INSTITUTION OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
Minute of the 110th Meeting of the Edinburgh Branch
Donaldson’s College for the Deaf, Edinburgh at 1330 on Thursday 09th December 1999
SEDERUNT
C E White C Forrest R Paterson J Murray R Brownlie G McNab T Neilson P Truscott M Galloway M Bancroft K L Lloyd A Davies A Hamilton D Brown A Kirk R McGuilod J Cowan J McCraith J Craig R Wilson S Lucas L Young J Burt I O’Neill M Hardie J Conway I Murray J Rutherford I Wilson P Conway R Atkinson M Batho A Paterson D Devey R W Bertram B Davis N Docherty D A Brown A Neilson
APOLOGIES
S Ashton K Wilson M Johnstone R Innes D Gladwin V Stewart R Lovering B Pill R McLean
1.0 CHAIRMAN K L Lloyd
The Chair was taken by K Lloyd. Welcome was extended to all, particularly new Members and Guests. Mention was made of the increase in public awareness of health and safety matters particularly in respect of the two local incidents one involving a fatality. It was noted that the average fines are considerably higher now £5k and Sheriffs being given greater fine potential.
2.0 MINUTES
The 109th Minute – November 1999 – was tabled. It was mentioned that V Stewart should be added to the Sederunt. The Minute was proposed by R Brownlie and seconded by P Truscott as a true and accurate record. The importance of signing was again stated should CPD points be required.
3.0 MATTERS ARISING
4.0 CORRESPONDENCE
4.1 Letters
4.2 Fax - P Colquhoun. Detail and minute
4.3 Minutes -
4.4 Membership as of 30 November being
Branch – 748, Corporate – 252, Non-Corp – 496, IOSH – 24,708
Tech SP – 35, Associates – 380
Mention was made of the Specialist Groups and the £5 levy for joining a second and additional group.
4.5 Adverts -
Flyers have been included within the mail shot
Copies of all the above mentioned correspondence was made available for the Members present. Further information is available upon request from the Secretary.
5.0 BRANCH EDUCATION OFFICER L Young
There were no items for discussion although the Chairman mentioned the considerable amount of work being undertaken by the team when assessing the portfolios – thanks extended.
6.0 SPECIALIST GROUPS
6.1 MAPS CO-ORDINATOR M Johnstone
6.2 CONSTRUCTION C E White
Minute of the October meeting of the Specialist Group were made available; brief detail of the Health & Safety statistics for 1998/99 particularly construction; tragic incident of a roofer falling through a fragile roof to his death; notification of the next Group meeting.
A question was raised about the control of contractors and the apparent lack of support from the HSE when such items were brought to their attention. A lively discussion followed and the HSEs’ duty to respond to complaints from the general public a possible avenue.
6.3 HEALTH and ENVIRONMENTAL
The new Groups were highlighted as needing and recruiting members. There are very small numbers within the Branch but R Lovering has agreed to keep a watching brief on environmental items. Interested party to do likewise with Health matters was requested – anyone willing to take on this task should contact the Secretary.
7.0 MEMBERS ITEMS
Executive Committee Meeting. The Chairman outlined the main points arising from the recent Executive Committee meeting as:
8.0 GUEST SPEAKER
The Guest Speaker was introduced by L Young as Dr Anita Levinson and was invited to address the Members on the subject of ‘Stress’.
The speaker began by giving a short history of her working career which included gaining a Ph.D. before returning to Napier University to lecture on Stress back in 1984. Then taking early retirement to set up working for herself in Stress Management. This in itself has stress connotations.
Is the subject of work related stress a Mountain or a Molehill and why has it been getting such a high profile recently. Could it be over rated and used to gain credibility for high-powered jobs. Are there changes in today’s’ way of life or just the influence of being regularly reported on the television. How can stress be measured although there is an analogy between stress and pain? If a self reporting system using numbers how can we know the difference between one persons five and another’s seven? There are hundreds of varying definitions of stress although a realistic one would be ‘the product of a mismatch between a job and the person carrying out the job’ or ‘the difference between the perceived job and the actual task’.
