This has without doubt been a significant year for health and safety, at something of a crossroads in the UK. The government is wasting no time rolling out its reform agenda, and some consultations have already concluded. So it has been important to find out fast what our members think on these issues, from radical changes to the accident reporting regulations to a wholesale review of health and safety law. We developed a new strategy for listening to as many members’ views as possible, including surveys and policy panels, giving us the opportunity to present representative and well-thought through opinions and suggestions to government. This is vital – our members talk from wide experience of what goes on across industry, from the shop floor to the boardroom. < Go Back

This year our membership reached nearly 39,500 – over 500 members joined in January alone, a record for us. We also saw 6,000 people upgrading to become Graduate or Technician Members – another record. We really welcome ambition in action in this way – it demonstrates that more and more people are committing to health and safety, and taking their profession seriously. We’ve helped members move forward with better support than ever before – we ran 30 workshops for people interested in joining our Initial Professional Development programme, and launched our ‘Unlock your potential’ scheme for highly qualified Technician Members wanting to step up to Chartered status. Read More >

More than 6,000 members gave us their views in our biennial ‘Looking to the future’ survey – by far our largest response. Among the thousands of comments, one theme stood out. Members want to see IOSH work to help build the business case for health and safety, and highlight the links to business survival and growth. They also back the move towards a more balanced, sensible take on health and safety, allowing businesses to protect people while at the same time operating effectively in a competitive marketplace. And being relevant and accessible to the small business sector featured strongly in members’ feedback. We really value this input, which will undoubtedly play a big part in shaping the future of the Institution. The survey results will feed into the consultation phase to define our new corporate strategy, started this year. < Go Back

We continued to create alliances with our international counterparts. We built our reach and profile in countries from Romania to Singapore, and signed formal agreements with the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals and the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management. 2011 also saw a major international project take shape – we have been involved in the development of the new Center for Safety and Health Sustainability, along with our partners, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the American Industrial Hygiene Association. The idea behind the new centre is to improve the health and safety content of international sustainability and corporate social responsibility indices, raise awareness of how health and safety can secure the future of businesses, and get it more firmly embedded in corporate and public policy agendas. The centre is due to Read More >

be launched officially at the ASSE conference in Chicago in June.

Despite the difficult economic conditions, IOSH 2011, staged in London, was one of our biggest conferences to date, showing that the appetite for new thinking, fresh perspectives and the chance to network with professionals across a huge range of sectors is still strong. As ever, our members are naturally collaborative, willing to share successes – and failures – to help others working to protect people, whatever they do for a living.

The next 12 months are likely to be some of the most challenging IOSH has yet faced, and we hope that our recent staff restructure will mean we’re now better placed to face those challenges. My thanks go to the hundreds of members giving their time and < Go Back

energy to run our networks and come up with innovative projects to support their communities and industry. And I’d like to extend thanks, too, to our Council, committees, trustees and team at The Grange for the enormous amount of work they’ve done this year, both behind the scenes and as the public face of our professional body.

Rob Strange OBE

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