Hi Graham,

I didn't listen to the podcast but I saw yesterday that the NEBOSH Diploma is changing to include more "soft skills" and it's something the NCRQ Diploma is being praised for. I personnaly like this shift in focus as I think it's something that's critical to our proffesion and deserves to have some attention.

I listened to the podcast. It was interesting to hear that there are considerable differences in opinion on whether H&S is broken or just 'stalled' as one participant put it. Soft skills are needed to improve our profession but there doesn't appear to be a one size fits all approach. What works for one company may not work for another and I sometimes feel we are trying to please all the people all the time which I don't think we will ever do. I certainly did not agree with some things that were being said, but therein lies my point. To a degree compliance as a minimum is our only real option at the moment and I doubt that will change anytime soon.

Edited by user 30 November 2016 11:56:21(UTC)  | Reason: Typo

I believe it will be available through the SHP website but not until next week.

Did not hear the pod cast, but have picked up the gist from the postings. To widen the subject of the Battle of Ideas, the HASAWA was a radical and innovative approach to how we looked at H&S in the workplace. It was designed to allow us to evolve going forward to reflect changes in the work environment and the workforce, this I believe we have failed to do. Having failed to evolve perhaps it is time to look instead at a second 'revolution' in H&S. Brexit, for all its pros and cons, affords us the opportunity to do this. Rather than review and revise the current arrangements I would like to see IOSH actively lobbying the Government, as part of triggering Article 50, to set up another 'Robens' committee. Made up of all the relevant stakeholders this committee would have no restrictions on what was up for change, or removal. For example this could include the role of the enforcement agencies, and the legal status of ACOPs. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination.    

We did ‘soft skills’ on my diploma course, except we called it ‘touchy-feely c**p’. In fact we decided that it was important but as a way of getting the H&S message across not as an end in itself.  I have not heard the podcast but from the quotes that have been made it might be very North America based and there they seem very systems driven.

The problem with H&S seems to be that it is often seen as remote and simply not relevant to what people are actually doing and more often than not H&S requirements seem to revolve around getting past various compliance hurdles rather than honestly looking at what you need to do to make things better. Things like that are hard to audit.

As said ‘soft skills’ is something that HR people like and it can be very frustrating. A few years ago we revamped the induction system and I did the H&S bit. It thought it was short, punchy and to the point.  But the HR people did not like it. They showed me their efforts which was of course beautiful and uplifting; after seeing it you could not help but feel enhanced until you realised that in the 45 minutes they had talked to you still had no idea how to claim expenses, book a holiday,    call in sick or raise a complaint.   

I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but if you substitute "soft skills" with "emotional intelligence" you may find that it isn't just a buzzword but one of the most important skillsets that successful leaders demonstrate time and time again. It is about getting the message across without being dictatorial. It is about understanding and empathising with the barriers to change and finding a way forward which empowers those who need to change to do so themselves.