The British Safety Council is holding a half-day conference in Manchester on 26 February to update employers in the north west of England and surrounding regions on important developments in UK health and safety legislation, practice and enforcement.
The conference is aimed at employers, directors and managers in businesses and organisations of all types, sizes and sectors. It will highlight some of the major workplace risks that employers have to manage and seek to improve their knowledge about meeting this challenge.

Held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester city centre, the event takes place from 8.15 - 12.00. Expert speakers from the health, safety and legal sectors will address delegates.

In light of the coalition government's continuing efforts to simplify the UK's legal framework for health and safety and the ever-present threat of prosecution and heavy fines for those businesses who fail to meet their health and safety duties, the conference will focus strongly on recent changes to the law and trends in health and safety enforcement and prosecution.

Lee Hughes, regulatory lawyer at Osborn Abas Hunt, a Manchester law practice, will explain how an apparent trend to prosecute company directors and managers when taking corporate manslaughter charges against a business highlights the risk of employers failing to ensure adequate health and safety standards at work.

Peter Savage, chief operations officer at St John Ambulance, will explain how, following a legal change in October 2013, employers must now carry out their own checks on the competence of first aid training providers, rather than relying on a previous system of approved trainers run by the Health and Safety Executive.

Paul Cook from the Health and Safety Executive will explain how new guidance on managing health and safety provides an effective framework for identifying, assessing and controlling common risks - thereby protecting employees and others from the risk of injury and ill health.

Nattasha Freeman, head of health and safety at property consultancy GBR Phoenix Beard, will provide an overview of key developments in the regulation of health and safety in construction. Ms Freeman is a past President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the membership body for health and safety professionals, and will explain recent changes to the legal controls on work with asbestos affecting the construction and refurbishment sectors, and government plans to simplify the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which place health and safety duties on all parties involved in major construction work. She will also draw on her extensive experience as a construction health and safety professional to outline ways of managing the risks from fire in large occupied buildings.

Finally, Gary Jewkes and Tony Murphy from Ellesmere Port-based legionella management specialist Wrights Services UK, will discuss their experiences of controlling exposure to the potentially dangerous bacteria at a complex industrial site. Wrights Services UK is contracted to control legionella in water systems at ESSAR's giant Stanlow Oil refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and Gary and Tony will outline some of the techniques used to protect employees and the public from the threat of developing Legionnaires' disease.

The conference also provides an opportunity to gain continuing professional development (CPD) credits for Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) CPD schemes.

Delegate fees are £90 + VAT for British Safety Council members, and £115 + VAT for non-members. Delegates who book and pay for their place(s) by 15 January 2014 will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a Kindle Fire (terms and conditions apply).

To book a place at the conference visit www.britsafe.org/keepup call 020 8741 1231 or email customer.service@britsafe.org