Editorial
October brings the European Health and Safety Week – and time and opportunities to raise health and safety at work higher on the agenda
October 2014
Sheila Pantry OBE
European Health and Safety Week takes place in October each year and is designed to raise awareness of health and safety.
The European Agency for Safety and Health describes the week as: “Aimed at people in organisations, companies and workplaces of all sizes and sectors. Everybody involved in occupational safety and health matters is invited to take part, especially safety and health institutions and occupational insurance organisations, trade unions and employers’ organisations, companies, managers, employees and safety representatives.”
Health and Safety Week 2014 will take place in the third week of October (Monday 20 – Sunday 26 October). Make sure you put this date in your diary now!
The theme for the European Health and Safety campaign will be announced shortly. The week is run by the European Agency for Safety and Health who have published a site full of news, materials and activities.
In the UK the week is being coordinated by the Health and Safety Executive. The theme is workplace stress and the UK TUC has produced guidance on how to deal with it.
FOCUS
This month’s OSHWORLD FOCUS is entitled The business case for safety and health: Cost-benefit analyses of interventions in small and medium-sized enterprises Research has shown that once SMEs understand the relationship between OSH and productivity, they are then able to see the link between OSH and economic performance.
OSHWORLD – your portal to some of the best OSH web sites in the world
With Health and Safety being very high on the agenda with European Health and Safety Week taking place it could also be a trigger point for you where ever you are in the world to have a look at the and review health, safety, chemical, fire and environment procedures in your workplace and if necessary, improved them. This review may also indicate training requirements and updates and re-thinking how systems and services can be improved. This is where the free-of-charge OSHWORLD can help you.
In these days of tighter budgets perhaps training may be put on the “back-burner” – but think again how you can keep up with the latest techniques and training opportunities. So look at the latest additions to the Diary of Events and you will see plans have been made already worldwide up to the end of 2015 and beyond to have training courses, symposiums and conferences in many places in the world on a wide range of subjects.
Remember that even if you cannot attend these many events, speakers and organisers are often willing to share their knowledge. Look at the details – where possible, we add in the web sites of these events so you can request further information. And do let me know if you are organising any OSHE events so that I can add them to the Diary.
Resources
In addition to the above we hope that you find the information in OSHWORLD useful in your daily work. Globally there are continually new titles, news items, new products so remember to look at the News to find the latest information from a number of worldwide sources.
Use OSHWORLD as your portal to many hundreds of validated and authoritative web sites that you can find in the Country and Subject links we offer. New subject topics are constantly brought together on web sites, e.g. nanotechnology and the workplace.
Most information services have a reference shelf where you can quickly check the reference sources – so OSHWORLD brings you a collection of Reference sources and also teaches you how to Search the Internet.
Visit the various Bookshops to order any new document as they are being published. Many of these Bookshops have a constant stream of new titles available.
Please send any suggestions or comments about OSHWORLD – your portal to validated and authoritative information. Remember also to look at our other really useful sites – www.sheilapantry.com and why not make a free entry about your company’s products in www.shebuyersguide.com.
Don’t forget to learn from history visit www.historyofosh.org.uk
Don’t work harder – work smarter! Be ahead of the game.
Well did you have a zero accident, incident-free and healthy year in 2013 in your workplace? Some would argue that this is not possible! But keep on trying again in 2014!
And do continue to make plans for your campaigns for 2014 and beyond!