THE INSTITUTION OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

Minute of the 114^th Meeting of the Edinburgh Branch

C E White R Lovering D A Brown J McCraith M Johnstone

L Allan J R Brownlie B Pill R Paterson R McLean

K L Lloyd I Waldram J Cowan I Murray S Boucher

G McNab R Wilson J Conway A Davies B Howden

A Sharman V Stewart R Staines N Paulin G McGeorge

D Devey A Whyte L Beattie R D’Arcy A McGowan

M Bancroft I Craig G Dick J Shepherd H Gibson

F Watson R Wallar R Reed

APOLOGIES

B Bertram K Wilson K Niven G Lyall D Gladwin

L Young

1.0 CHAIRMAN K L Lloyd MIOSH RSP

The Chair was taken by K Lloyd. Welcome was extended to all, particularly new Members and Guests. Mention was made of the good turn out and the excellence of the buffet. The reason and format of the meeting being briefed to include the meeting with the Institution’s President, annual elections, presentations and accounts.

2.0 GUEST SPEAKER Mrs E Allan MIOSH – The Formation of the Edinburgh District

Liz started by stating that she was unsure about what was expected of her as the events happened some twenty years ago but having checked past minutes gave the members a potted history of the District forming.

From a start in Glasgow with 250 members, mainly in construction Brian (Liz’s Husband) thought a need existed to set up a District in the East. The first meeting was held in 1980 and forty-five attended including the President, the late Edwin Hooper. Liz found it both sad and amusing that whilst some had now passed on, others like the present Secretary were still doing their bit.

Speakers at early meetings were always from the membership and the district was always struggling for money and fund raising activities included Christmas raffle and party. Liz still remembers baking the cakes for the 25^th and the 50^th meeting. One interesting organised trip was to the top of the tower of the Forth Road Bridge during excessive winds – and Liz is afraid of heights.

Liz then indicated that this trip to the Edinburgh Branch showed the original enthusiasm, commitment and thought of assisting and informing others was still evident amongst members and though she now is involved in the Aberdeen Branch maintains fond memories of the Edinburgh Branch of IOSH.

The Chairman made a Vote of Thanks and a small presentation.

3.0 INTEREST SPEAKER Mr J McCraith MIOSH – Marking the Millennium

Jim indicated that he had been on the Branch Executive Committee for several years and when he suggested that perhaps a paper needed to be prepared to celebrate the new millennium he was selected to undertake the preparation. His presentation was therefore an indication of the events and preparation, which he had undertaken towards this end.

The content of any paper was felt should include: -

A history of IOSH; The history of the Branch and how we came to settle in Donaldson’s as a venue; Details of past chairmen and secretaries of the Branch plus who were the Executive Committee members during the period of a new millennium; Some information from the archives relating to the first meeting of the District and the Branch; An analysis of the membership of Edinburgh Branch; Details of typical activities of the Branch both socially and professionally.

With this as a basic remit Jim had set about writing a paper to include this detail but then found any presentation of this detail would be much better if it could be prepared through a desk-top publishing system. Using past contacts within Stevenson's college he managed to gain their assistance in putting it into a suitable form for publishing and then persuaded them to sponsor some of the production costs involved in making this paper turn into a full colour booklet to be presented to each Branch member as a keepsake of the new millennium. Which he then did to those present.

Jim was then made the recipient of an award to mark his service to the Institution and to the Edinburgh Branch in particular, with special emphasis on the production of this millennium booklet

4.0 PRESIDENT OF IOSH – Mr I Waldram FIOSH RSP - Address to Members

The President started by commenting on the hospitality of the Branch and thanked them for the excellent lunch. He said he felt very humble to be the National President of the Institution, wearing the chain of office with so many eminent previous holders of the office – including one of the past Presidents present at the meeting – Russell Brownlie.

IISO – the fore runner to IOSH was formed just after the second world war and in common with the norm had a Latin inscription on the chain of office, which when translated stated "Safety – The servant of work". He felt that he now was the servant of the servants of work and he hoped that he would be able to answer those questions, which the members may put to him.

Ian had been originally trained as a chemical engineer and moved into a safety position in ICI after which he took safety qualifications and in 1982 moved to Aberdeen to work in the oil industry. He currently holds a position within Mobil as HSE&Q manager, but will be leaving their employ at the end of the month taking early retirement which will enable him to devote more time to IOSH activities and possibly some independent work within the H&S field.

