Regular podcasts available for free
Our regular podcasts will take the form of amusing conversations between RRC Training's health and safety experts and a fictional disgruntled businessman played by Jon Glover, well-known as Mr Cholmondley-Warner in the Harry Enfield TV sketches.
These short, easily-digestible podcasts, focusing on a range of topical health and safety issues are intended to be both entertaining and informative and to be of value and interest to HSE professionals employed across all sectors.
Individual episodes
Right-click on an episode and choose 'Save Link As...' (in Mozilla Firefox) or 'Save Target As...' (in Internet Explorer)
May 2008: NEBOSH marking and standardsSome think the NEBOSH exams are unattainable and riddled with unfairness and inconsistencies. The truth is quite different. In this podcast Dee Arp, Standards Manager at NEBOSH and Dr David Towlson, Director of Training at RRC dispel these and some other myths surrounding the NEBOSH Diploma. Meanwhile, John Caruthers, our resident devil's advocate, tries to gain the diploma using only his wit, charm and... a credit card... Dee Arp gives reassurance and shows how the reliability of the assessment process ensures fairness and validity through QPEC. The Question Paper Evaluation Committee is a very important screening stage that has modified marking schemes, changed question wording to make the language clearer and more accessible, and even thrown out whole questions.
April 2008: Falls From VehiclesFor this episode we move out of the studio and put some heavyweight truckers through their paces. We look at falls from vehicles and associated slips and trips in support of the HSE Falls From Vehicles Campaign. Now that's a load off our minds...
March 2008: New LegislationThe Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act comes into effect in April. The new legislation reflects the fact that what is called Culpable Homicide in Scotland is called Manslaughter in the rest of the UK. The new Act applies to the whole of the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England) and clarifies the legal situation and the obligations of businesses and the specific people involved. David Towlson explores the implications of relevant parts of the law for health and safety professionals.
February 2008: The EnvironmentBusinesses are often not aware about the real impact of environmental change and the common grounds between the environment and health and safety. This broadcast between David Towlson and a particularly sceptical John Carruthers explores the scientific views of global warming and the four areas of the environment affected.
January 2008: SlipsIt's the holiday season and so we present a light-hearted glimpse at an important area of the hazards of party catering - slips. David Towlson and John Carruthers look at the chaos and problems of the office party and the slip-ups that often occur and some sensible solutions. These are: stop spillages, carry out effective floor cleaning, get the most from your team and ensure you have an appropriate floor.
November 2007: Business Case for Health and SafetyThis month our notorious couple David Towlson and John Carruthers look at the business case for giving attention to health and safety.
October 2007: Safety in the OfficeAlthough offices are generally low risk environments, that doesn't mean to say we can ignore the hazards. Many of us work in offices or the home-office (excluding Ministers, of course, who may be out shopping). There are some obvious hazards that are easily sorted. In the October podcast our hapless trio take a look at slips, trips and falls, computers and portable electrical appliances.
September 2007: Working At HeightDavid Towlson of RRC Training and the difficult John Carruthers are joined by Mark Thomas, a policy adviser for the Slips, Trips and Falls from Height Programme from the Health and Safety Executive and Mr Carruthers' new PA, Chardonnay. This podcast considers some of the problems and difficulties of working at height and explains the HSE's ladder exchange scheme aimed at ladder users and those who manage the work.
People should ask themselves these three simple questions:
1. Do you need a ladder or should you use something different?
2. Is it the right ladder?
3. Are you using the ladder safely?
For more information it's worth checking the HSE website on ladders at http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls
July 2007: GHS Chemical Labelling (videocast)
July 2007: GHS Chemical LabellingOn June 27th 2007, the EU adopted a proposal from the European Commission for a regulation on "The Globally harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)". This proposal is just the first stage in the legislative process, so it will be a while yet before GHS replaces the current system. GHS is intended to bring a globally harmonised approach to classifying and labelling chemicals, instead of the confusing regional variants we presently have. This podcast is a starting point to raise your awareness in a light-hearted way. When you listen to it you will understand why we also offer it as a videocast!
June 2007: REACHThe Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals EU Regulation comes into force on June 1st. It's a complicated subject that has limited appeal to specialists in the chemical industry but its purpose is to protect all of us and make industry more responsible for the chemicals they produce. This podcast from David Towlson tries to clarify some of the issues so that you can work out where your CSA fits in your CSR, how to find EINECS on the ECB, the need to check out MUD and the difference between NONs and CHIP. It goes beneath all the jargon to explain the key points to REACH.
May 2007: Health and Safety MythsEvery day there seems to be another story in the media about those mad and bad health and safety regulators. David Towlson looks at the truth behind some of them and listens to some complaints that aren't all they seem.
April 2007: Safety Management SystemsSafety is increasingly being seen as a risk that needs to be managed, just like other aspects of a business. Business management systems have been used for many years, so why not apply it to safety too? RRC's Dr David Towlson discusses with John Carruthers the ways to do it.
March 2007: New 2007 Construction (Design and management) regulationsThe changes coming up in April to the CDM regulations are not really earth-shattering. It's a logical pulling-together of what already exists to make the law clearer and responsibilities easier to understand. What does that really entail? David Towlson from RRC tries to convince John Carruthers that it's all pretty clear and more straightforward and that the new regulations are really an advance on the existing ones. There is a new emphasis on communication, co-ordination and co-operation with the old planning supervisor being replaced with a Co-ordinator. The Podcast takes you through the improvements to ensure greater health and safety in the Construction industry.
February 2007: Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO)The changes to the fire regulations have been in force since October. What's really entailed? David Towlson from RRC tries to convince John Carruthers that it's all pretty clear and more straightforward than he imagines. Fire certificates are a thing of the past but the same principles of assessing risk and implementing precautionary measures are still the backbone. The Podcast takes you through the five step plan to Fire safety.
Podcast feed
Paste the following URL into your podcast software to subscribe to the RRC Training podcasts: http://www.rrc.co.uk/HSPodcasts/feed.xml
(If you are using iTunes highlight the above URL and drag it into your podcast playlist, or select 'Subscribe to Podcast...' on the Advanced menu and enter the URL when prompted).
