What are your big health and safety concerns?

Research carried out by NURS last year revealed that managers were mainly concerned by traditional issues such as manual handling, transport safety, working at height and managing contractors.

"We want to know if there's been any change in employers' concerns since then," explained Rachael Haynes, NURS business development manager.

"What influence is the new corporate manslaughter legislation having on managers' thinking, for example? Are environmental management, workplace stress or occupational health becoming bigger issues at work?"

As a result, NURS today announced it would be carrying out further research at this year's Safety and Health Expo event, which is being held at the Birmingham NEC on 13 to 15 May.

Anyone taking part in the study will be given the opportunity to win one of around twenty free half-day "fact-finder" visits by an NURS consultant for their organisation. NURS fact-finder visits help to identify health and safety priorities for organisations, and result in suggestions for improvement.

Don't be concerned if you cannot make it to this year's Safety and Health Expo, as anyone with an interest in health and safety is also being given the chance to take part in the study by telephone - more details at the end of this article.

Future training

Rachael Haynes commented: "Ultimately this research will prove useful to our customers as it helps us shape our future training programmes, as well as identifying topics of interest to cover on our website."

Rachael added that NURS was also interested in uncovering the training and qualification needs of other senior managers in organisations and company board members.

"Recent research by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) showed that organisations with managers who were more highly qualified in health and safety, had much lower accident rates.

"MPs are also now pushing for accreditation through qualifications within the health and safety profession. Training in health and safety is clearly of growing importance, and we'd like to hear more people's views on this."

To take part in the research, visit stand E60 at Safety and Health Expo. You can have a free coffee on us too! If you haven't already registered to attend the show, click here.

If you cannot make it but still want to take part in the study, send an email here, entitled 'Safety and Health Expo research' and provide your name, telephone number, job title and the name of your organisation. We'll be in touch around the time of the event.