There had been two previous Corporate Plans for the Institution each covering five years. This was a change from the original system, which tended to follow major organisations, which changed in the vision by a change of the chairman of the board. Each IOSH President had previously had brought a theme into the Institution and if Ian was to put his name to anything he felt it should be – "Clearly Competent"

He asked the assembled body for their description of Competent and was offered –

SKATE = Skill; Knowledge; Attitude; Training & Experience

This the President accepted and indicated that it was not as some people suggested purely Knowledge and Experience but in particular the application from the individual

Then Ian offered his description of the meaning of clarity as being ‘Doubt free’ and Complexity ‘Made simple’. He likened this to information in the IT industry together with the activities of a whiskey distiller

Data \ = / Information \ = / Knowledge \ = /Wisdom

\Distil/ \Distil/ \Distil/

Corporate Plan

Currently IOSH does not have a corporate plan – the one prepared in 1995 for the next five years was completed in two years and consequently there has not been one in existence since then

The Strategic Development Committee had prepared a report last September but no effective plan had been prepared. It was hoped that the basics could be prepared and offered to the membership for their input in the near future to detail a rolling strategic plan which would not be just for a defined period but could set the pattern for ongoing conditions

Seven working parties are preparing detail for the Strategic Development Committee covering

Core Competency – looking into membership structure & specialist groups etc

External profile – considering internal and external communications

Risk management – considering the Turnbull Report, which was looking to a voluntary code of practice for a statement to be included in all public company account to indicate how safety had been considered and controlled

Research & teaching – considering how what is learned from research could feed back into the basic understanding and training for the profession

Alliances & partnerships – how we may link in with RoSPA and BSC etc

Globalisation & standards

New technology – putting CPD on Internet and where are we in terms of ISO 9000, 14000 and 18000

The President then took questions from the floor after which a token gift was made to the President in order that he could remember the visit to Edinburgh Branch

5.0 PRESENTATIONS

The President then made a number of presentations to the Members:

President’s Distinguished Service Certificate K L Lloyd

Up-Grade of Membership to Tech SP F Watson

Winner of the Roger Midson Challenge Trophy B Pill

Winner of the Secretary’s Sipper L Beattie

6.0 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

It is with mixed feelings that I present what is my final report as my term as Chairman. I am extremely honoured to have served as your Chairman for the past four and a half years, a term, which began, in tragic circumstances with the loss of Brain Leslie. Kevin then gave a brief on his term in office concluding by wishing every Branch member good fortune for the future both personally and in their membership of IOSH.

7.0 TREASURER’S REPORT

Copy of the Accounts and Auditors Report were tabled and talked to by D A Brown. A number of points requiring clarification were discussed and then the Members accepted the accounts.

8.0 ELECTIONS

The under mentioned Principal Officers were elected unanimously:

Chairman - B PILL

Vice Chair - R LOVERING

Treasurer - D A BROWN

Secretary - C E WHITE

The under mentioned Members were elected to the Executive Committee after a Show of Hands as there were three Candidates for the two vacant positions. Counters J McCraith and R Brownlie were appointed.

Corporate Member R REED

Corporate Member J SMITH

The under mentioned were elected as Branch Representatives to the following Specialist Groups:

MAPS - M JOHNSTONE

Construction - R McLEAN

The Auditor L Beattie was re-appointed but a second nomination is still required.

The Chairman congratulated the Members for their successful elections and took the opportunity of thanking the outgoing Chairman for his past work – an additional presentation of an engraved decanter was presented to Kevin on behalf of the Members.

9.0 CLOSURE

The members were reminded of the date of the next meeting, as 11 May at 1330 here at Donaldson’s College with the subject being HSC/E Concordat on Health & Safety and the other Social events involving the Branch Members

19 May – RMCT – Fishing Challenge

16 June – Site Visit – Britannia

Mid July – Secretary’s Sipper – Golf Competition

For further details of any of the above presentations please contact the Secretary.

The Chairman thanked all for their attendance and contribution and bade them a safe journey homeward; then closed the Annual General Meeting.

C E WHITE FIOSH RSP Edinburgh Branch Secretary       B PILL FIOSH RSP Edinburgh Branch Chairman