HAZARDS FORUM
ANNUAL REPORT
2024
Registered Charity Number 1047047
Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
HAZARDS FORUM
Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2024
| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ Annual Report | 3 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees | 14 |
| Receipts and Payments Account | 15 |
| Statement of Assets and Liabilities | 16 |
| Notes to the Accounts | 17 |
| Appendix – List of Voting Members of the Hazards Forum | 18 |
| Hazards Forum Mission Statement | 18 |
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
The Trustees of the Hazards Forum present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Charity name : Hazards Forum Charity registration number : 1047047
Principal office of the Charity :
One Great George Street Westminster London SW1P 3AA
Trustees :
Current
Mr Nick Shaw CMgr FCMI MIOD (Chair) Ms Ayssar Hanza CEng MEI MIOD Mr Ian Wallis CEng FIChemE Mr Peter Stewart CEng FIMechE Ms Ruth Wilkinson CMIOSH Eur Ing David M Hirst CEng, Chartered Energy Manager, FICE, FEI Dr Owen Keyes-Evans, MFPHM, MFOM [appointed 11 April 2024]
Resigned in Year (End of Term)
None
Key management personnel :
Dr Luise Vassie, Head of Membership and Operations
Independent examiner :
Stephanie Beeston-Clarke FCCA Beeston-Clarke Accountants Limited 92 Gladstone Street Winsford Cheshire CW7 4AZ
Bankers :
National Westminster Bank Strand Branch PO Box 414 38 Strand London WC2H 5JB
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT
Hazards Forum (referred to herein as “The Charity” was formed by the constitution adopted 21[st] June 1994 as amended 30[th] January 1997, 29[th] January 1998, 21[st] February 2002, and 21[st] March 2018 as an unincorporated association and is a registered charity no: 1047047.
Trustee recruitment and appointment
The Charity’s governing document allows for at least four and not more than eight Trustees who shall be elected by the Members for a term of up to three years or co-opted by the Trustees. Normally, a member of each Founding Engineering Body shall be elected as a Trustee. Individuals may be proposed for election as a Trustee by a Founding Engineering Body, the Trustees, or the Technical Advisory Committee. At the end of this reporting period, The Charity had seven trustees in post.
A Trustee who is a member or representative of a Member organisation (including a Founding Engineering Body) has the same duties as the other Trustees to act in the way he or she decides in good faith would be most likely to further the purposes of The Charity.
The Trustees may at any time co-opt any individual as a Trustee to fill a vacancy in their number or (subject to the maximum number permitted) as an additional Trustee, but a co-opted Trustee holds office only until the next Annual General Meeting.
A retiring Trustee may be re-elected but normally should serve no more than two terms.
Governance and management
The Trustees normally meet formally in-person four times a year; they may hold video conferences or additional in-person meetings between these formal meetings. During 2024, four Trustee meetings were held in-person, and one additional meeting was held online by videoconference.
The Technical Advisory Committee provides advice to the Trustees on technical matters in furtherance of the Charitable Object. Its membership includes a chair nominated by the Trustees, one of the three Trustees nominated to serve as a Trustee by The Charity’s Founding Engineering Bodies, and any other persons the Trustees may determine. The Technical Advisory Committee operates according to terms of reference made by the Trustees. The committee normally meets four times a year.
Membership
Members may be drawn from organisations that endorse the objectives of The Charity. There are four classes of members:
- a) Founding Engineering Bodies includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
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b) Engineering Members are Recognised Bodies[1] and includes Professional Engineering Institutions (other than the Founding Engineering Bodies) licensed by the Engineering Council (UK), Professional Affiliates of the Engineering Council (UK), and distinguished public or charity sector organisations concerned principally with the advancement of Engineering.
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c) Associate Members are bodies drawn from both the public and charity sectors, and whose purpose / objects are broadly aligned to the Charitable Object.
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d) Corporate Members are bodies drawn from any sector or industry who have an interest in the work of The Charity and who endorse its Charitable Object, but do not meet the criteria for Associate Membership.
The category of Individual Affiliates is no longer open for new members to join. The Trustees made this decision in 2021 following a review of membership where it was noted that the number of Individual Affiliates was low and that efforts to grow membership should focus upon organisations. The Trustees invited a small number of Individual Affiliates (those not in arrears) to carry on enjoying the benefits of membership as honorary members of The Charity.
