ESB International's Health & Safety Week 2008
This year's event- packed Health & Safety week at ESB International has been a great success. Supporting the 2008 European Agency for Safety and Health at Work initiatives, the theme for this year was ‘Risk Assessment', which is considered a central component of accident prevention.
Michael McNicholas, ESBI Executive Director, launched the week on Monday, October 20th with a presentation and workshop on Risk Assessment. A personal video message from Michael was also issued to all staff to reinforce the importance of ESBI Health and Safety at Work.
During the week a series of events were held in Dublin, Cork and across all sites throughout the company. All staff were encouraged to get involved. "If staff participation helps avoid one accident next year then it will have been worthwhile," commented Michael McNicholas, ESBI Executive Director.
Each day, focused on a different Health and Safety issue and was championed by a member of the ESBI Senior Management team. Monday's central focus was the process of Risk Assessment; Tuesday's was Commuting & Travel Risk; Risks in the Home and Working from Home was the theme on Wednesday. Thursday focused on Health Risks and Friday was themed around Risk Assessment in Renewables.
Some of the events taking place included: Risk Assessment Workshops, Garda Road Safety Presentations, Winter-Ready Vehicle Inspections, Bicycle Maintenance Workshop, Fire Prevention Training, Cancer Awareness Seminars, Sports Injuries Prevention, Health Screening, Stress Management, Car- Free Work Day, Alcohol Awareness Presentation, Wind farm Safety Seminar and an Asset Management Services safety conference.
Whilst Health & Safety Week placed a timely focus on the importance of our health and safety at work, staff were reminded that our exposure to hazards and the need to carry out risk assessments should remain with them during all 52 weeks of the year.
Billy Byrne, Manager Human Resources, expressed thanks to all those who participated at the many events and extended his special thank you to the Health & Safety Week organising committee of Brian Gray, Greg Dooley, Marie Barry, Lorraine Daly, Declan O'Brien, Bernard Murray, Declan Hayes, Dave O'Connor and Maureen Ferguson.
