Sederunt: M Bancroft A Sharman J Davis N Dalrymple L Young M Johnstone I M Murray G Lyall D Sinclair R Lovering R McLean N Elliott R Innes J McCraith V W Stewart SBoucher R Tanner S Chisolm T Sayer I Wilson G Dick G Macnab P J Colquhon N Doherty D Gillespie D Duff A Milne E Lawson K Lloyd C White G White J Brannigan C Castell

Aplogies: Bob Stainton, Ron Staines, Bob Bertram, David Jones, Clive Wilmott, Karen McDonnell, Jim Hepburn, Ruaridh Walker, Russell Brownlee, W McCafferty, B Byrne, N Robertson, A Reid, D Brown

Richard Lovering took the Chair, welcomed those present and outlined the safety arrangements.

2.0 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS AGM – MEETING 134 (April 2002)

These were agreed a true record.

3.0 MATTERS ARISING NOT ON AGENDA - None

Richard gave a brief outline of the highlights of the last year

• Some changes & developments – electronic agenda & Members presentation
• Branch has gained its own Laptop & Digital Projector
• Acceptance of the Forth & Tay District of the Edinburgh Branch
• 7 Normal Branch Meetings, plus two seminars = Du Pont - Day of safety, Learning lessons from accidents, Occupational Vibration, National AGM & Seminar in Murrayfield, The new CDM ACoP, Managing Occupational Road Risk, Emergency Planning, Synergies between Fire & Scottish Building Regs., Occupational Health workshops
• Average of 41 Attending each meeting
• Social type events – Roger Midson Trophy (10 pin) – Site visit to Falkirk Wheel – Golfing outing (Secretary’s Sipper)
• Aims for the year =
• Continuing with the prompt from a past President - often the only way that members are able to keep in touch with fellow professionals, to share experiences - that will still be the driver
• Provide attendance certificates for those who need them.

He was particularly happy with the uptake by members of the "10 minute" presentations and hoped that others would be encouraged to present their own items.

Kevin circulated a set of unaudited accounts. HQ had set out a new method of accounting for Branches and, although simpler, it still required some adjustment. He hoped to call in at HQ in the next month or so to go over the new system and he would thereafter bring a set of audited accounts to a future Branch meeting. The AGM agreed that this was acceptable.

However, he was happy to report that finances were healthy despite the new equipment that had been bought. He commented that, unlike previous years, income for social events did not cover expenditure. The Branch Executive had used the National IOSH Dinner at Murrayfield to show its appreciation to those who supported the Branch.

Chris White asked if the new District was receiving sufficient support. Kevin confirmed that they had submitted a budget and the Branch Executive had approved it and there were no difficulties in meeting the District’s financial needs.

Only one nomination had been received in writing for the following posts by the due date, hence the following were elected:

Chair – Richard Lovering; Vice-chair – Marion Johnstone

Secretary – Max Bancroft; Treasurer – Kevin Lloyd

2 Executive Committee members – Liz Young, Jim McCraith

The other three Executive members – Andy Sharman, Graeme Lyall & Roddy McLean stand for re-election next year. Due to pressure of work, Iris O’Neill did not stand again.

The following were nominated from the floor:

Branch Education Development Adviser – Liz Young

Specialist Groups:

RAILWAYS and TELECOMMUNICATIONS still need a representative. Those marked * attend meetings at The Grange of their SG – the others keep a watching brief.

The present auditors Ian Murray and Bob Bertram were re-elected.

Richard thanked all those who served in the various posts and especially the Branch Executive – it was their hard work which made Edinburgh Branch so successful.

7.0 HONOURED GUEST: Eleanor Lawson, President IOSH

Following the formal business of the meeting and the nominations/elections the Chairman introduced the Honoured Guest – The President of the Institution – Eleanor Lawson.

The President stated that she felt especially delighted to be addressing the members of Edinburgh Branch. Being the President is exciting at any time, but being the President during the year when the Institution becomes chartered is even more pleasing and now that she had managed to get IOSH AGM and the Annual Conference into Scotland she felt even more on top of the world.

The previous day she had been in Aberdeen who have now renamed their Branch as the North of Scotland Branch and as the other Branch in Scotland based originally our of Glasgow is named the West of Scotland Branch, she was wondering if Edinburgh Branch may consider changing its name to the East of Scotland Branch – she then indicated she would leave the members with that as a thought for the future.

During the following presentation Eleanor indicated she wished to cover the following topics –

• Chartered Status
• Professionals in Partnership
• Corporate Identity
• Professional standards
• Developments at the Grange
• Other key issues and challenges

The granting of the Royal Charter is an achievement of which we can all be proud, and which should do much to enhance our status and reputation, especially with the other professions whose paths cross ours, such as occupational physicians, nurses, hygienists, ergonomists and so on.

