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Accident investigation will be the main focus for next year’s conference which will be held in Doncaster on Thursday February 28 2008. All Health and Safety representatives are invited to attend and circulars will be sent out later in the year to register for a place. Speakers will be invited from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. There will be space available for stalls which will give candidates the opportunity to further discuss issues raised during the conference with the two investigative bodies. Branches and regional councils will be invited to submit resolutions to the conference and circular NP/120/07 has been issued in this respect. This would be an ideal opportunity for Health and Safety reps to meet and familiarise themselves with the members of the National Health and Safety Advisory Committee as well as networking amongst themselves. COMMITTEE The National Health and Safety Advisory Committee was established following a decision at the union’s 2003 AGM. The Committee meets quarterly and is responsible for organising the annual National Health and Safety Conference. Members of the Committee are elected in accordance with Rule 12A and serve a term of three years. A Liaison Advisory Committee comprising three members of the main committee is elected at the previous year’s conference with responsibility to oversee Conference organisation. The work of the Committee depends upon general health and safety resolutions received from Branches and Regional Councils but do not deal with local or individual issues. Members aren’t meant to be Health and Safety specialists, rather their main role is to provide a link between the Regional Councils, Head Office and Branches. Some of the items that the Committee is currently dealing with include catering trolleys, driving whilst at work and Network Rail’s Health and Safety Procedures. The items are discussed at the quarterly meetings and then reported back to the General Grades Committee who will decide on action to be taken. The Committee also agrees the theme for the annual Health and Safety Conference and has input to the day’s agenda. Last year’s theme was ‘Welfare – the Poor Relation of Health and Safety’ and a number of speakers, including from the Office of Rail Regulation, were invited to give their view on this often neglected topic. Delegates agreed that the theme brought up a number of issues that were not given the same importance as safety and a full write up of the conference was sent to branches earlier this year. In July, the committee met at RMT’s training centre at Doncaster to discuss the union’s current workplace violence campaign and to fine tune the role of the members. It also looked at the proposals for new industry specific Health and Safety training courses that RMT will be running in-house at Doncaster. These courses aren’t meant to take the place of TUC courses but will enhance the training that reps receive. RMTnews :: november 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 14 T he transport industry continues to have one of the worst records for major injuries due to falls from vehicles during the loading and unloading of goods. Figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2004/05 showed that transport accounted for 31 per cent of all workplace fatalities. With an estimated three million people working with vehicles as part of their normal job, HSE’s ongoing workplace transport campaign warns workers to take sensible precautions to minimise risks in all vehicle related work. The latest focus is to ensure they do not set themselves up for a fall. Every year 2000 workers are seriously injured after falling from their vehicle. Last year four workers actually lost their lives after falling from their lorry. Simple sensible precautions can avoid these incidents and the distress they cause. The HSE awareness campaign aims to help those who are responsible for buying and managing workplace vehicles with simple steps that can be taken to improve the safety of vehicles: • Vehicles should be well maintained and checked regularly • Procedures for loading and unloading should avoid the need to work at height where possible • Floor surfaces should be anti- slip when possible, or, slip- resistant footwear provided • If work at height is unavoidable steps, platforms and other safety equipment should be provided Extensive guidance and advice, including safety checklists, is available to vehicle buyers, managers and workers at an interactive falls from vehicle homepage: http://www.hse.gov.uk/fallsfromvehic les/index.htm Single copies of the CD Rom version of campaign materials are available from HSE Books using stock code MISC748a from: http://www.hsebooks.com/Books/defa ult.asp RMT HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISORY CONFERENCE At the Catholic Club, Waterdale Doncaster Thursday February 28 2008, 10am All safety representatives are invited to attend, please seek nomination via your branch. Resolutions are to be submitted through Branches and Regional Councils. The theme of this conference will be Accident and Investigation. Speakers are invited from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch.. INVESTIGATING ACCIDENTS Next year’s RMT Health and Safety Reps Conference will be focussing on accident investigation DON’T SET YOURSELF UP FOR A FALL