Tag Archives: 40th anniversary health and safety

Professor Elliott to speak at fighting food fraud event

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Fighting Food Fraud HABC is launching the first in a series of specialised food safety events, giving food sector professionals the tools they need to fight food fraud.

Taking up the challenges posed by the Elliott Review , Fighting Food Fraud is aimed at food safety, environmental health, trading standards professionals, practitioners and educators, and will feature some of the world’s top experts including Professor Chris Elliott himself.

Held at Doncaster Racecourse on 17 September 2015, the event will help food safety and enforcement professionals understand more about the threat food fraud poses to the UK, the recent scandals involving food supply and sourcing, and identifying emerging risks.

Key topics covered will also include:

  • An overview of food fraud and The Elliott Review
  • Types of food fraud and indicators for fraud
  • Supply chain integrity and food authenticity
  • How industry needs to protect itself and what progress has been made so far
  • The role of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Food Crime Unit , plus an update
  • Penalties and consequences
  • Food crime intelligence.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to discuss the new Issue 7 of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety , released in January 2015 and which will commence from July 2015. This session will guide delegates through the content of the new Standard and give some guidance with regard to compliance with the new requirements.

Guest speakers confirmed for Fighting Food Fraud include:

  • Professor Chris Elliott, Professor of Food Safety and Director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast
  • Andy Morling, Head of Food Crime at the FSA
  • John Figgins, BRC Technical Specialist – Food.

Richard Sprenger, HABC Chairman, said, ‘Food authenticity has become under close scrutiny recently from food retailers, manufacturers and consumers. Food law enforcement must be delivered effectively so that consumers can have confidence in the food they eat. With ongoing work to identify potential food fraud this has fast become a key topic within the food safety industry’.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to discuss issues and network with the speaker panel in our Q&A session.

Lunch, refreshments and CPD certificate are all included in the price.

CPD
Attendance at this event entitles you to 6 CPD points.

Who should attend?
Anyone interested in food safety including professionals, practitioners and educators in:

  • Food safety
  • Environmental health
  • Trading standards.

Cost/Book Now

  • HABC Centre: £130 + VAT
  • Non-HABC Centre: £170 + VAT

*limited places and subject to availability.

If you are a training centre, please select here to book your place(s). Students wishing to attend this event must submit their enquiry to shoulbrook@highfieldabc.net

Promotional Opportunities
If you are interested in promoting your business at our event then we can provide marketing opportunities to suit your budget, with prices starting from £99 + VAT.

Exhibitor spaces will be positioned within the networking area and places are still available. Exhibition spaces available from £300 + VAT.

To become a sponsor/exhibitor, please submit your enquiry to shoulbrook@highfieldabc.net

To join the Highfield Food Safety Forum on LinkedIn where this event will be regularly discussed, please visit here .

Happy 40th birthday Health and Safety at Work Act

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WendyNixon July 2014 saw the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act . Our health and safety consultant, Wendy Nixon, takes a look at the impact this important –and sometimes controversial – legislation has had since its introduction in 1974.

Many of us are guilty of labelling health and safety as ‘kill-joy legislation’ and we have all laughed at articles which have quoted incidents where the legislation has been misinterpreted or misunderstood… children not allowed to play conkers, cafes not allowed to serve hot drinks and retail premises not allowing customers to use their toilets!

Health and safety gone mad…..or has it?

As 2014 sees us celebrate 40 years of the Health and Safety at Work Act, we should all take time to reflect on what is arguably the most effective piece of legislation on the statute books.
Let’s look how far we have come.

Before 1974 we had a host of regulations which swamped some industries with rules and regulations whilst allowing others to go relatively uncontrolled. The Health and Safety at Work Act was implemented as a conclusion of Lord Robens report which concluded there were too many regulations and that what was needed was a regulatory regime that set broad, non-prescriptive goals for duty holders, underpinned by a fundamental principle: ‘those that create risk are best placed to manage it’.

The Act that emerged from his review swept away detailed and prescriptive industry regulations. It created a flexible system where regulations describe goals and principles, supported by codes of practice and guidance. Based on consultation and engagement, the new regime was designed to deliver a proportionate, targeted and risk-based approach.

Since 1974 the Health and Safety at Work Act has protected millions of British workers, and driven sharp reductions in incidents of occupational death, serious injury and ill health. In 1974, fatalities to employees (covered by the legislation in place then) stood at 651. The latest figure for 2013/14 is down to 133, whilst non-fatal injuries have dropped by more than 75 percent.

Recent developments
More recent reviews have continued in this vain. The review of health and safety by Professor Loftstedt in 2011 and his subsequent report, Reclaiming health and safety for all , saw further streamlining of current legislation, and the current reform agenda is aimed at stripping out unnecessary or duplicated regulation and helping smaller businesses to understand how to take a proportionate approach to managing their risks – but the basic principles remain the same.

More recently the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has implemented a Myth Busters Challenge Panel aimed at investigating complaints regarding health and safety and advice provided by non regulators, providing simplified guidance and consulting with industry to clarify interpretation and implementation.

Today we face changes in our environment and technology, which ultimately impacts on new and changing workplaces, presenting new hazards and risks. We must continually be on the lookout for emerging hazardous chemicals, new fibres behaving similarly to asbestos and carcinogens presented by the way we work and live.

The future for health and safety
The focus for the immediate future is likely to be on health matters, bringing the concept of health and safety into the real world and educating children and young people on hazards and risks.

It is becoming more difficult to segregate risks in the workplace and those at home, for example people working in office environments are now sitting for longer in front of screens, whilst our lifestyles also dictate similar activities, increasing the risks of musculoskeletal disorders, repetitive strains, stress and other health issues.

Overall, the changes in the last 40 years are quite remarkable, but there will always be room for improvement. We must strive for a change in attitude to health and safety, seeing it no longer as a joke or burden on society, but more a personal responsibility. We all expect to leave work and go home safely, yet this will not happen unless we continue to do our bit to make it happen.

133 fatalities is still too many, especially when you imagine this could be you or your loved one.
Take responsibility and make a difference.

Here’s to the next 40 years of safe and healthy workplaces.