Teresa Budworth, Chief Executive of the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health During a 30 year career in health and safety, she has specialised in safety consultancy; working with a number of Boards of Directors on implementing safety governance within large and diverse organisations. Her work on competence, education and training culminated in her appointment as Chief Executive of NEBOSH; the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health, in 2006. Prior to joining NEBOSH, Teresa combined management of Norwich Union Risk Service’s (now Aviva) Consultancy operation with her post as a non-executive Director and Trustee of NEBOSH and was Senior Examiner for Diploma Part One from its inception in 1997. She is a Visiting Senior Teaching Fellow and member of the Examination Board for post graduate courses in Occupational Health at the University of Warwick’s Medical School. She is a member of RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee and also serves on the judging panel for RoSPA’s annual occupational safety and health awards. She is a member of IOSH Council.
There’s a simple fact about health and safety that sometimes people forget about. Health and safety saves lives. So how does health and safety save lives, you might ask? My answer, well it saves lives in all kinds of ways. I could tell you that as a result of a process of risk management and…
Honestly, some of the things people say and do in the name of health and safety. It makes me laugh and makes me angry all at the same time. For example, a notice appeared in a local gym recently which said that for “health and safety reasons” members were requested to only use hair dryers…
Whenever we think of health and safety we tend to think about employees. But what about others who visit our workplaces, such as maintenance and repair contractors. How do we make sure they’re safe too? One tool often used is the permit-to-work system. A permit-to-work is a documented procedure which simply authorises people to carry…
Let’s face it, it can feel a little bit awkward talking to people about their health problems. Bodily functions and failings aren’t exactly the greatest topic of conversation. Many illnesses or injuries can also be difficult to understand. And let’s not forget mental ill-health. According to the Mental Health Foundation one in 4 people experience…
A few months ago a homeless man from Merseyside was tragically killed after climbing into a commercial waste container. He’d entered the large wheelie bin for some shelter and to get a few hours sleep. Unfortunately he never woke up as the waste container was removed and emptied into a compressor. A truly horrific incident…
Ignoring sound advice once can be a big mistake. Ignoring it twice can have dire consequences! Take the aptly named Doncaster solvents company Solvents with Safety Ltd, which was recently fined after an “unsafe” procedure led to a huge fire that engulfed its Harworth base. Earlier this month Doncaster Magistrates’ Court heard how employees of…
Summer (what summer?) is over and most of us are now back from our annual break. But what about the one in four people who, according to healthcare provider BUPA, don’t take a substantial holiday of a week or more? BUPA say people who don’t take a break put their physical and mental health at…
Recently I ran down forty four flights of stairs for what I thought was a very good reason. It wasn’t because the lift wasn’t working. It wasn’t to help me prepare for the Great North Run later this year. It wasn’t even for a charity, for a bet or some random act of insanity either.…
Champions! I expect we’ll be seeing quite a few of them over the coming weeks now that the London Olympics are underway. But there’s something else I would like to personally champion here, something that’s unlikely to receive quite as much attention as the athletes and sports people competing at the Games. What I would…
I’ve just read about two different companies who were recently prosecuted for health and safety breaches. One was fined £15,000 and is now in liquidation, the other was fined £80,000 and is still operating. But which of the two had the most good fortune, do you think? One, a construction company, was fined for breaching…
I’m sure many of you were saddened to hear of the deaths of two horses in the Grand National this month. Synchronised, one of the favourites for this year’s famous horse race, fell at Becher’s Brook. The horse was later put down. The second victim, According To Pete, was also put down after breaking its…
Like many I was shocked to hear of the collapse on the football field of Bolton player Fabrice Muamba. And I’m relieved to hear that, at the time of writing this article, he appears to be showing signs of recovery. Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest 41 minutes into Bolton’s FA Cup quarter-final with Tottenham at…
I sometimes wonder where people’s priorities lie. Recently I read two news stories on the same day. The first concerned EU proposals for tighter data protection laws. These included powers to impose fines of 1m or 2% of annual turnover on organisations that failed to protect the information they hold about people. In Britain, the…
Technology! Some people love it, some people loathe it. But as the end of the day it’s how useful it is that really counts. So I was happy to read about an idea an employer had recently for using Blackberries to improve the safety of staff. Working alone, or lone-working as we health and safety-types…
Now I don’t really want to come across like some kind of Ebenezer Scrooge, but I think it’s fair to say that not everyone is happy at Christmas time. A few years ago the mental health charity Mind published the findings of a survey which revealed that as many as 40% of people suffer from…