To perform well there is a need for the adrenaline bug and this can be used as healthy pressure but there must be an ability to relax once the pressure has been released. If pressure is excessive it will have many negative affects including being out of control, anxious, tired all the time, apathetic and inactive – this can be very debilitating once the healthy balance goes. A graph was shown clearly indicating the improved performance with healthy pressure followed by the rapid fall away once the fatigue point was reached.
Time was then spent describing the many early warning signs which included stomach upsets, dry mouths, susceptibly to virus, headaches, racing pulses, irritability, anxiety, depression withdrawal, hostility and aggression – other signs include forgetfulness, making mistakes, day dreaming, lack of concentration, less rational behavior, increase in alcohol intake and insomnia. Stress and the law was then mentioned particularly the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974, The Management Regulations of 1992. The common law of providing a safe system of work and taking all reasonable steps to ensure were also included.
Two important requirements for a successful conviction were causation and foreseeability – both being work related and the example of an employee being asked to return after a breakdown who agreed only when promised additional support. This did not happen and a second breakdown was experienced. The courts awarded £170K . More and more cases are coming before the courts and there is a huge pile waiting to be presented. The Disability Act being used regarding the psychological aspects. Many estimates of the costs to industry have been made but half a million workers suffering (particularly teachers and nurses) and over 6.7 million lost working days would not seem unrealistic. The Institute of Directors when surveyed 40% thought that stress is a real problem.
The costs to industry were then outlined and included high labour turnover, high absenteeism, increased risk of accidents, poor communications, lack of co-operation, low morale, increased number of complaints, cost of insurance cover and increasing premiums following increased claims. The individual could have stress related illness including heart problems, cancer, auto-immune deficiency, depression, loss of confidence and the Japanese have a word for death by over-work KAROSHI. An idealist wish was that employers would recognise the importance of keeping well psychologically. Stress is seen as a stigma and workers afraid to mention it. Whilst other countries recognise and accept – Scandinavia for example had the PM take time out as being over stressed.
Considerable explanation and discussion then took place addressing the way to tackle the problem. Assessing the problem by carrying out a Stress Audit both quantitative by statistics and getting the views of the workers being equally important, highlight the main issues and evaluate their importance (both before and after) then set realistic measures in place and determine an Action Plan. This must be monitored and evaluated. Managing Stress should be achieved by both Primary and Secondary action. Being pro-active to reduce before it gets a hold and also assisting those suffering from. There is a need for a Culture Change in management styles getting away from ‘The recession’ ‘not got the money’ attitude basically moving from the macho management to one of a caring employer. Workers generally crave feed back and welcome the occasional praise but usually only get criticism.
As a business ethic it is sound to show you care and are taking on Stress Management. Staff welfare is not included in Investing in People but should be. It should be treated as a hazard and Risk Assessment carried out as routine. Companies should have a policy on stress and bullying and there should be a joint approach with consultation between employees and employers. In the long term the benefits of lacking stress outweigh the costs incurred to setting up a good policy arrangement.
A question and answer session followed which ran equally as long as the speakers’ presentation – all being fielded admirably with both humour and competence. The Chair had to close the session so as to prevent those driving home from the added stress of rush hour traffic.
The Chairman voiced a Vote of Thanks and a small token of the Members appreciation was offered – the members responded very warmly and enthusiastically.
9.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Members were reminded that the next meeting had been set at:
Thursday 13th January 2000 at 1330, Donaldson’s College for the Deaf
With the topic being
Occupational Hygiene Workshop
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh
10.0 CLOSURE
The Chairman charged all to have a peaceful holiday and enjoyable Millennium celebration, thanked all for their attendance and contribution and bade them a safe journey homeward; then closed the meeting with the invitation to have tea and then mingle.
C E WHITE FIOSH RSP Branch Secretary K L LLOYD MIOSH RSP Branch Chairman