Last week we held our annual Health & Safety Conference, at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

The event was well attended by Health & Safety Professionals from both the frozen sector and wider food and drink industry. This year we sourced a stellar line up of speakers to educate and provide CPD to delegates on a wide range of topics affecting the industry. We have received some excellent feedback.

The day started in addressing lone working, it is nearly 40 years since Suzy Lamplugh went missing while doing her job, regardless of industry this is a stark reminder of the need to protect those working alone, technology can play a big part in protecting workers which Steve Hough from Solo Protect discussed.

Next up, was Helen Atkinson, (Senior EHO from Wakefield Council) to provide us with an overview of key priorities and targets for HSE and local authority in 2025/26, this covered, asbestos workplace transport, planned preventative maintenance (PPM) and noise just to name a few.

This year for our fire session looked at the recent CROSS-UK topic paper published outlining the current thinking about the risks from Lithium-Ion power sources. This is a very relevant topic with the food industry introducing this new technology in the form of Materials Handling Equipment (MHE). This guidance explains the requirements for changing equipment containing Lithium-Ion batteries inside the building and recommends fire detection and suppression.

Delegates also gained insight into chemical safety and witnessed a live demonstration of Diphoterine by Kate Joy of Diphex. This is a breakthrough treatment for ammonia exposure – a major issue in refrigeration maintenance in which, the BFFF has written assured industry guidance. Kate also explained the need for emergency showers to be with 10 seconds of a chemical hazard such as Ammonia.

Our keynote speaker Dr Shaun Lundy of consultancy Tetra, explored transformational, ethical and collaborative H&S Leadership together with Kelley’s followership model, culture change, A.I and generational factors.

In the afternoon, BFFF members, WTW sent along risk experts Chris Brown and Kiran Ryatt and provided a focus on behavioural safety and instilling positive H&S culture.

The programme included a legal update from NFUM’s partners DAC Beechcroft, with Steven Harrison going through the latest in prosecutions and fines.

Following this Babette Clarke from Hestia gave an eye opening talk on modern slavery from Hestia, this being a major problem in the food industry that often goes un-noticed. With modern slavery being the second largest form of organised crime to drugs, Babette provided delegates information to enable them to spot the signs of slavery and what actions to take should they identify this.

To bring the day to a close, Andy Cartwright from Mentor FLT training discussed Materials Handling Equipment with workplace transport still being the second largest cause of fatalities in GB. The session included a health check survey, the information collated will be shared with BFFF members in the near future to highlight areas of improvement.

Please contact us should you wish to know more about any of the topics discussed or the Health & Safety services we provide at BFFF at simonbrentnall@bfff.co.uk