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UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH DECEMBER 2015 | 25 Operations & Assets Conference Utility Week Health & Safety conference, Birmingham, 24 November 2015 "The game has changed. We've never had so much media focus. It's important that if we're working with contrac- tors, they're delivering the service we want and leaving the impression of our business we want." Doug Wilson, health and safety director, Scottish Power – Contractor Management Improvement Programme "We have got to move from the physical control measures into something that's much more creative, dynamic and intangible." Martin Holland, health, safety and environment leader – infrastructure Laing O'Rourke "We're not trying to turn out generation after generation of health and safety profession- als. The UK needs people who understand risk management across the whole business." Neal Stone, deputy chief executive, British Safety Council Ignorance can seriously damage your health U K utilities face a "massive, massive change" in the approach to sentenc- ing and fines for health and safety breaches and corporate manslaughter that will be a "wake-up call" for their businesses, according to British Safety Coun- cil deputy chief executive Neal Stone. Speaking at Utility Week's Health & Safety conference, held in association with Weightmans in Birmingham last week, Stone outlined the changes to the sentenc- ing guidelines for health and safety offences published this month by the Sentencing Council. He said the changes, which come into effect in February 2016, would see a major rise in the level of fines, and a higher likelihood of imprisonment in cases of severe breaches. He said the onus was on health and safety managers to bring the new guidelines to the attention of their boards, adding: "If the sentencing changes do not have the effect of changing behaviour, then this will have been for nothing." The Sentencing Council said in a state- ment: "The increase in penalties for seri- ous offending has been introduced because in the past, some offenders did not receive fines that properly reflected the crimes they committed. The council wants fines for these offences to be fair and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the means of offenders." Other presentations at the Health & Safety conference highlighted how utilities face new risks as their businesses evolve. Doug Wilson, health and safety director for Scottish Power, presented the increased risks associated with decommissioning and clo- sure of power plants. He pointed out that, when plants close, contractors oen "cherry pick" the best workers to move to other sites, leaving the projects with a diminished skills base and a range of new risks. Wilson and other speakers agreed that Key points 5 TO THINK ABOUT... 1. The changing nature of utilities means that businesses have a changing risk profile, and risk management must adapt accordingly. 2. Utilities can't do it all alone: to create change, they must take their contractors with them. 3. If contractors have a higher injury rate than utility workers, the utility needs to take responsibility and work with the contractor to solve the problem. 4. International utilities can improve their risk profile by standardising their processes across countries. 5. People in their first six months in a role, and young people, are particularly at risk in the workplace. Brought to you in association with the best way for utilities to manage health and safety was to work collaboratively with their contractors. Martin Holland of Laing O'Rourke said: "People say, 'the workers are the problem, the contractors are the prob- lem,' but actually, they are the solution."