Power Generation Safety Conference 2008

The annual power Generation Safety Conference, took place in Morans Silversprings Hotel Cork on Wednesday, April 2nd and Thursday, April 3rd. This two day event was organised prior to the commencement of Power Generation's 2008 overhaul season and was used as an opportunity to re-focus attention on matters of health and safety in advance of a large increase in the work programme throughout all ESB Power Generation locations.

The theme for this years conference was 'People Focused Safety' with particular emphasis on addressing the human issues as they affect safety management.

The first day of the conference was attended by the 'Safety Advisors' – Nominated Safety Engineers, Safety Services Officers, Staff Safety Representatives and Safety Services. The focus of the day was new legislation and it's impact on ESB Power Generation activities.

There was a large attendance at the conference dinner, and a fun table quiz hosted by Mick O'Brien from Aghada ensured a very enjoyable end to the days proceedings.

The second day of the conference, which was focused at the front line and middle managers from ESB Power Generation locations as well as Safety Advisors, was opened by Mick O'Mahony who gave an outline of upcoming safety initiatives and took the opportunity to launch the 2008 ESB Power Generation Safety Improvement Plan.

Presentations concentrated on the 'people' side of safety management and accident prevention.

During the conference Pat O'Doherty, Executive the Director Power Generation presented prizes to the winning locations in the Power Generation Excellence in Health and Safety awards 2007. The overall prize was won, for the second time in a row, by Erne Stations. Merit Awards were won by Marina, Poolbeg, Erne, ET&R, Moneypoint MERP and lough Ree Power.

The keynote speaker for the conference was Pierce Martin, Chief Executive Officer of NISO (National Irish Safety Organisation) who gave an insight into People Focused Safety. In his presentation Pierce stressed a number of areas which need to be addressed in order to achieve zero accidents including strong Safety Leadership, having an effective risk assessment programme as well as a comprehensive Safety Management system that can demonstrate progress and improved safety on the ground. Pierce concluded by outlining the areas on which the HSA are focusing in 2008.

In his closing remarks Pat O'Doherty said that we as a company had invested a lot of effort into maintaining the practical elements around safety management, but that we now needed to raise the bar to give greater consideration to the human elements underpinning safety management. He also stated that ESB as a company has increased its emphasis on the “Health” component of Health and Safety.

During the conference, delegates were given the opportunity to visit a number of displays on Health and Safety related topics ranging from OH&S to OHSAS as well as displays on PPE, Power Generation Safety Bulletins and rescue equipment. The conference was also used as an opportunity to relaunch the Power Generation Mobile Safety Promotion Unit.

Presentations are available to view or download on the Power Generation Intranet Site.