Newsletter February 2008

New Opportunities for 'Joined Up Working' across London

We are delighted to welcome Westminster City Council to the growing number of London Boroughs now using the ToolKit Compliance System. Along with Transport for London and EDF Energy, we have an enviable user base now able to work together in the London area.

EDF Energy has established a new team to work with the Olympics site development and they too, are ToolKit CS users. The CDM 2007 Regulations have become the catalyst for many changes in the way CDM is managed. It is gratifying to see that the biggest London Borough has now chosen to use the ToolKit to help  achieve their compliance goals and that other major organisations are taking a keen interest in the product.

Managing CDM within Budget

The escalation of CDM-C fees as a result of supply and demand has led to a predictable leaching of qualified personnel from local government in particular to higher paid consultancies. There is however, a new opportunity for cash strapped managers to rein in their costs from CDM work and we are looking for the opportunity to show them how.

'Managing CDM within Budget' is the title of one of the many excellent presentations planned for our Annual Conference (below). The presentation includes material from a new course offered by Ai Solutions Ltd to senior managers. It is aimed at organisations striving to 'close the gap' between the need to comply and the resources - including budgets - at their disposal. This innovative approach is available as a standalone course or as a series of managed sessions with management teams. Please contact us for more information. 

Annual Conference Tuesday 22nd April 2008

Our Annual Conference offers an even wider brief than usual with the keynote presentation by Andrew East, the HSE's CDM chief policy maker. Andrew has become a very popular presenter as well as a senior member of the HSE team. We are particularly grateful, therefore, that he has found time to spend his morning with us for the second year running to add gravitas to our ever popular event.

The Annual Conference is held primarily for the benefit of our users with a supporting agenda targeted at their needs. This year it is wider than ever, representing a great opportunity to catch up on the affairs of the CDM neighbourhood at a very reasonable price. We would like all our users to send a representative to the event this year. So please visit our web site and sign up now.

Held at the prestigious Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly London, the agenda includes presentations on:

• CDM One Year On
• Corporate Manslaughter
• Managing Compliance - CHAS
• Managing CDM within Budget
• CDM 2007 - Making a Difference

There appears to be more and more activity in the CDM environment as everyone from the Client to the Contractor strive to keep within the new 2007 CDM rules. We have themed the conference to embody those rules as the 4C's for Compliance:

  - Communication
  - Co-operation

  - Co-ordination
  - Competence Management

So please come and take part, do some networking with some likeminded professionals or simply relax and take in the content of what promises to be another very worthwhile event.

The conference starts at 10:00, includes a buffet lunch and an optional tour of the Club. There is as small charge for the event which qualifies for CPD certificates if required.

Please register using our online form.

ToolKit User Events for 2008

Our ToolKit Users may like advance warning of the following scheduled events for 2008. The events are all free

• Major Account Review Meetings
• User Workshops

We would like all our customers to come to one of the review meetings so that we can continue to work together to enhance ToolKit CS™ to meet the changing needs of organisations with the 2007 CDM regulations.

Our User Workshops provide an excellent opportunity to see the pre-release version of our 6 monthly product updates, with some instruction, so that users can be well prepared for the installed product shortly after the events.

Prospective Customer Seminars 2008

We are delighted to announce a series of road-shows for 2008 so that we can reach out to different areas of the UK and present our product options to prospective customers. The seminar programme includes short, two hour sessions to discuss the requirements of the HSE's CDM regulations and the benefits of our ToolKit compliance System, our flagship product and the many options now on offer.

Prospective Customers are invited to our Annual Conference in London where we include a number of presentations about issues of interest to users in the CDM and Asbestos Management area.

March Release of ToolKit CS™ Update

We anticipate releasing our next ToolKit CS™ Update on time at the end of March 2008. This is a regular Update in line with our published policy of keeping users of our current product up to date with product enhancements, bug fixes and knowledge base updates where required.

We will run Free Workshops at our headquarters in Leighton Buzzard for users to make their own evaluation of the product updates prior to release.

An Early Easter

Many readers will be wondering why Easter is so early this year. Now we could arrange for it to be a little earlier - by one day - but you will have to wait around for a while; until 2285! The latest date, 25th April, will be along a while sooner; in 2038 apparently.

The Christian Church set out the rules for Easter Day calculations. These have been complex and cover many centuries including the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendars. It works like this.

Easter Day is set for the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the 21 March.

The Church went for a fixed date for the Spring Equinox although, astronomically, the equinox varies by a day or so from year to year. You may also be interested to note that in 2008, midsummer's day will be on 20th June; this is the first time the summer solstice has been on the 20th June since 1897.

If you are interested in more information see The Determination of Easter.

More Information

We regularly receive updates from our customers and contacts about changes to legislation, the latest rumours and so on. We try to be selective with what we pass on and acknowledge our sources as appropriate. If you have information of general interest in the Health & Safety, and particularly, CDM and Asbestos Management arena, then please let us know by e-mail if possible.