Presidential Duties include Attending Out-of-Country Conferences:

IOSH Conference - a look back

I posted an update on the ASSE conference that I attended at the end of June and I’ve received a couple of comments back – thanks.

I thought that I should post something about the only other international conference that we attend in our calendar year – the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) Conference in the UK.

I was invited to bring greetings from CSSE at the opening ceremonies and to moderate an afternoon of presentations in the health stream at the IOSH Conference in Telford, England, which ran Monday March 26 to Wednesday March 28, 2007. I have included a couple of pictures from the event.

I get to formally represent CSSE membership at only two international, out of country, Professional Development events - the ASSE and IOSH conferences - specifically chosen by the board for the President to attend. The NAOSH Week Chair / Secretary attends an out of country function – the National Launch event for the ASSE in Washington every year. There is also a meeting of INSHPO that our representative makes once a year somewhere else in the world.

I know that there have been some comments asking why we are attending these functions out of country and I cannot fully express how important this really is. It is truly an investment in the CSSE’s future – in our initiatives, activities, programming, and if we are bringing value to our members from a global perspective.

The fact that contacts are made and experiences are shared, which become resources available to assist with common issues, is tremendous. Information gained and brought back can greatly affect this organization. As we watch IOSH restructure their board and being movers and shakers with getting the safety profession chartered, we can learn and explore how this affects our membership here and abroad. This knowledge helps in discussions and decisions around our Board table. Sharing information at this last IOSH Conference is going to lead to new offerings of professional development sessions and we wouldn’t be in these discussions if we had not built our relationships. And as you all know relationship building needs face-to-face time and communication – whether business or personal.

NAOSH Week would not be what it is today across North America if we had never attended the launches in Washington. There is discussion around international tables with ideas of taking this concept Global, and this would not be influenced if we were not around the tables.

We have increased membership and PDC and other event involvement. We see speakers that are willing to travel and share with us at our PDC. If we were not around the table we would not be in discussions with other safety associations re: partnering of events to increase attendance at our conference and activities.

I guess we can sum it up by saying that through these few trips each year… we bring the CSSE to the world and the world to CSSE. We need to play the game or not… I believe that the CSSE is and should be on the world stage as a leader in the profession. At the moment we are there and we are respected.

Photos from the IOSH Conference, March 2007. Click on each photo for a full description.


Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.