continued support and contribution as Presidents of WOSHA. Bob Lentell was also thanked for keeping him updated with any legal issues.
DB highlighted that the health and safety surgery break-out groups had proved to be a success in enhancing H&S knowledge, DB thanked Stan Akhurst and Mark Hemphill for suggesting this activity.
DB thanked Sarah-Jane French for all her efforts in developing and sourcing all promotional items such as the banner, table cloth, etc., which has significantly raised the profile of the WOSHA group.
DB thanked Claire Evans in her role as Membership Secretary for all her help updating the database and sending out literature.
Visits/Meetings Appreciation
DB thanked Stan Akhurst and Phil Harman when they hosted the meeting at the Steam Museum in Swindon in May 2013.
Mark Hemphill was thanked for stepping in at the last minute and providing Melksham Hospital as a venue for a meeting where the previous venue became unavailable.
The visit to Hills Waste Recycling at Westbury was a success and the group found the new facility and the operation there very interesting.
Also in April 2013 the group visited St. Phillips Marsh, First Great Western train depot in Bristol, to review their safety management strategies and tour the site which was extremely interesting. It is hoped that a revisit to the site at night will be made possible during 2014. As the facility will be fully operational during late night hours which will give members a much better appreciation of activities and safety matters.
In May 2013 the group visited the H&S Expo in Birmingham NEC. Again this visit was highlighted to be a complete success for WOSHA Members to gain contacts, network with other industry colleagues and reviewing new products on the market
Alan Butler Award
During 2013 the WOSHA group have received a ‘Silver Award’ for the Associations achievements. Derek Boulton and Peter Bennett will be visiting the House of Lords during January 2014 to collect the award.
WOSHA Membership
DB explained the aim of this association is to promote health and safety management within Wiltshire Business. It was reported that the membership has slightly increased during 2013.
DB reported at the July meeting, members were encouraged to provide some promotional literature to people within partner organisations in a bid to expand membership.
The aims for 2014 are as follow:
Promoting WOSHA at local Business Fayre’s Social Media – Facebook Promotion Ensuring that health and safety themes at future meetings match the requirements of the WOSHA Group as identified in feedback forms. Benchmarking Visits such as; o Looking to go to Southampton Docks in April o Night time visits to the 1st Great Western Train Depot
Themes for 2014 Meetings
DB gave an indication of forthcoming themes at future meetings, these being;
March – Legionella and asbestos May – Manual Handling/Lifting Equipment July – Violence & Aggression and Indoor Air Quality September – Road Safety Challenge – Practical Sessions (DVDs, Catalogues) November – Environmental Session – Update of waste management duty of care
Election of Officers
DB thanked all elected officers for their previous year’s service and announced that the following members were standing for re-election and the notion was asked to be seconded, which it was, therefore the following were found duly elected to serve for another year:
Presidents – Colin West and Peter Bennett Chairman and Treasurer – Derek Boulton Vice Chairman – Bob Lentell Publicity Secretary – Ken Adams Membership Secretary – Claire Evans Membership Liaison Officer – Mark Hemphill Co-opted Members – Stan Akhurst and Sarah Jane French
Accounts
DB went through the accounts from the 1st January 2013 and summarised the following;
Total Investment to date was reported as £6698 Total figure outgoing for the year was £1077 In 2013 existing membership numbers have reduced due to the loss of 7 businesses, however a recruitment drive enabled numbers to be increased. DB explained that the executive had to take a decision to invest on WOSHA promotional items during the year. DB explained some funds that were adrift, which was from the promotional drive which was considered during the year by using Newsquest whose publications include Wiltshire Business News/Swindon Advertiser/Gazette and Herald, however they didn’t recognise the groups charitable status and were overcharged. They also failed to link the article supplied which resulted in readers missing the point. Following many conversations with the Newquest Group Representative funds were eventually retrieved. Expenditure was discussed with regards to the WOSHA Programme for 2013/14 and it was explained that the colour graphics and enhanced content gave excellent value for money. Therefore the Chairman and Treasurer has decided to carry on with Avon Printing Services for the foreseeable future. DB also explained other expenditures during the year which were;
o Name badges o Defence Academy use and lunch - £339.82 o EXPO – Vehicle hire and fuel costs o Wrag Barn Conference Facility Hire and lunch - £250 o ‘A Plus Training’ had double booked the meeting room that the WOSHA Group was due to use and to compensate they booked the group into South Marston Hotel free of charge so the group were only charged for refreshments/lunch. o DB announced that Peter Bennett one of the Presidents of WOSHA had abseiled for Charity in aid of McMillan Cancer Relief and therefore WOSHA sponsored Peter for £50. o A competition was held during the year to enhance the promotion of WOSHA which was to propose a safety themed motto which highlights what the key values of which the group is striving to achieve. The winning motto was chosen as “Wiltshire Working Safely” and the member was awarded £50.
Finally during this agenda item DB asked the group if they were happy to accept the accounts of which they were and offered to continue to be the treasurer for 2014. This went to the vote, SJF seconded the notion and the group were all in acceptance.
DB explained to the group that membership fees hadn’t been increased for a many years and after comparisons done with other safety associations, it appears that the membership costs are below average. DB proposed increasing membership costs to £25 for small businesses and £50 for larger businesses. The entire group agreed bar 1 member who chose to abstain.
Hot Topic – Occupational Health – Amanda Horne
AH introduced herself to the group and explained that she’s an Occupational Health Advisor who works at the GWH. AH gave an overview of what her job role is and the areas in which she is responsible.
AH explained to the group what her work process is when contacted by external organisations which are after an occupational health service. AH informed the group that when an organisation contacts occupational health to do an assessment of an employee, they look at the organisation as a whole and make recommendations. It is then up to the organisation to choose what they wish to put in place. There are a number of factors taken into consideration when making an assessment such as gender, age, shift workers, overall sickness absence, legislation, O.H. Provision.
As an example AH used hand arm vibration and explained that the health and safety team would carry out the risk assessments, tools used and then use the HSE equation. From the risk assessment a health questionnaire would be completed. Due to data protection the forms must be sent direct to the hospital. The Occupational Advisor would advise what the next stage would be. Risk assessments need to be revisited and a face to face audit needs to be done every 2 years.
AH explained to the group that if anyone had any queries that she attends regular WOSHA meetings so is happy to answer any questions, she’d also leave some compliment slips for anyone wishing to email/phone her with an enquiry. The talk was videoed and has been uploaded on YouTube and is available to watch, via the WOSHA website and Facebook page.
Hot Topic – HSE Strategy for 2014 Andrew Kingscott, HSE Principal Inspector
AK gave an overview to the group about his job role at the HSE and explained he’s worked for the HSE for the last 23 years and is based in Bristol.
AK’s presentation was extremely well received by the membership which enabled them to understand;
The Triennial Review Fee For Intervention and its future CDM future direction HSE strategy for enforcement and advice going forward over the next few years
See AK’s presentation on the WOSHA website.
Date and venue of next meeting
Tuesday 18th March, 2014 – Steam Museum, Swindon, Wiltshire.