Final countdown to OSH Expo 2014

The organiser of OSH Expo Africa, UBM Montgomery, realises that most occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals are under constant daily pressure to ensure the well-being of numerous, diverse employees as well as visitors to their premises.

The 2014 OSH Expo Africa exhibition, being held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, from May 13 to 15, will provide industry with an unprecedented array of health and safety technologies and services – all under one roof.

“Since its inception four years ago, OSH Expo Africa has proved to be a winning formula for OSH professionals seeking best practice in their field. The combination of exhibition stands, a professional seminar programme and the Emergency Care First Aid Demonstration Zone, have seen the event grow and prosper,” says Joshua Low, event director at UBM Montgomery.

Not only will the exhibitors showcase local and international OSH technology and services, that reduce the possibility of accidents and fatalities on site, but the complementary seminar programme is of great benefit to visitors.

“OSH Expo Africa works with the Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and SAIOSH to compile a seminar programme that encompasses industry-pertinent subject matter,” explains Low. Market research provides feedback on industry concerns, and we also include topics on updated legislation to ensure that visitors are kept up to speed on developments. This assists companies with their compliance programmes and reduces the OSH risk factor.”

Dromex – a main sponsor – will be exhibiting its full range of PPE products with particular emphasis on its wide selection of gloves and respiratory systems, as well as its increased range of work wear, eyewear, hearing and footwear.

Visitor interaction is extremely important to the OSH Expo Africa exhibitors. With a 30 percent visitor increase in 2013, this year’s event should be extremely busy. “The visitor demographics consisted of predominantly health and safety managers and advisors, followed by company directors and marketing and sales managers. A further 30 percent of visitors had a strong connection to the health and safety purchasing arena, with diverse job profiles that included emergency services, occupational health managers and occupational hygienists and nurses,” elaborates Low.

Since its inception, OSH Expo Africa has been co-located with the IFSEC SA exhibition, creating a synergistic crossover of visitors. “We have found that many of the risk managers are responsible not only for specifying OSH technology and services, but are also tasked with finding solutions to security issues within their organisations. By hosting OSH Expo Africa and IFSEC SA at a common venue, we effectively reduce the time needed to review products or services from a number of suppliers. This provides risk and safety managers with a wider choice and also introduces them to creative application-specific solutions,” Low concludes.