16 Oct. 2023: This was one of the key messages delivered by all the PABIAC partners to over eighty invited Industry leaders at the official PABIAC strategy launch, held on Wednesday 11 October.

Health and Safety – it’s in our hands is the 6th Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC) strategy to be launched since 1998 and sets out the priorities for the UK’s Paper-based Industries over the next four years.

Building on the foundations on each of the previous strategies, this new strategy focuses on key health, safety and psychosocial issues identified for improvement by the industry. These are:

• Objective 1: Understanding and integrating human factors into health and safety,
• Objective 2: Accident and Incident Investigation, and
• Objective 3: Proactive and reactive mental health and wellbeing measures.

Over the years, significant investment and improvements have been made in physical safeguards, but incidents continue to occur. Objectives 1 and 2 were specifically chosen to challenge the industry to review safety critical tasks, with an emphasis on taking account of human error.

Objective 3 was chosen to reflect an increase across the industry in psychosocial work-related issues which was borne out of the data that CPI collated under the previous strategy and supports HSE’s ten-year strategy ‘Protecting people and places’, to reduce work-related ill health, with a specific focus on mental health and stress.

To achieve these objectives, PABIAC recognises the importance for everyone to work together through the PABIAC Partnership and at the launch each partner reaffirmed that commitment.

Speaking after the event:
Andrew Large, Director General, CPI said: “The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is honoured to be leading PABIAC through the next stage in its development. We will work tirelessly with the partners to implement the 2023 strategy and engage proactively with the industry to support further improvement in its health and safety outcomes.”

Louisa Bull, National Officer, Unite the Union said: “Unite will do everything it can to play its part in the new PABIAC strategy and will be supporting our army of highly trained health & safety reps as they continue to deliver at the workplace.”

Daniel Shears, National Health, Safety and Environment Director, GMB said “GMB is very pleased to support the new PABIAC strategy. These are the right objectives to pursue at the right time, and it's imperative that everyone now works together to make workplaces in the paper and board sector safer and healthier by delivering the strategy."

The strategy is available on the CPI website.

For further information contact Emma Punchard, Director of Communications, CPI (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Notes:
The Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC) is the tripartite strategic health and safety delivery partnership for the UK’s Paper-based Industries.

The partnership comprises the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), employer representatives, and Trade Unions. PABIAC’s mission statement is: “help the prevention of death, injury and ill health to those at work within the UK Paper-based Industries.”

For further information about PABIAC see here.