LTB578/16 The Allan St. John Holt Memorial Health & Safety Lecture

No. 578/2016

29 September 2016

Our Ref: C1/16

The Allan St. John Holt Memorial Health & Safety Lecture – Tuesday 18th October, 4pm, at Phoenix Centre, Royal Mail Mount Pleasant, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DG:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

As many CWU Area Safety Reps will know, the late Allan St. John Holt, was the former Royal Mail Group Head of Safety who died in service on 3 May 2007. He was a popular man, well respected by all who knew him and he devoted his life to improving the safety and health of people at work. He made a massive contribution to the subject and was the author the NEBOSH training course book, ‘Principles of health and safety at work’ – an obligatory text for many students which helped thousands of Safety Professionals, Managers and Safety Reps alike whilst studying for NEBOSH qualifications. Allan was awarded the OBE and RoSPA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2007. Allan was strongly supportive of the principle of Employers working with Trade Unions and their Safety Representatives to improve standards in the workplace and he gave great encouragement to all involved in safety and health.

As a fitting way of commemorating his life and work, Royal Mail Group together with RoSPA host an annual memorial lecture to provide a platform for challenge and debate and to stimulate fresh thinking about how to further reduce work related accidents and ill health.
This year’s Allan St John Holt OBE Memorial Lecture will be held on Tuesday 18 October 2016 at 4pm at the Phoenix Centre, Royal Mail Mount Pleasant, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DG. The event is free of charge to attend.

The 2016 Lecture will be given by Paul Farmer CBE – Chief Executive Officer of Mind, the leading mental health charity working in England and Wales since May 2006. Paul is Chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), the leading voice of the UK’s charity and social enterprise sector. Paul is also a trustee at Lloyds Bank Foundation which invests in charities supporting people to break out of disadvantage at critical points in their lives. Paul is Chair of the NHS England Mental Health Taskforce – bringing together health and care leaders and experts in the field, including people using services, to lead a programme of work to create a mental health Five Year Forward View for the NHS in England. Paul has an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of East London, is an Honorary Fellow of St. Peter’s College Oxford and The Royal College of Psychiatrists, and was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours 2016.

The lecture entitled “Taking care of Business” will ask the question. ‘How can good practice be embedded? Where does mental health sit in relation to Health and Safety, diversity and equality and boardroom leadership? What does good practice look like and what role should employers play in the future?’

Past Lectures

2015 – Geoffrey Podger CB – “Health and safety: is Britain going backwards?”
2014 – Dr Clifford Mann – “The need for joined up working across Government to promote accident prevention in order to reduce pressure on the NHS”
2013 – Professor Richard Parish – “Building safe communities: enhancing the business contribution” Improving the Public’s Health
2012 – Professor Ragnar Lfstedt – “Towards a risk intelligent society.” Reclaiming health and safety for all: an independent review of health and safety legislation.
2011 – Rear Admiral Paul Thomas – “Engineering A Safer Future”
2010 – Sir Bill Callaghan -“Risk, Regulation and Rationality”
2009 – Lawrence Waterman -“Motes, beams and sensible safety: taking personal responsibility for professional advice?”
2008 – John Rimington CB -“Health and Safety – Past, Present and Future”

Those wishing to attend the Allan St John Holt 2016 Memorial lecture should contact Nick Burns Tel: 07801091380 Email: nicholas.burns@royalmail.com

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer