3rd September 2003
Notes from the INSHPO conference call meeting held on 3rd September 2003:
Participants: Paul Faupel, IOSH (Chairman)
Eddie Greer, ASSE
John Boerefyn, CSSE
Jim Allan, CSSE
Sarah Hamilton, IOSH
1/03 Welcome
Paul greeted all participants and offered to informally chair the meeting.
2/03 Issues to be discussed
It was agreed that the issues to be discussed during the conference call meeting would be the budget, the strategic plan covering both the short and long term objectives and potential members to join INSHPO.
3/03 Budget
Following the circulation of the proposed budget with the minutes of the last meeting held in June 2003, John and Jim confirmed that the CSSE were happy with the proposal and agreed to both the start-up costs and the annual membership fee. Since both the ASSE and IOSH were also in agreement, the model for the membership fees can now be disseminated more widely and details be provided on the web-site.
4/03 Strategic plan
It was agreed that each of the objectives detailed under the draft INSHPO project plan, circulated with the last minutes, should be discussed in turn :-
Short term objectives
· Develop an INSHPO PowerPoint presentation which gives an overview of the aims and objectives, members etc of the Network.
It was suggested that two presentations should be developed, one for in-house use and another for an external audience. This idea was debated and a further suggestion made that one of the versions should be put on the web-site, which could be a higher tech version than the one which would be presented at conferences etc. Everyone agreed that the PowerPoint presentation needed to be fresh and eye-catching.
Action: Jim offered to make a start with the PowerPoint presentation, and would welcome contributions from the other organisations. This draft version would be need to be produced by the end of the year, as the product needed to be ready to show the three respective boards by early 2004.
· A. Present an INSHPO paper at member's respective conferences - to take the format of a workshop session to include a presentation on INSHPO - its aims and objectives etc, plus a discussion paper on a relevant technical topic - sharing experience and information.
This was seen as a very worthwhile objective and one which had been very successful in the format of a round-the-table discussion at a previous CSSE conference. It was agreed that there was insufficient time to include this item at the CSSE conference in 2003, however all the organisations agreed to pursue this idea for their conferences in 2004.
Action: IOSH to consider including a platform at the IOSH conference in April 2004 for an INSHPO presentation and round-the-table discussion.
[Post meeting note - unfortunately the programme has now been finalised for 2004, however this point will be mentioned to the Conference 2005 working party. An INSHPO meeting and discussion as a side meeting will however still take place during the IOSH conference].
Action: ASSE to consider including a platform at the ASSE conference in June 2004 for an INSHPO presentation and round-the-table discussion - Eddie to liaise with Fred Fortman.
Action: CSSE to consider including a platform at the CSSE conference in September 2004 for an INSHPO presentation and round-the-table discussion - John to discuss with the CSSE Board.
B. Also consider holding an International Forum reception to encourage new members to join.
It was agreed that this objective should be considered once INSHPO was in a position to hold an International meeting, and therefore was seen as a longer term objective.
· Present an INSHPO paper at other conferences at which members are attending - to take the format of a workshop session to include a presentation on INSHPO - its aims and objectives etc plus a discussion paper on a relevant technical topic - sharing experience and information e.g. mobility, competence standards etc.
This objective was seen as a good idea, but it needed to be treated with a degree of caution. Contacts within other organisations needed to be built up very carefully, and the motives and strategies of these organisations understood before INSHPO was presented to them. It was stressed that the idea of partnership needed to be promoted, with absolutely no sense of INSHPO being either a competitor or a threat.
Action: All to consider suitable contacts through whom this objective can be developed e.g David Eves.
· Mentoring for smaller organisations and at the same time learning from all organisations in terms of cultural aspects etc.
Clarification was provided by the Secretariat that this objective would in the short term be an informal means of mentoring, and that any request for help from another organisation would be answered. Particularly as INSHPO develops, the Network will be seen as a pool of collective knowledge to be shared. It was agreed that the wording for this objective should be amended as follows :-
"Upon request provide mentoring for smaller organisations ……"
Long term objectives
· Gather data from various countries on competence standards and present the findings in a workshop format at an appropriate conference forum e.g. World Congress for Safety and Health - USA 2005, ICOH - Milan, Italy 2006.
