Responsible Post Holder Meeting

Zoom details have now been sent out for this event - if you have registered and not received these, please check your junk mail folder or contact us via conference@archaeologists.net


Our next Responsible Post Holder meeting will be held on Tuesday, 9 March from 14:00 - 16:00 via Zoom. 

This meeting is for Registered Organisations and their Responsible Post Holders or a delegate nominated by the RO's RPH.

The four presentations will look at Health and Safety from a variety of perspectives with opportunities for questions. After the presentations participants will be able to discuss the points raised and to share issues and solutions in small separate groups, giving everyone the opportunity to join in the discussion.

Agenda

14.00     Work in the Time of Corona: the positive effects of active engagement with your trade union on Health and Safety

Mike Curnow, Prospect Archaeologists Branch H&S lead

The arrival of COVID-19 in the UK in early 2020, created a public health crisis on a scale not seen in over a century.  With the rapidly changing situation making it difficult for government and industry guidance to stay current, commercial archaeological companies faced the unenviable task of protecting their staff from a deadly virus- while also fulfilling obligations to clients with relatively little support.  This presentation sets out my experience of the pandemic as a union health and safety representative in the Prospect Archaeologists’ Branch and how active engagement between archaeological companies and trade unions has ensured safe working conditions and supported the wellbeing of all staff.  It has also supported companies in their discussions with clients and ultimately improved relations between the union, staff, and management.

14.15     Managing health and safety as a small organisation - advisers, pitfalls, and training

Kevin Potter MCIfA, Responsible Post Holder, Avon Archaeology

Details to follow

14.30     Pre-Project H&S assessment

              Rob Early MCIfA, WSP Responsible Post Holder

All intrusive works at WSP are considered ‘critical risk’ projects.  Presentation will provide a review of feedback from WSP HS&W team on risk assessment processes from bid to site works phase, looking at some of the common issues that arise both from archaeological works but also from other environmental disciplines.

14.45     Safety reports

Caroline Raynor MCIfA, Project Manager Euston North and Principal Archaeologist on the Costain Skanska HS2 EW South Delivery JV

Reporting of safety, health, and environmental incidents and near misses is a significant part of measuring your business’s safety culture. It also provides key data which can be used to monitor performance, mitigate risk, implement lessons learnt and measure levels of understanding within the wider site teams. Ultimately it is an organisational responsibility to set the right tone, implement functional systems and provide positive reinforcement through feedback to employees, in order to encourage reporting at all levels of the organisation, no matter the size or number of employees. How do we achieve this across the sector and what can we learn from the construction sector’s approach?

15.00     Break

15.05     Breakout discussion rooms

15.50     Feedback and closing remarks