The Trustees may decide to grant distinguished status to persons who have contributed significantly to The Charity, and who have attained eminence in some branch of engineering, or in the arts and sciences related thereto. Distinguished status shall only be granted by resolution at a meeting of the Trustees. Those granted distinguished status shall be considered as Individual Affiliates of The Charity.
The Trustees may decide to grant honorary status to any person. Honorary status shall only be granted by resolution at a meeting of the Trustees. Those granted honorary status shall be considered as Individual Affiliates of The Charity.
Members in classes a), b), c) and d) are entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting, or at any Special General Meetings. Each member has one vote.
Applications for all classes of membership must be submitted on behalf of the organisation to the Trustees for a decision on acceptance.
CHARITABLE OBJECT AND ACTIVITIES
Charitable Object
The Charitable Object is for the public benefit to mitigate and reduce hazards and disasters both human-made and natural.
Summary of policies adopted to further the Charitable Object
- a) To identify those areas in which engineering experience and expertise enable The Charity to make an effective interdisciplinary contribution to disaster reduction and to disseminate to all appropriate bodies, including national and local government, and individuals, all relevant conclusions and recommendations resulting from the work undertaken.
1 In accordance with Section 30 of The Charity’s Constitution, the Trustees have extended the criteria of Recognised Bodies beyond institutions which are Professional Engineering Institutions licensed by the Engineering Council (UK) and Professional Affiliates of the Engineering Council (UK), to include other distinguished public or charity sector organisations concerned principally with the advancement of Engineering.
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b) To encourage and support such activity to reduce injury or loss of life and property and to help minimise distress and damage arising from natural and man-made disasters.
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c) To provide a multi-disciplinary forum to enable engineers to share experience and knowledge and to encourage the study of practices in specific areas which might be transferred to other fields:
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i. Hold regular meetings including joint meetings with other organisations, groups, and societies to discuss subjects lying within its remit.
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ii. Foster and cooperate in interdisciplinary activities with other national and international organisations with related interests.
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iii. Promote discussion at regional and national level.
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iv. Publicise relevant meetings of Members who are Recognised Bodies and consider ways in which the work of The Charity might be enhanced.
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v. Publish and promote proceedings of The Charity's public meetings and other relevant studies and circulate reports of The Charity's own activities to disseminate information relating to both national and international activities and developments.
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d) To raise funds by way of donation, subscription and otherwise provided that The Charity shall carry out no taxable permanent trading activities.
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e) To open and maintain bank accounts in The Charity's name and to invest money in interest-bearing deposits and the like.
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f) To do all such other lawful things as shall further the Charitable Object.
Summary of main activities undertaken for public benefit in relation to the Object
In planning the activities for the year, the Trustees continue to be mindful of the public benefit. The Trustees have considered Charity Commission guidance on public benefit: ‘ Public Benefit: Running a Charity (PB2) ’ and are satisfied that the activities The Charity undertakes fully reflects the purposes for which The Charity exists. Its main activities provide a platform for debates on current, evolving, and emerging hazards to industry and society, whether human-made or natural and how these can best be managed. Its debates draw such issues to the attention of professional stakeholders, including individual dutyholders, companies, and members of engineering and related institutions, thereby raising the profile of such issues among professional stakeholders.
The Charity does not aim directly to inform lay stakeholders such as journalists or the public. This is better done by larger institutions with the necessary capacity; it seeks to inform lay stakeholders via those institutions.
The Trustees are appreciative of the organisations that have supported events during this year. Gratitude extends to the many organisations and individuals who have provided or acted as speakers and supported webinars and meetings. Finally, thank-you to the Members for their continuing financial support in enabling The Charity to fulfil its Charitable Object.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Developments in governance and management
In this reporting period the Trustees undertook several actions to further strengthen The Charity’s governance and management:
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Co-opting of a new Trustee . The Trustees undertook a recruitment exercise and co-opted a new trustee to the board. The Charity’s membership will be given the opportunity to vote upon this Trustee’s appointment at the 2025 Annual General Meeting.
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Trustee Code of Conduct . The Trustees developed a code of conduct which sets out the relevant responsibilities and standards expected from Trustees when undertaking duties on behalf of the Hazards Forum. It requires Trustees to maintain the highest standards of honesty, integrity and stewardship to ensure that The Charity is effective, open, and accountable. It also requires Trustees to always act in the best interests of The Charity.
