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Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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Off duty

Dean Bailey (CMIOSH), head of health and safety, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Open-access content Monday 9th April 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

dean-bailey-cmiosh-university-hospital-southampton-nhs-foundation-trust

I served 18 years in the army and when I left a friend suggested health and safety as a career. I did my NEBOSH certificate as part of my pre-release and joined Hampshire police as a civilian station duty officer, later becoming the Unison union's local health and safety lead. I worked as a local authority inspector for four and a half years, gained my NEBOSH diploma and then moved to the National Health Service (NHS), where I've been for 16 years.

During this time, I started running 10k races.

With my history of asthma, fitness has been a real motivation; keeping my lungs healthy drives me.

In 2011, I teamed up with some ex-army guys and did an "ultra" run in aid of veterans' mental health charity Combat Stress. It was called the Thunder Run, and we raised about £2,500. An ultra is anything above marathon distance. In general, they are 30-plus miles, and they can be 50 miles or more.

Dean-Bailey-CMIOSHUniversity-Hospital-Southampton-NHS-Foundation-Trust-portraitSome people start off with road running and move on to trail running. Some people run one ultra and they get the bug straightaway. I now run trails, ranging in distance from 10 km, through half-marathons and marathons, up to double marathons. Although this is off-road running, you do go across roads, but most of it is on trails or tracks, through wooded areas and across marshland. It's a lot better on the knees and ankles than running on the road. You also develop a much stronger core: you're changing direction a lot and running on uneven ground, so it works your core and your ankles a lot.

My daughter has joined me doing ultras. Last year, we did the Race to the King together -- a 54-mile non-stop race across the South Downs from Arundel to Winchester. We ran in aid of the British Heart Foundation in memory of a family member who died in 2016, and raised £1,400. It's a really good, well-organised race, and the setting on the downs is beautiful.

Running can be addictive, but when running ultras you're not going at the same pace as in a marathon. It's much slower, which allows you much more enjoyment of the environment. There are often beautiful views that enhance the experience. You carry food and water, and you have to learn how to hydrate and eat with gels and snacks. There is a lot of training: I ran more than 1,000 miles last year.

As well as the pure joy of running, one of the best things is the comradeship. Running ultras isn't like 10k runs, where everyone finishes at around the same time and leaves. If you're running a looped race, you're meeting people all the time. And in a point-to-point race, the support crews are fabulous. At every aid station you have food and water, massage and a medical team. You're supported by trained and qualified people at every stage. On top of that, lots of people do ultras to raise money for charity, and often some of the entry fee goes to charity, which is a good feeling.

The blisters can be a challenge: having six or seven on your foot at 40 miles and knowing you've got another 14 miles to go, that's an experience! But you work through it. You have to keep going. It's about coping with the mental stress -- and it's why you have to train. The emotions when you finish an ultra are incredible, especially when you're running for charity or for a loved one. It's really good to finish the race and see my wife Fiona there to meet me.

An ultra is anything above marathon distance... they can be 50 miles or more

You risk assess the run. You have to make sure you have the right kit for the weather and, as you run, you assess your hydration and so on. Health and safety is a bit like an ultra run: you know it's going to be a challenge, you have to pace yourself, you need the support of others, and you have to have the right equipment. Most of all, you need to look after yourself and make sure you get home safely at the end of the day. I find both health and safety and running very rewarding, and I have a good work-life balance.

It's a good mix of men and women -- probably around 65% to 35% -- and you have every age, from the younger runners in their twenties to the oldest guy I've met who was 84. An ultra race becomes like a big family.

Once you've finished a race, you're sore and in pain and you think to yourself that you couldn't do it again. Then five minutes later the euphoria hits you.

You may also be interested in...

 Blake May AIOSH Health and safety business partner, Virgin Media and kayaker

Tuesday 13th March 2018
Before university, the main sport I played was rugby. Since I started kayaking, though, I’ve been skiing, climbing and walking, and I’ve travelled a lot more.
Open-access content

 Health and Wellbeing at Work 2018

Friday 16th March 2018
“It’s lovely to have a salad bar, but not if you have to wade through carcinogens to get to it,” said Peter Brown, head of the Health and Safety Executive’s health and work programme.In one of the first sessions of this year’s Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in Birmingham on 6 March, Brown noted that good employers prioritise controlling serious health hazards over the softer wellbeing measures once described by BT Group’s chief medical officer Paul Litchfield as “fruit and pilates”.
Open-access content
©iStock/ Chalabala

 Mining industry not protecting female staff, index finds

Monday 30th April 2018
Earlier this month the non-profit organisation launched the Responsible Mining Index 2018 (RMI), which ranks 30 global mining companies on several economic, environmental, social and governance issues and found they scored lowest on working conditions.Research found 331 fatal workplace injuries were reported in the mining sector between 2015 and 2016.
Open-access content

 Table talk: You’re hired

Monday 16th April 2018
The labour market for safety and health practitioners in the UK has been in flux in recent years, influenced not only by the economic downturn and slow recovery but also by employers’ changing perceptions of the importance of OSH management. We brought together recruitment experts from Shirley Parsons and Allen & York to discuss these trends and to advise on how organisations can attract the best candidates and how practitioners can secure the best job offers.LOUIS WUSTEMANN (LW): How is the job market?
Open-access content

 The business book club: key lessons from Jim Collins’ Good to Great

Wednesday 18th April 2018
Jim Collins’ team studied 6,000 journal articles and generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts in a five-year project as they researched the 1,435 largest US companies. From these they identified 11 that had excelled.
Open-access content

 Exploring the merits of distance learning

Tuesday 20th March 2018
Distance Learning – key characteristics You’ve probably already done some form of distance learning (though you may not know it). It might have been a free course or a YouTube tutorial. It might not even have felt like learning because you were having so much fun and, against your expectations, it was practically useful.  Just about every course out there these days, including NEBOSH health and safety courses, is available via distance learning.  It enables people to study what they want, at a price they want, when they want.
Open-access content
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