Safety conference to cover all bases

Controversial, emotional, straightforward and even philosophical, the nine streams at The Safety Conference have all the angles on occupational health and safety covered.

Controversial, emotional, straightforward and even philosophical, the nine streams at The Safety Conference have all the angles on occupational health and safety covered.

Presented by the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), the conference will run from 26 to 28 October at the Sydney Showground.

About 1000 delegates will hear from more than 70 local and international expert speakers from organisations such as: WorkCover NSW; the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission; CSIRO Blue Scope Steel; ANSTO; trade unions; employer groups; universities; and even the Waterfall Special Commission.

The Safety Conference's nine streams will address: the shift from state-based to national oversight of OHS; the politics of OHS in corporations; the power of the workforce; wellness and stress at work; injury management; sleep and safety; OHS for managers; and lessons learnt from tragedy.

SIA NSW division president, Barry Silburn, says the conference reflects workplace safety's human fundamentals: "If you are involved in occupational health and safety at work, you're particularly responsible for the health of your workmates, and that's an incredible burden if you're not really equipped for it".

In a sobering series of sessions sure to bring home that message, speakers who survived workplace tragedies, including the Longford gas explosion and the burning Piper Alpha oil rig, will tell conference delegates their stories.

Those experiences, Mr Silburn says, are included in The Safety Conference's program as a learning experience so that similar tragedies can be avoided in the future.

"Workplaces are safer when workers and managers both understand the importance of OHS and have the knowledge required to implement good safety practices," he says.

"The Safety Conference presentations provide that awareness and the skills you need - whether you're an OHS professional, a manager expected to deal with OHS as one of many roles, or a newly recruited member of a safety committee".

Mr Silburn says OHS is changing rapidly and among the shifts is a trend towards nationalisation of the traditionally state-based systems.

"We're seeing national jurisdiction over OHS by stealth at the same time as the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission is being reshaped by the Federal Government.

"The standards are set nationally - the new Manual Handling Code and Standard we're previewing at the conference is the latest one".

As the pace of work and working hours continue to increase, Mr Silburn says, often-overlooked 'softer' hazards to worker health have to be addressed by occupational health and safety programs.

"At The Safety Conference, we're looking at workplace wellness and the impact of fatigue.

"The good news is that decreasing injury rates allow us to start thinking about what happens 'beyond zero' where everyone's going home safe.

"The bad news is that we're all working longer hours, which can affect our health and productivity in ways that are much harder to measure than a broken limb or a bad back".

In line with this strengthened wellness focus, presenters at The Safety Conference will show delegates how sleep deprivation affects the workings of the brain and teach corporate meditation training and techniques for managing life at speed.

Aside from choosing among the special interest streams, The Safety Conference's delegates can participate in a host of interactive events.

Day one begins with an opening breakfast, featuring Roger McKenzie, whose life was featured in Blind Man's Bluff.

Blinded by a rare strain of meningitis when a teenager, Mr McKenzie is now a motivational speaker and successful businessman.

Day two will feature 'The WorkCover NSW Hypothetical', where Adam Spencer will moderate a lively discussion involving unions, employers and WorkCover NSW on several hypothetical workplace safety challenges.

Among the highlights of day three is a compelling presentation of the human drama associated with dangerous workplaces by safety coach Kevin Berry and Adam Crouch.

Their entertaining look at personal interactions in a safe and controlled learning environment is coupled with some simply but effective coaching techniques.

The Safety Conference finishes on a high note on Friday evening with best practice rewarded at the WorkCover NSW Awards Dinner.

The Safety Conference's delegates also enjoy free admission to The Safety Show, which runs concurrently with the conference, where more than 300 exhibitors will present thousands of safety products and services across 13500m2.

The Safety Conference and The Safety Show will run from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 October 2005 at Southee Complex and The Dome, Hall 2, respectively, at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park.

For more information, contact Australian Exhibitions and Conferences or visit the website.

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