Welcome from Diane Ekland, Branch Chair

Welcome to the website of the South West Branch of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Firstly, I would like to thank the Committee Members for their hard work and dedication to the Branch, they all work in very demanding jobs, have families and still come up with a great annual Branch Programme. Secondly, without your support we would not have a Branch here in the South West, so thank you all, and please keep attending. We are still maintaining our high levels of attendance, so we must be getting something right!

Hopefully our 2009-10 programme will have some topics, if not all, that you will find of interest. We have tried to include subjects taking into account some requests from the last AGM. Furthermore, we have organised the meetings at various times and venues to address the issues raised to us, however, we would ask that you pay cognizance to the large geographical area that this Branch serves.

We have seen quite a few new members in 2008-9 which is very encouraging for a professional body and we continue to grow as a Branch, which is absolutely fantastic and makes it all worth while. I recognise we are all such busy people but once again I make a plea for advising us in advance of your attendance to the meetings, for three reasons:

• We need to ensure we have hired a large enough room.
• We need to ensure that all who attend have refreshments.
• Often speakers like to know how many handouts to bring along.

You can book your place via the Next Branch Meeting link in the menu to the left, then clicking the Attend this Event link (towards the top right hand corner of the new page) which will send a mail to our Programme Co-ordinator Trevor Sillifant for you to register your attendance. Alternatively, you can e-mail Trevor via the Branch Committee Members page. Please also let us know if you need to cancel a booked place.

We look forward to your ongoing support in 2009-10.

The Role of IOSH South West Branch

The role of the Branch is to keep Members up-to-date in the field of occupational safety and health. This is achieved by regular meetings and discussions held at a variety of locations across Devon and Cornwall where a current topic is presented to members. The Branch Committee Members are responsible for organising Branch events based upon member input, as well as managing the affairs of the Branch in general terms.