Newsletter August 2002
The secret is out!
We can now tell you about our next Construction Industry Seminar at Bletchley Park, home of the forerunner to today's GCHQ. The Park is now a major visitor attraction thanks to the work of the Trust, the publicity surrounding the Enigma machine and recent film and TV programmes.
The HSE's Asbestos legislation is, according to information received from the HSE this week, ready for signature this month and the HSE have the ACoP, Management Doc and associated documentation ready to print for 24 September 2002 when the go ahead is given.
Our Asbestos Complete Compliance Workshop for Health & Safety is announced and ready for delivery through the 'Asbestos Complete' package.
Construction Industry Seminar 3 October 2002
Our next seminar will be held in the Ballroom at Bletchley Park, headquarters of Britain's code breaking in the Second World War. Speakers include a representative from the HSE, Mouchel and Casella Environmental. Each will support the overall objective of the seminar to increase awareness of the new Asbestos Regulations and how they can be managed in the workplace.
The Government Code and Cypher School and MI6 were based at Bletchley Park in World War Two. It is widely believed that their code breaking work shortened the war by about 2 years. It was here that Alan Turin began his work that led to the first commercial computer in the UK.
Quoting from the Trust's literature, "Under its World War Two cover name of Station X, Bletchley Park (BP) was home to some of the finest brains of the day and their efforts in breaking 'unbreakable' enemy codes in the utmost secrecy caused Winston Churchill to coin the phrase 'the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled'. During the Second World war, BP seethed with life, intellectual stimulus, individuality, and eccentricity."
We have been keen to work with the BP Trust for some time because we support and believe in the aims of this local charitable trust. Discussions have taken place with the Trust's Management Team over a number of months to secure not only the venue but also their agreement to work with them on a major refurbishment project within the Park. We have offered to support them, in part, by the use of our new software and plan to include a presentation about the project at our seminar.
Our agenda for the morning includes;
- Health & Safety Update including 'Revitalising H&S Proposals by HSE'
Mike Stokes, Director of Health & Safety, Mouchel - HSE Awareness Programme Introduction
Anne Marlow, Ai Solutions - Bletchley Park Project
Shaun Armstrong, Operations Director, Bletchley Park - HSE Management Guidance for the Asbestos Regulations
Bob Daunton, Specialist Inspector, HSE - Proposed Asbestos legislation for Clearance Procedures
Bill Sanderson, Casella Environmental - ToolKit CS™ for CDM and Asbestos
Ai Solutions Team
Following lunch, there will be an optional tour of Bletchley Park to learn about the key role that BP played in code breaking, including the famous Enigma machine.
Because of the popularity of the venue, and the increasing cost of administration for our seminars, bookings can only be taken on receipt of payment, by credit card or by cheque. Proforma Invoices are available for those that need them in advance of payment of the £90 fee, or £75 for existing ToolKit™ users excluding VAT. The fee includes lunch, refreshments and the optional tour. Places are limited so please book early and note that cancellation conditions apply. Please see here for more details including the booking form.
'Asbestos Complete' - Corporate Compliance H&S Workshops
Working with our partner Pcubed (see Pcubed and Asbestos Complete for more information), we have started a series of Corporate Compliance Workshops. The workshops are designed to identify how large organizations comply with and communicate procedures associated with the new Asbestos Management health & safety legislation. This includes but is not restricted to CDM and Asbestos Management. The benefit to the organization is to identify where they do and do not comply with legislation and the options available to them to improve.
In our experience, the key issues always involve the architecture of systems and how they succeed or fail to communicate both vertically within departments and probably more importantly, across organizational boundaries. We are contacting organisations through our users to see where we can provide these workshops to further support them.
Asbestos Regulations 2002
The long awaited new regulations for the management of asbestos are on schedule for signing at the end of August, according to information just received from the HSE. The associated 'ACoP' and 'Management Guidance for the Asbestos Regulations' (to be reviewed at our seminar by HSE) documents are expected to be published on 24th September 2002 in time for the 'official' HSE press launch in London on the 3rd October. Coincidentally, this is the same day as our Bletchley Park seminar, so we may be able to keep attendees up to date with the news as it breaks!
Asbestos Awareness Training
We have previously announced the availability of the HSE's Asbestos Awareness Training courses. We look forward to requests to deliver this programme. Newsletters from HSE's Brian Trevette are available from our web site.
Software Product Development
We are delighted to report that our product development plans are on track. Our new CDM and Asbestos ToolKit CS™ product is available for new customers. The product comes with a choice of database engines including Microsoft's SQL Server database. Upgrades from CDM ToolKit™ 2000 will be available in August. Product details are available on our web site.
Other Issues
ESRI
Our June Newsletter asked for contact with your ESRI - CAPS Uniform representative if you have one. We are still trying to contact you if you have not responded!
SHE Exhibition
Please make a note in your diary! We plan to be exhibiting at the SHE Exhibition in Harrogate 15-16 October 2002. We will be delighted to see you and your colleagues at this important Health and Safety show.