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Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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The end of another year

Open-access content Andrew Sharman — Thursday 19th December 2019
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

New Years and anniversaries are traditional times to celebrate achievements, learn from mistakes, check where we are now, look to where we want to be and decide how to get there. For occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals who value continuous development, they're just one of many waypoints on a journey of reflection and improvement.

Halfway through our five-year WORK 2022 strategy, IOSH is delivering projects and programmes to enhance OSH. Many of these are opportunities for you to up your game as well.

Why not use the turn of the year to take stock of where you are, where you're going, why, and how you'll get there? What will you decide to do in 2020 to extend your professional journey and become more adept and more fulfilled? Are you ready for new challenges?

Our new Competency Framework has already been described as a "game-changer" by leading OSH professionals, and by now you will have had a chance to access more detail about its 69 competencies across 12 areas divided into three categories: Technical, Core and Behavioural.

You will be able to use these to show you what strengths you have, where there are needs and gaps in knowledge and experience for you to fill, and areas you might not have considered that can provide solutions to enhance you and your workplaces.

What's the purpose of all this? Consider IOSH's vision of 'a safer, healthier world of work'. That's a common cause we can all support, and every day our members act to achieve this.

IOSH is taking our vision to the world and aligning with others who share these goals. Through our strategy, we collaborate to influence through businesses, governments and non-governmental agencies worldwide.

Recently, I was in Helsinki, Finland, as keynote speaker at the Vision Zero Summit. We looked ahead to a world where we invest more purposefully in prevention, using our knowledge and relationships to achieve changes in attitudes and behaviours.

This is a vision where everyone, wherever they are, goes home without harm every day. It aligns with what we aim for as well, and IOSH wholeheartedly supports Vision Zero.

Through IOSH's Global Working programme and developing partnerships, we are taking forward ways to realise our vision. We have an exciting programme of events planned for 2020 to take IOSH and excellence in OSH to the world.

We're fortunate to have the most global presidential team ever, from the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, West Africa and the US, and members and volunteers representing us in many other places, enabling us all to share OSH good practice worldwide.

In Nigeria, for example, we have entered a partnership with the Lagos State Government to train people in OSH. I am delighted that our first West Africa conference will take place in Lagos on 22 January 2020 to launch work in West Africa. This will be followed by a series of events in other regions.

Let's work together to make 2020 a year for renewed professional growth.

You may also be interested in...

 The art of true leadership

Thursday 12th December 2019
As colleagues were preparing for the future leaders event (p 28) I was reminded of Lao-Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, who said, "A leader is best when people barely know he exists-¦ when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: 'We did it ourselves'." Is this the art of true safety leadership? To create a climate of ownership and personal accountability across all tiers of an organisation? As a safety professional, either employed in an organisation or in an external support capacity, this is what we should be striving for. Our goal should be to drive good…
Open-access content

 Safety Steps shows the way to safe work at height

Monday 2nd December 2019
Safe work at height is fundamentally important in occupational safety, so it’s been particularly satisfying to help produce a new, and free, output in this area called Safety Steps.
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 Attitudes towards sleep deprivation

Thursday 16th January 2020
Human beings are the only species that make a conscious decision to miss out on sleep because we don’t see it as being a productive use of our time. If something has to be sacrificed in our hectic lives, it tends to be a good night’s sleep.
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 The evolution of OSH sustainability

Monday 11th November 2019
Sustainability and human capital are indelibly linked with safety and health. Development of the first concept started to emerge in the 1970s. Initially concerned with environmental sustainability, it gathered pace in 1987 with the publication of the United Nations' (UN) Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future (bit.ly/30LjLQs). Although sustainability is commonly described under the headings of social, economic and environmental, the focus has been on the last one. Safety and health issues, which can be considered to sit under the social heading, have not received the same level of…
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Image credit | iStock

 New government must prioritise workplace health

Wednesday 6th November 2019
As the UK Parliament is dissolved for the forthcoming general election, any newly elected administration must prioritise workplace health.
Open-access content

 Modern slavery: act now

Friday 1st November 2019
On the first day of its annual conference this year, IOSH launched its white paper, Tackling Modern Slavery Together. The institution is calling on the government and businesses to take concerted action to reduce and eliminate modern slavery practices, both in the UK and overseas.
Open-access content
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