The Annual Glass Conference, which took place on 5th November 2003, was yet another resounding success for the glass industry. This particular annual event goes from strength to strength with a record 220 delegates in attendance this year.
Held at the prestigious Renaissance Hotel in Solihull, Birmingham, the event was hosted by British Glass and the Glass and Glazing Federation, and included the novel approach of two separate sector arenas within the same conference, however with the option of mixing specialist presentations from each of the areas.
Opening speeches from both Mr David Workman, Director General of British Glass and Mr Ian Chisholm, Deputy Chief Executive of the Glass and Glazing Federation, discussed the progress and commitment of the industry in general with regards to recent efforts on the safety agenda.
A keynote speech by Mr Bill Callaghan, Chairman of the Health & Safety Executive, informed delegates of the proposed changes to HSE strategy in 2010 and beyond. Mr Callaghan also congratulated the glass industry on their significant improvement over the last two years in both the industry injury statistics, and approach and attitude to health and safety in general. It was noted that the incident rate for the industry has experienced a 5% reduction together with a 38% reduction in lost man hours and a 13% reduction in reportable injuries.
The theme of the Conference was partnerships and sharing best practice. Delegates enjoyed presentations on subjects such as Key Safe Behaviours, Managing Asbestos, Fire Risk Assessment, Working at Heights, Workplace Transport and much more.
To add value to the day, British Glass flew in a motivational safety speaker from the USA, Richard Hawk who has published a number of books on his specialist subject. Richard delighted the delegates with his off the wall approach to making safety fun and delegates were able to take away practical and fun ideas and some, a few weird and wacky gifts as well!
To round the day off completely, there were major celebrations as The Glass Charter Awards were launched at the Conference this year. The following organisations were among the winners of the prestigious health and safety categories:
Pilkington UK
Rockware plc
Beatson Clark
Brunner Mond
St Gobain
S Murray & Co
Nicholls & Clarke
Greenberg Glass
Waterford Crystal
Rexam Glass
Fineline
The Overall Winners Category was won by Pilkington UK for their outstanding organisational achievements in health and safety as a whole.
The Glass Charter Awards mark a major milestone reached by the glass industry in its quest for Safety Excellence. The UK glass industry is now considered to be one of the UK’s leaders on the target initiative regimes which have been launched and promoted by the HSE on the back of the revitalising targets. However the industry and The Glass Charter members do not intend to sit back and relax; they will continue to be proactive within the fields of promoting and sharing best practice throughout the industry, with more innovative projects planned for 2004 together with proposals for yet another exciting and dynamic Conference on 3rd November 2004
