RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

September 11, 2006
EXPANDING SAFETY HORIZONS IN SCOTLAND

Addressing injury prevention and safety in the wider context of public health will be a key theme of this month’s RoSPA Scotland Safety and Health at Work Congress.

Injury represents a huge challenge to public health, accounting for about five million deaths worldwide each year and being the leading cause of death in children and young people.

Opening the congress at the Hilton Hotel Glasgow, Professor David Stone, Medical Adviser to the Scottish Executive Health Department and Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, will ask whether a new strategic approach for keeping people safe is needed.

The conference – Protecting People, Adding Value – will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, September 27 and 28, in association with ESS Support Services Worldwide.

Karen McDonnell, Head of RoSPA Scotland, said: “This year’s congress will feature a wealth of fresh information and new perspectives. We are keen to break down the barriers that might exist around people’s thinking on health and safety at work, which includes encouraging people to think about the wider public health setting.

“Delivering high standards of health and safety at work cannot be viewed in isolation - it is not just about ensuring regulatory compliance. It involves developing an ethos of sensible safety that is present in every part of an organisation and owned by every team member, whether they are at work or leisure. Our hope would be that such an ethos would then permeate into wider society, bringing with it huge benefits for public health.”

The first day of the conference will also include a session led by Margaret Burns CBE, Chair of the Partnership on Health and Safety in Scotland, on networking for a healthier and safer Scotland, the presentation of new research from Glasgow Caledonian University on construction safety, and advice on enhancing worker involvement in health and safety.

Contributors on the second day will include the University of Glasgow’s School of Business and Management, on the motivations and outcomes of health at work programmes, and Margaret Hanson, Principal Consultant at Hu-Tech Ergonomics, on musculo-skeletal disorders. The findings of a landmark project on worker engagement in health and safety will also be presented by Glasgow Caledonian University.

See: www.rospa.com/scotlandcongress/