Government Business

The Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act 2007 will feature heavily on the agenda at this year’s Safety & Health Expo, when it returns to the NEC, Birmingham from 13-15 May 2008. The act, which came into force on earlier this month, means companies can be prosecuted for manslaughter where there has been a gross failing in the management of health and safety. Prosecution under the act may result in a fine of up to 10 per cent of annual turnover, meaning this issue is top of the agenda for health and safety professionals.

Understanding the law
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) will be attending Safety & Health Expo 2008 with a full conference programme focusing on the new law. Lord McKenzie of Luton, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions, will give the keynote address on Tuesday 13 May in the Concourse Suite at the NEC.
    
The conference will provide a valuable opportunity for organisations to gain an understanding of the strategic importance and business benefits of better health and safety management, to assess their board’s engagement in accident and ill-health prevention strategies, and to look ahead to continuous improvement.
    
The act will also feature as part of a series of free seminars presented on the show floor of the exhibition. Wednesday 14 May in particular will focus entirely on new and existing legislation, in a specially devised programme developed specifically for those interested in health and safety law.
    
Event director, Adrian Newton comments: “The Corporate Manslaughter Act came into force just a month before Safety & Health Expo, making it the perfect event for visitors to find out how it will affect their businesses. It is extremely important that companies take health and safety seriously, failure to do so can have devastating consequences - not only for the families of those affected but also for the businesses involved.”

Myths & realities
This year Safety & Health Expo is launching a new feature area, called “Myths and Realities” that will challenge the ‘ban it’ perception of the health and safety industry. Health and safety regularly takes a beating in the press for banning traditional events and getting in the way of people going about their daily lives. The event will be the place for those interested in occupational health and safety to learn more about what risk assessment really means.
    
Within the Myths and Realities area visitors will be able to discover the difference between assessing risk sensibly and responsibly; and indiscriminately banning activities, to try to eliminate risk altogether.
    
The area will feature a climbing wall supplied by RoSPA, which visitors can scale, and a ‘fact or fiction’ quiz to find out which everyday items have or have not been banned. There will also be a driving simulator where visitors can see how well they perform whilst contending with daily distractions.
    
Safety & Health Expo is Europe’s largest annual health and safety exhibition, and is officially supported by RoSPA, the BSIF and IOSH. The show will feature over 350 companies displaying a broad range of products and services to the health and safety market. Exhibiting companies will include St John Ambulance, Draeger Safety, Posturite, CAT Workwear, Speedy Hire, Goliath Footwear, Aearo, Scott Health & Safety and Bacou-Dalloz.

2008 Features
Access Live
Following on from the success of Access Live at Safety & Health Expo 2007, this show floor demonstration area will emphasise how working at height is still the leading health and safety problem and how it can be effectively managed.

Working at Height Seminar Theatre
The Working at Height Seminar Theatre, sponsored by AIF, brings together high profile speakers who will discuss the latest industry issues and innovations. Using familiar workplace situations, this is your chance to see, discuss and debate how to make access safe, practical and productive. The seminars will focus on:

• Training and competence
• Work solutions
• Health and safety issues
  

Safety & Health Expo Seminar Theatre
The seminar theatre will be running across all three days, with each day focusing on a different theme. On Wednesday SHP will be providing the content, focusing on the latest developments in health and safety legislation and case law.
    
Last year the free seminar programme included topics such as Drugs & Alcohol in the Workplace, Noise at Work Regulations and Environment & Quality Audits.

Asbestos Seminar Theatre
The Asbestos Seminar Theatre will hold a number of seminars covering all aspects of asbestos management. Topics will cover legal requirements, preparing for an asbestos audit, campaigning on asbestos awareness, and much more.

BSIF Product Innovation Awards
Safety & Health Expo is proud to host to the BSIF product innovation awards once again. Judged by a panel of industry experts, awards are presented to those companies whose products and services offer the most significant contribution towards improving occupational health and safety and reductions in workplace accidents.
    
The awards scheme underpins the importance of innovation and the highest standards of excellence within occupational health and safety. For further information please call the BSIF on 01745 585 600.
 
Conferences
Developing leadership Action Conference - 13 May:
Over the last 12 months directors' liabilities have increased. This conference offers a high-profile programme of speakers including Lord McKenzie of Luton, minister of state at the Department for Work and Pensions; Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Commission; Mike Parker, chief executive of BNFL; and Gerard Forlin, the UK's leading barrister in health and safety cases; all of whom will be helping organisations to review and bench mark their strategies for meeting the new challenges.

Managing Workplace Transport Risk Conference - 14 May:
Workplace transport is currently the second largest cause of accidents in the workplace, and RoSPA's conference, in association with the HSE will look at this critical area of occupational safety, offering practical advice and workable solutions on how to reduce injuries. Speakers, including HSE's workplace transport programme manager Carol Grainger, and case studies from Menzies Distribution and MacLellan International Limited will offer crosscutting guidance to assist in navigating the many legislative areas which cover the topic.

The Construction Health and Safety Conference 2008 - 15 May:
2.2 million people work in Britain's construction industry, about 10 per cent of the UK working population, making it the country's biggest industry. It has an annual turnover of £250 billion, which is 8 per cent of UK GDP. In 2006/7 there were 77 fatal injuries to construction workers.
    
At this year's Construction Health and Safety Conference leading industry figures will set out clearly what has to change if death, injury and disease are to be removed from the construction equation. And national experts will share insights on emerging best practice.

For more information
Visit www.safety-health-expo.co.uk . Companies interested in exhibiting should contact David Bishop on 0207 921 8049
or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .