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UTILITY WEEK | 16TH - 22ND DECEMBER 2016 | 23 Operations & Assets Matthew Penrose, head of energy and utilities unit operational strategy division, Health and Safety Executive "Health is now a core part of the strategy. In the past health has perhaps taken a back seat. Its impact may not always be seen immediately whereas safety is a lot more visible. It's sometimes perceived as a much more difficult thing to get to grips with." In association with: Nick Winser, non-executive director and chairman of the safety, health and environment committee, Kier construction "The best question is, what in the way you do your job is slow, inconvenient, or uncomfortable? It is the best safety question out on site. The answer to this will tell you the short cuts people will take when they're trying to get the job done more quickly than can safely be done." Gareth Mullen, head of security, safety, health and wellbeing, Thames Water "When budgets are challenged and reduced, it can be very easy for those managers to do less of that activity. Effectively they're letting the budget drive the risk they manage. Risk should firmly drive the budget." 1. Health and wellbeing. Health and safety goes beyond safety at work from accidents. It now covers the overall health and wellbeing of employees, improving morale and productivity. 2. Avoid complacency. "You are at your most vulnerable when you feel safest" was the mantra from the conference. Keeping alert to risks and managing them is paramount. 3. Need to make things self-sustaining. Although a culture of health and safety comes from the top, ensuring things sustain themselves and don't become an afterthought is key. Create a health and safety culture. 4. Learn lessons from the past. Utilities should look to learn from similar projects and enact them, rather than responding to incidents as and when they happen. 5. Make it simple and easy. Keeping things easy and simple means rules are more likely to be followed. Complicated and difficult measures are more likely to be skipped. Five key points Utility Week events in January Utility Week's next events are the Water Customer Conference and the Energy Customer Conference. They are being held in Birmingham on 18 and 19 January. For more information, visit events.utilityweek.co.uk/ water/ or events.utility- week.co.uk/energy/