South and West Wales Safety Group Seminar

Welcoming people and conferences to Swansea is pretty much a staple part of the Lord Mayor's diary. This morning it was the turn of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – South and West Wales Safety Group Seminar at the Liberty Stadium. This was my speech:

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Can I start by welcoming delegates to Swansea for this seminar? The Liberty Stadium has become an iconic venue for our City for conferences such as this, and just as you are striving for premier league status in your work, so are we working to help propel the Swans back to the premiership.

In your case of course, premier league status is within touching distance, if you have not already attained it. I know that this group is one of the more pro-active safety groups in the UK and you are nationally recognised for your achievements.

Whereas the Swans look to add to their trophy cabinet, the South and West Wales Safety Group has received a gold award from Safety Groups UK for its activities, and two of its members – Celtic Energy and Swansea Council – received second and third place respectively from Safety Groups UK in 2018 for their innovation.

That is no mean feat when you consider that there are 70 safety groups in the UK, each with 50 to 100 or so members. It is something to be proud of, as is the fact that five more of your members were commended.

I am told that the South and West Wales Safety Group have been active since 1943, and that last year you celebrated 75 years as an organisation, marked by pledges from members to support the local community with donations, free training and the donation of equipment.

It is fitting therefore that you return to Swansea as we are about to celebrate our 50th anniversary as a City. No doubt the many events we have planned will benefit from the advice and experience of your members to ensure that they go off without a hitch.

Events such as this one enables managers and safety advisors of local businesses to attend quality seminars in our area, which they would otherwise have to pay significant costs for as well as lose time as they travel to different venues some distance away. This is not something that small organisations can always afford.

This year’s seminar on behavioural safety presented by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is so important because research has shown that over 80% of accidents are caused by poor behavioural safety, some even put it as high as 90%.

If we can reduce accidents and the often-consequential life-changing injuries, possibly even fatalities in our area, we will be reducing the burden on our social and health care services, as well as avoiding the personal tragedies that such accidents inflict on the family and friends of their victims.

On behalf of the group can I acknowledge the excellent support of its members and in particular the Health and Safety Executive, who are chairing today’s event. I hope that you have an informative seminar, so that you can continue to maintain the high-quality advice and support you already offer.

And above all, I hope that the Swans can follow you into the premier league very soon. Thank you and welcome.