The second Women in Safety & Health Forum took place on Thursday last week during the Safety & Health Expo.
The session, which looked at the theme of effective communication, was chaired by Anne Davies, Special Counsel at Withers LLP, and featured five excellent panelists:
The range of backgrounds – from the entertainment sector to construction – meant that the speakers were able to offer very varied views on their experiences in different sectors.
The positive and negative experiences of being a woman in the profession seemed to be in some way influenced by the sector they worked in – Ruth Denyer, who has a background in media and entertainment, said she didn’t find that gender was an issue at work with a pretty-near 50/50 split of men and women.
Positive though that was to hear, Kizzy Augustin’s showed how much progress there was still to make in some sectors, as she recounted an experience as a lawyer where she was disbelievingly asked if, as a woman, she knew anything about the construction industry.
The table discussions that followed saw really inspiring debates and conversations, including generational differences in gender approach; and whether you change your communication style depending on whether you’re speaking to a man or a woman.
A video of the event will be available to view in the next week.
