Wednesday 24 June 2009

Step Change in Safety Share Fair sees record workforce attendance

Step Change in Safety welcomed a record number of delegates to its safety Share Fair today (24 June), with the turnout exceeding 200 attendees. The Step Change Share Fair is a unique safety sharing event at which on- and offshore workers, safety representatives, offshore installation managers and industry leaders come together to openly discuss their experiences, current safety issues and best practice.

Ian Crossan, leader of the Step Change in Safety support team, said: "This fantastic turnout at our sharing event clearly shows that Step Change is focusing on the right issues and is connecting well with the workforce. Today has not only focused on the sharing of best practice but the event provided open forum sessions in which the workforce was able to share any safety issues and concerns."

Jake Molloy, regional organiser for RMT, who recently joined the Step Change in Safety leadership team, said: "Events such as this are a step in the right direction. It is important that we establish better mechanisms for communication between the workforce and industry leaders. It is the guys on the installations that can actually tell you how safety performance measures up and we need to start listening to them.

"Since I joined the Step Change in Safety leadership team, I have been encouraged by the work that is going on, in particular in the areas of asset integrity, competence of work and workforce engagement. However, we are not yet where we should be in terms of engaging with the workforce and more needs to be done. Ultimately, better workforce engagement will lead to improved offshore safety."

ENDS

 

For further information contact Britta Hallbauer on 01224 577331