The speaker indicated that everyone was delighted with the volume and warmth of congratulatory messages which were received when it was made public that the charter had been granted. Although the charter was actually presented at the Annual Dinner on 15 November, it didn’t actually come into effect until 1 April. This date was selected as it makes the transition from ‘old’ IOSH to ‘new’ IOSH easier and coincides with the financial year.

At this stage it is only the organisation that is chartered, however it is hoped that at some time in the future, and not another 11 years, that individual members can become ‘chartered’.

Increasingly as a profession we work with other disciplines in the field, and it was with this in mind that ‘professionals in partnership’ was chosen as the theme for annual conference 2003. All too often our relationships with these groups are marred by petty inter-disciplinary rivalries and the speaker indicated she intends to continue this year the work done by her predecessors in breaking down some of these barriers and establishing much improved working relationships based on respect for each others’ skills, knowledge and areas of expertise.

The inception and development of the POOSH Group (professional organisations in occupational safety and heath) has done much to improve these relationships. HSE participate in group meetings and HSC are keen to work with us. She was pleased that recently a memorandum of understanding with the British Institute of Occupational Hygienists had been signed to further cement our relationship with them.

This year will also see the introduction of our new corporate identity. This identity or image was developed over almost a year and was based on significant research among both members and external stakeholders. It is believed that it reflects what we as a professional body have become and the characteristics we wish to develop further.

The logo suggests things like ‘protection’, ‘global’, ‘secure’ and is still fresh, modern and forward looking rather than some of the characteristics we have been associated with in the past – traditional, bureaucratic and so on.

The process was initiated in the Corporate Plan 2000, and the new image developed following much internal and external consultation and research. It was clear that the existing image was inconsistently and diversely applied and that it no longer reflected either, the organisation, our role, or our profession.

The new logo will be used on all IOSH materials and will replace the blue ribband, but the coat of arms will be retained for ceremonial purposes, such as certificates etc. By the end of May an identity management guide will be available giving guidance on how the new image is to be used with examples, specifications and templates. Shortly there will be changes to the layout of IOSH news in the Safety & Health Practitioner and to the website as well as publishing the new charter byelaws and code of professional conduct. Some changes were made to this to meet the criteria for achievement of the Royal Charter and to comply with the requirements of human rights legislation

The range of memorabilia will be reviewed and the speaker hopes to have some personal input into the design of the ladies’ scarf! There will be a new sign made for the entrance to the Grange, new badges will be ordered and the website will be further revised.

The year gone past saw the launch of the new ENTO standards to which IOSH had considerable input. This launch was unique in that for the first time IOSH shared a platform with both RoSPA and the British Safety Council as well as NEBOSH and ENTO.

Corporate Plan 2000 recommended a review and revision of our membership structure to ensure it was competence based, and this work has been ongoing and will continue for some time. One thing however that won’t change is compulsory CPD for anyone in the competent grade. The President stated she would encourage every member, whether they are in the competence grade or not, to participate in continuing professional development.

Another exciting development, approved by Council in September 2002, is the further extension of the premises at the Grange in Wigston.

This has become necessary to cope with the growth in the organisation and increasing demands from the membership. As part of the extension a new reception area will be created where we can proudly display the Royal Charter as well as improved facilities for training and meetings and more office space.

Over the last few years there has been a remarkable increase in the number and membership of specialist groups. The groups and the way they are managed are now to be reviewed by the Corporate Strategy Committee. It is some time now since these were created and it is right to review the way they are working and whether or not the concept is still as valid as when it was conceived, or indeed if change is now required.

Corporate Strategy Committee are also to review the way in which we are organised and managed, and, if appropriate make recommendations on how this should be changed.

Increasingly IOSH is recognised as a key player not only at a national level but also at an international level. We have been instrumental in the development of the European Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (ENSHPO), and have developed good working relationships with the European Agency for Safety and Health; we are one of the founding bodies of the new International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO), together with the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. In 2001 we were admitted as an affiliate member of APOSHO, and we have memorandum of understanding with many organisations overseas including those in Mauritius, China and Cyprus.

At this stage the President answered a number of questions from the floor and the Chair made a presentation of a gift as a token of the branch’s gratitude for the Presidents visit and paper.

Following a short comfort break during which time the necessary preparations for the next speaker were undertaken

 8.0 PRESENTATIONS

Eleanor Lawson presented Graham MacNab with his certificate on achieving Corporate Membership.

