Posted to News on 6th Jun 2012, 12:13
Inaugural Machinery Safety Alliance seminar hailed a success
With a full audience of over 50, the inaugural Machinery Safety Alliance seminar at Leicester's National Space Exhibition went safely into orbit. Founding members Pilz Automation Technology, Festo, Fortress Interlocks, Werma and Troax all made presentations to a diverse audience comprising automotive, paper making & converting, food, packaging, consultative, building materials, material handling and automation sectors. The Health and Safety Laboratory opened and closed proceedings, giving perspective to what has been a well-received event.
Founder of the group, David Collier (Pilz), says: "Overall, machine safety is not rocket science; it's about preventing people getting hurt by machines at work. The complicated part comes when safety functions have to be designed, verified and validated - which we seek to demystify during our seminars - but on the whole our aim is to address the wide range of issues, standards and technologies relevant to machine safety. Safety really can improve productivity as well as protect people, and we hope that our pragmatic approach offers some guidance to achieving both without becoming a sales pitch."
The group was formed in early 2012 as a non-profit organisation with the stated mission "to make sense of safety, to safeguard productivity" via its website and educational seminars.
Amongst the positive feedback received for the first seminar, perhaps the best praise was that the seminars provided a good balance of information without being a sales pitch. Davis says: "We aren't just a "product road show', we're non-profit and educational - this is the spirit of our organisation."
Delegate feedback included:
- "A useful overview that put a number of issues regarding machinery safety into perspective... will be useful for future activities associated with risk assessment, equipment purchasing, and providing industry guidance." Roger de Toney - Deal Intact Ltd
- "An excellent range of speakers covering a wide range of machinery safety topics - it was particularly useful to have someone from the HSL (part of HSE) providing their perspective. The speakers were all knowledgeable experts, with their presentations sticking rigidly to the subject of machinery safety and not drifting into sales pitches. There were ample opportunities for questions, both in the seminar sessions and on a one-to-one basis during the breaks. In addition the venue was a good choice, and the small charge represented exceptionally good value for money."Jon Severn - MachineBuilding.net
- "Good presentation, wide range of related topics covered at a good level - excellent seminar." Peter Garrett - EEF
If you haven't already considered or booked into one of the Machinery Safety Alliance seminars, you can find out more by visiting the website at www.machinery-safety-alliance.co.uk. The next events take place on the 27 June at the Concord Conference Centre in Manchester, and on the 5 September at Explore@Bristol.
