NFPBS News
British Safety Council Celebrates Sixty!
In 2017, the British Safety Council will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Demonstrating its contribution to improving the safety and health of workers, the charity will release a digital record of historic materials, long-thought to have been lost. When James Tye created the British Safety Council in 1957, thousands of people were being killed at work every year in the UK, while many more suffered serious injuries and disease. He worked tirelessly to prevent this and kick-started campaigns for seat belt laws and comprehensive protection for all workers. His efforts contributed to the creation of the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974. Far ahead of his time, he helped to establish the British Wellness Council in 1979, which dealt with such issues as repetitive strain and stress. Since its inception, the British Safety Council has been working and campaigning on a variety of platforms to keep workers safe. More recently, it has focused its activities on workplace health and well-being, including mental health. A treasure trove of campaign posters, magazines, press cuttings, photographs and films featuring celebrities such as Barbara Windsor and Sterling Moss, take us on a journey through some of the biggest disasters of the last 60 years, including Aberfan, Piper Alpha, Flixborough and Hillsborough. A documentary film and a commemorative picture book by social historian Mike Esbester will also be released in 2017, charting the development of the British Safety Council against the economic, political and social changes that it sought to influence over the past 60 years. In 2017, a new British Safety Council manifesto will be launched at a parliamentary reception. The manifesto will use the organisation’s powerful legacy of change and improvement to reiterate the impact it will continue to make in the future in partnership with its members and supporters. Mike Robinson, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, said: “Our 60th anniversary is a particularly proud moment for the organisation and everybody who worked for and with us over the past six decades. It will be compelling proof of the role the British Safety Council has played in making Britain one of the safest places to work both in Europe and the rest of world. “It is also an opportunity for us to demonstrate to all businesses, both in the UK and worldwide, that we understand the challenges which the changing nature of work is creating for employers and that we are a good partner with whom to tackle them together.” British Safety Council: www.britsafe.org