Sector: IOSH Branch

With a career that has seen him in roles at national and multinational level, Craig Docherty GradIOSH explains why respecting cultural differences – both within and beyond the workplace – is crucial.

Health, safety and wellbeing standards in the construction industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is under the spotlight.

IOSH will present its new five-year strategy, charting how the profession can continue to progress up to 2022, at its annual Middle East Conference in Doha, Qatar on 27 April 2017. IOSH has chosen the Middle East as the launch-pad for this new strategy because of the region’s growth and increasing drive to cut workplace accidents and work-related illness.

Members of the Institution’s UAE Branch are working with the Abu Dhabi Vocational Education and Training Institute (ADVETI) and the UAE National Qualifications Authority (NQA) on the development of the National EHS (environment, health and safety) Framework.The review is examining the qualification framework, which ranges from a Level 3 certificate up to a Level 6 diploma. Two branch meetings, one in Abu Dhabi and the other in Dubai, have provided members with the opportunity to take part in the review.

Edinburgh Trams won the ‘Excellence in Health and Safety’ accolade for its robust policies to ensure both employees and customers do not come to harm.The judging panel, made up of members of IOSH’s Edinburgh Branch committee, were particularly impressed by how the firm tackled the issue of ‘tram surfing’, which sees people cling to the side of moving trams. The firm designed carriage doors to prevent this from happening.

A meeting of the Yorkshire Branch of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) was told that those doing the assessment should also obtain information on the “physicochemical properties”.Dr Richard Goff, Risk Assessor and Process Engineer at the Health and Safety Laboratory, said this information should include flammable limits, flashpoints, boiling points and minimum ignition energies.He said that organisations should always look to use less hazardous substances where possible.

The IOSH West of Scotland Branch is holding its Certificate of Merit Awards for the 25th year, to recognise the efforts of non-OSH professionals to keep themselves and colleagues out of harm’s way.IOSH members are being encouraged to send in their nominations ahead of the deadline of Friday 10 March. Fraser Allan, an executive member of the branch’s committee, said: “Employees at all levels of an organisation are responsible for health and safety, not just the OSH professionals.

Producer Andrew Oldbury and production manager Aaron Hillier safely shot scenes in moving vehicles, in busy public locations and on rooftops in central London for their film, sie, which they produced as part of their studies at the UK’s National Film and Television School (NFTS).Their commitment to safety and health has led them to be named the winners of the Health and Safety Management in Film Production Award at the NFTS’s Graduation Show 2017.

There were 44 fatal workplace accidents in Ireland in 2016, down from 56 in 2015, according to figures released today by the country’s Health and Safety Authority (HSA). Liam Howe, Chair of the IOSH Ireland Branch, welcomed the reduction, citing the combined efforts of the HSA and employers and workers at all levels of organisations, supported by the safety professionals of his and other IOSH branches and districts in Ireland.

IOSH has updated three of its products – Leading Safely, Managing Safely and Working Safely – to increase their adaptability to different countries and cultures. The amendments come after feedback from customer surveys, which highlighted the need for content to be more applicable to non-UK audiences. Changes have included the introduction of statistics and laws from various countries.