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Dr Karen McDonnell, occupational safety and health policy adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, will encourage an international audience to think about the role that work can play in influencing wider health, safety and wellbeing concerns.
She will be speaking at the Global HSE 2018 International Conference and Exhibition, taking place in Kuwait from February 12-14.
Karen, whose career in occupational health and safety spans 30 years and who is a former president of IOSH, will outline RoSPA’s whole-person, whole-life approach to injury prevention, which not only covers every age and stage of life but, crucially, encourages employers to consider how they could help their workers, and their families and the wider community, to stay safe and healthy when they’re not at work.
She will encourage delegates to adopt approaches to support sustainable working lives, protect the health and wellbeing of their employees and, in turn, address issues such as general and skilled labour shortages, productivity, absenteeism, and the ageing workforce.
Karen, who is also head of RoSPA Scotland, said: “RoSPA was proud to celebrate its 100th anniversary last year, recognising the huge improvements in occupational safety seen over the last century, but also facing up to the challenges that remain. Occupational health and wellbeing is clearly one such challenge, and there are also real opportunities for employers to make a difference outside of the workplace, given that this tends to be where injury rates are highest, especially in our homes. From our ‘off-the-job’ campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s, through to our ‘24/7’ and ‘Safety never stops’ initiatives of the 2000s, we have seen great value in partnering with organisations on this important subject.
“I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak to delegates at Global HSE 2018, and I’m looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones, including from among RoSPA’s international members and award winners. We value being part of a global community, and have enjoyed strengthening our links with international partners in recent months, particularly following the launch of the Singapore Accord.”
Karen will be among the workshop speakers on February 12. For more information about the Global HSE 2018 International Conference and Exhibition, visit http://globalhse.org/.
