As a health and safety tutor I have to introduce myself to rooms full of students all the time. I always start by telling them that I used to work as a production supervisor in an industrial bakery near Sheffield making tea cakes, white baps and hot cross buns for Marks and Spencer’s. And then I confess that as a production supervisor I had no particular interest in health and safety. I knew that it was one of my responsibilities, because it said so in my job description, and I did do some health and safety related activities routinely; such as safety inspections. But I was not particularly interested in…
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Changing a Culture: Shifting Attitudes to Health and Safety in The Middle East
We often wonder why we have such poor occupational health and safety standards in the Middle East compared to other areas of the world. But if you look around you, you’ll find the answer. Safety is no different to other facets of living in the Middle East – we suffer from a culture that has long been dependent on others to develop and implement systems and technology. Even the water we drink is imported! What appears to matter most to us is how easily we can purchase things that are ready-made, rather than go through the process of creating them ourselves. For example: We have budgets, but we mainly use…
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Advice to CSP Qualified Students Taking Advantage of NEBOSH and BCSP Collab
Earlier this year (2016) NEBOSH and BCSP (Board of Certified Safety Professionals) signed a memorandum of understanding. Recognising each other’s qualifications and allowing exemptions for those NEBOSH Diploma holders wanting to obtain the CSP (Certified Safety Practitioner) qualification. CSP holders waning to attain the NEBOSH Diploma Ordinarily you’d have to take a full course of study from an approved course provider (like RRC) to be able to sit the NEBOSH exams. But the agreement between NEBOSH and BCSP means that you don’t have to. In practice, whilst there’s some overlap in course coverage between CSP and the NEBOSH’s Health and Safety Diplomas, there’s a lot that’s different. Added to that…
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Road Traffic Safety (RTS) Management Systems
These days, a lot of people drive for work (some are even driven by work). Some people always have done – like delivery drivers, sales representatives, repairmen, community nurses, traffic police and enforcement officers. But even if you aren’t one of these people, you probably do a little bit of driving – the odd client visit, usually in your own car (because it’s convenient) but sometimes a fleet vehicle or hire car. Because there’s such a lot of it, companies have sometimes tried to manage it. You may not know, but someone else has tried to manage it too – or rather to manage the management of it. In 2012,…
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Safety Is Different to Everything Around Here
Safety is Different to Everything Around Here We often wonder why we have such poor occupational health and safety standards in the Middle East compared to the developed world. If you look around you, you will find the answer. Safety is no different to other facets of living in the Middle East. We suffer from a culture that has long been dependent on others to develop and implement systems and technology – even the water we drink is imported. What appears to matter to us most is how easily we can purchase things that are ready-made rather than go through the process of creating it ourselves. For example: We have…
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Risk Assessment – The Safe Person or Safe Place Dilemma
Controls, Costs and Counting Beans In a previous contribution on risk assessment I discussed the concept of ‘systematic’ and how it is a good idea to take everything into account, even though it may not be of great risk. The good thing about doing it that way, of course, is that it proves you have at least considered the hazard and its risk, even though it has turned out (at time of assessment) to be insignificant. How many of you think a risk assessment is an exercise to kill trees, chew them up and mix with water, flatten them into paper, write on them and file them away to gather…
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The Need For Speed
Top Gun – what a film! Yes, I know it was a bit corny, but it was also enjoyable, with some memorable moments. If you don’t believe me, watch it again (or for the first time, for that matter). What was that line – something like ‘I have the need, the need for speed’? I think it was Iceman but no doubt I’ve got it wrong and someone will be able to correct me. Speed thrills – it’s why so many people are fans of Formula 1, or other motor sports – and most of us like that thrill at times, though the speed needed to achieve it differs from…
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Friction Resistance on The NEBOSH Diploma
“Resistance is futile” is the catchy battle cry of the Borg Collective – an alien cyborg race bent on galactic domination. While they have some redeeming qualities (the Borg Queen is strangely attractive) they do have an attitude to resistance that is not shared by their invaded planetary systems. Friction – as covered in Element 1 of Unit C, NEBOSH Diploma – is all about resistance. Most parents of young children and teenagers will be very familiar with resistance. Sometimes it delivers pain, sometimes pleasure. Sometimes it is inconvenient, but it can be a wonderful thing.
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It is Not What You’re Asked, it’s The Way That You’re Asked it
It is Not What You’re Asked, it’s The Way That You’re Asked it When did you last sit an exam? For many of us it was years ago – perhaps at school, or university. How did you get on? What did you think of the questions? Too technical? Too long? Wanted too much detail? You thought you knew the subject pretty well, but were stumped by some of the things being asked? It’s pretty scary even remembering it, isn’t it? And you may experience it all over again when you face your NEBOSH General Certificate exams. It doesn’t really matter where we are exposed (there’s a good health and safety…