Alex started off by asking WHY we need to taste wines. And indicated that he believed there were three basic reasons – Personal, Professional and Trade

Personal reasons being - the need to develop a memory bank of wines, to make qualitative judgments and to increase knowledge to enable recommendations to customers and friends.

Professional reasons being associated with winemaking, to enable the judgment of the progression of the wine, blending and quality standards

Trade reasons being related to being able to assess quality, condition, suitability for drinking and value for money

The primary role being –

• the appearance and hence use of sight to see colour, clarity etc
• the smell and hence the use of the nose to check on the "nose" or aroma
• the palate or taste of the wine

The secondary role being –

• Touch – the feel of the wine in the mouth

It is considered important to get the correct environment in which to taste wines. It should be of a neutral condition not putting false conditions into your mind or assessment. Ideally with natural daylight and having a white background against which to judge the appearance of the wine. It is obviously important that there should be no background odour and for that reasons perfume should not be worn and smoking should not be permitted. The use of bread or water is often made in order to clean the palate.

Likewise the glass should be clean – clear – odour free – of the correct shape and size which is nominally a tulip shaped stemmed glass where the top is quite narrow to concentrate the aroma. The other piece of equipment expected is the spittoon, although not all tasters choose to spit the wine out after tasting it, however it does become very necessary if you taste a large quantity of different wines in a short period of time.

In order to ensure you gain the best judgment of each wine they need to be tasted in the following order – white before red – dry before sweet – light before full bodied – young before old.

White wine should be cool, but not icy cold, this is normally about 6 to 8 degrees if it is cooled too much it will dull down the flavour and aroma.

Red wine should be at about ambient temperature, not too warm – normally about 12 to 14 degrees. If it is too warm it can taste harsh, rough and it can increase the indication of the alcohol content

A question related to decanting of wines was asked and the speaker stated that decanting was only really necessary for the older wines which tend to throw sediment. Most of the "new world" wines were drunk a lot younger and did not improve by age such that they would not benefit from decanting.

The speaker suggested it is good practice to develop a booklet or record of which wines you like and why. Develop a systematic approach and build a library of your personal choices and he suggested the following topics may be useful in considering each wine that you try –

This gives an indication of the health, age and style of the wine. Check for clarity, if there is any haziness or cloudiness which may indicate a secondary fermentation or bacterial spoilage. Look at the intensity of the colour by tilting the glass to 45 degrees against a white background looking in particular at the rim and the core colours.

Red wines tend to go paler as they age so the rim colour tends to go from Purple (the youngest) through Ruby and Russet to Brown (as the older wine). The actual intensity of the colour being governed by the grape variety and the style of wine making.

White wines darken with age starting with a green tinge when young and going deep yellow with age. Ageing in oak casks will obviously add colour. Sweet wines such as dessert wines tend to have the deeper colour.

The "legs" – or amount that the wine sticks to the side of the glass when swirled around gives an indication of the alcohol, glycerol or sugar content.

Look for crystal or tartrates in a clear sweet wine such as Liebfraumilch which are formed when the wine has been subjected to sudden changes in temperature.

Also look for bubbles as an indication of secondary fermentation, but be aware that some wines do have a residual CO2 level to provide that little "zing" to the flavour such as a Muscadet

This provides you with more information on the condition, the development and the fruit character of the wine. Take an initial gentle sniff, swirl the wine in the glass and then take a deeper sniff.

You are checking for a clean or unclean smell – is there any corkiness (musty, wet cardboard, caused by cork taint). This affect between 1 and 2 % according to the winemakers but between 5 and 6% according to the consumers.

Also for sulphur dioxide (acrid burnt matches) from overuse of sulphur. An acetic smell (vinegar) from dirty winemaking or oxidation (sherry/Madeira wine) where there has been too much oxygen contact during the winemaking process.

Check for intensity. Is it a weak insipid or "closed" wine, or is there intensity indicating a quality wine. You may need to swirl again to check this and possibly warm the wine in your hands to increase the aroma.

Check for the fruit character of the wine and this is all down to individual perception, based on your personal past memories as to whether you think it is fruity, floral, spicy, smokey, oaky, etc

This is what it is all about, but this stage should just be confirming your initial impressions gained from the sight and smell, whilst adding some important details.

Swirl it around the mouth and suck air though the wine to get the different sensations from the different areas of the mouth, tongue and gums and then spit it out

Alex then produced glasses of three different wines for the members to try and to use the system he had outlined to develop their own personal memory bank of personal preferences.

10.1 Date of next meeting:

Branch: Thursday 8 May: Stress Assessing: Anita Levinson

District: Thursday 5^th June: Industrial Site Visit: Abernethy: WCF Potatoes