It was agreed that it would be most worthwhile for the founding members of INSHPO and other subsequent members to provide useful and informative data on a topic such as competence. It was important however that this task started early in 2004 in order that the data would be ready for 2005, due to the work involved in such a task. It was agreed that the World Congress in September 2005 should be the target date.
Action: Secretariat to investigate the call for papers deadline for the World Congress event, with a view to a suitable paper on INSHPO and the issue of competence being presented.
Eventually once INSHPO was in a position to organise an independent meeting/conference, a number of key issues could be presented including competence, application of global standards etc.
· Establish a data bank of information that is useful and pertinent for safety and health practitioners from across the world.
It was agreed that this objective would be undertaken in terms of developing a list of links which would ultimately form an inventory of resources, rather than creating a unique database.
· Harness the views and opinions of safety and health practitioners from across the world and form a collective opinion on a wide range of issues to influence decision makers.
A wide ranging discussion took place on this and it was agreed that this could be quite a contentious issue in terms of what the INSHPO opinion would be on an issue, and who would have the final say on what would be published etc. It was agreed that this point would be a much more longer term objective and linked to INSHPO achieving a critical mass in terms of numbers of members, thereby being a more representational body, and also as importantly, having credibility with key decision makers e.g ILO, WHO etc. It was also agreed that this objective should be viewed in terms of developing a forum on a particular subject matter and maybe linking this to a resource list, rather than it being an INSHPO opinion.
· Assist in enhancing the recognition of the safety and health profession in all parts of the world.
Various points were made including the fact that this objective should be more strongly worded and could be viewed more as part of a mission statement than as an objective, and that it relates directly to the 1st objective in the Bylaws. The question of how this objective could be measured was discussed and it was suggested that one way could be via the previous objective, i.e. via the influence INSHPO could have with bodies such as the ILO etc. It was agreed that this objective needed to be looked at further once the membership of INSHPO had grown, and that it was dependent on the development and identification of other key bodies.
5//03 Other potential organisations to join INSHPO
Paul provided feedback from the APOSHO (Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organisation)
Conference which had been received from the IOSH attendees :-
· In discussions with the Chinese Society for Science & Technology of Labour Protection (CSSTLP) a very positive response had been received regarding INSHPO and CSSTLP are very keen to be members and would like to 'be involved in INSHPO from the beginning'.
· CSSTLP see that it is critical that INSHPO have Eastern as well as Western members, and that their prominent involvement will encourage other organisations in the Asia Pacific region to join.
· CSSTLP would like a formal invitation to join INSHPO as well receiving all the supporting documentation.
· A meeting has also taken place with a delegation from IOSHM (Mauritius) which has included their President. IOSHM are also very keen to join INSHPO and have seen copies of the bylaws etc, but also need minutes and attachments from the last meeting.
· A meeting with Martin Ralph, Managing Director of IFAP (Industrial Foundation for Accident Prevention), Australia has taken place and he is very keen for IFAP to join INSHPO.
All agreed that CSSTLP should be invited to join INSHPO and the necessary documentation be sent to them. Concern was raised in respect of two applicant organisations from Australia joining INSHPO, namely the SIA and IFAP, however the Secretariat confirmed that the two organisations represent significantly different constituencies within Australia and therefore Article 3, section 3 of the Bylaws would still apply. It was therefore agreed that IFAP should join, along with IOSHM (Mauritius).
Action: Secretariat to formulate an appropriate letter to send to the CSSTLP, IFAP and IOSHM and share with the ASSE and CSSE before being sent out, and then subsequently send to all three organisations the necessary joining documentation and copies of the last minutes etc.
06/03 Any other business
Eddie advised that he would contact Kelly Fanella with regards to the web-site and ask her to email the password to the Secretariat in order to allow everyone access to the site once all appropriate documents had been uploaded.
Paul thanked everyone for their active participation and finished the meeting 4.15pm.
Distribution
Eddie Greer
James 'Skipper' Kendrick
Fred Fortman
Kelly Fanella
John Boerefyn
Jim Allan
Wayne Glover
Eleanor Lawson
Paul Faupel
John Lacey
Lawrence Waterman
Rob Strange
David Eves
Sarah Hamilton
SH
Leicester, UK
October 03