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Financial controls . The Trustees reviewed and updated The Charity’s Financial Controls Policy to give delegated authority to the Head of Membership and Operations to manage The Charity’s finances within the approved budget. This provides further separation between the governance and management of the charity.
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Strategy 2025-2030 . The Trustees spent a significant portion of their time conducting strategic analysis to develop a new five-year strategy. This analysis resulted in the Trustees making several strategic choices founded upon sound data and analysis, which will feature in the new strategy once the trustees publish it later in 2025.
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Review of board meetings . The Trustees conducted an annual effectiveness review of board meetings to identify what went well and what they could improve.
Delivery of strategic themes
The Charity continues to deliver its mission and is working to achieve its vision.
Mission : To enable interdisciplinary learning between professionals for the prevention and mitigation of hazards and disasters.
Vision : To be widely recognised as the independent enabler of the most needed debates as a key source of interdisciplinary knowledge on the control of major hazards.
In delivering its vision the Trustees have continued to make progress in developing and achieving the Charity’s three strategic objectives:
Strategic Objective One: Enhance our Offering
The Charity’s modus operandi continues to be its events and more recently, workshops, which do much to support its Charitable Object. The events and workshops during 2024 include:
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Delivering a Wildfire Strategy for Britain . February 2024. A workshop held at One Great George Street, focussed upon supporting the development of the UK’s wildfire strategy by engaging engineering, safety and wildfire specialist communities, to consider the hazard’s characterisation, its impacts, and a holistic approach to safety.
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Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS): A Barrier or an Opportunity for Growth? June 2024. A hybrid event held at One Great George Street and in collaboration with the National Committee on RAS Regulation, Standards, and Ethics. The discussion focused upon whether ensuring the safety of RAS is a barrier to, or an opportunity for growth, and whether technology is racing ahead faster than regulation can keep pace with it.
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- Building Safety Regulations: Reflections One Year on . September 2024. A hybrid event held at One Great George Street and focused upon enhancing safety in residential construction light of the Building Safety Act. The discussion delved into the lessons emerging from the investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire, the importance of a strong safety culture within organisations, and the challenges posed by the Building Safety Act.
● Ethical Practice: What, Why and How? November 2024. An in-person event held at the National Football Museum with the support of the IChemE’s Safety Centre, and the kind sponsorship of RAS Ltd (https://ras.ltd.uk). The discussion delved into how engineers, designers and other professionals incorporate ethical thinking into the infrastructure, products and ~~—~~ RAS) services they develop so that we do not leave future generations to pick up the pieces.
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What Makes an Effective Relationship Between a Dutyholder and a Regulator? November 2024. An in-person workshop held at the IChemE’s Hazards34 conference, Emirates Old Trafford, in Manchester, and focused upon understanding what makes an effective relationship between a regulator and a dutyholder, exploring how we can improve the effectiveness of relationships between regulators and dutyholders, and the implications for the regulation of increasingly complex systems.
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Risk Appetite: an Insurance Perspective . November 2024. A member-only webinar delivered by a representative of CNA Hardy to discuss how insurance plays a crucial role in helping sustain businesses and promote their growth through the transfer of risks associated with loss from defined foreseeable perils such as fire and explosion risks, natural catastrophe risks, structural collapse, collisions, and lifting failure.
Attendance or participation in these events and workshops is of no cost to employees of The Charity’s Member organisations. Video recordings of several of these are now available for The Charity’s Members and the public to access via The Charity’s website: www.hazardsforum.org.
In addition to these formal events and workshops, The Charity’s three interest groups have met throughout 2024. This provided representatives of The Charity’s Members to hear from external speakers, learn from each other, and share knowledge and experience on specific challenges.
During this reporting period The Charity has continued with its subscription to Science in Parliament , the journal of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, and distributes this to its Members as a benefit of their membership.
Strategic Objective Two: Expand our Profile, Reach and Influence
The Charity has continued to strengthen its relationships with its Members and other stakeholders throughout 2024.
The Charity’s work on wildfires, including the workshop it held in February 2024, has led to The Charity developing relationships with academics from Imperial College, UK Health Security Agency, England and Wales Fire Forum, Government Office for Science, and the Home Office.
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
The Charity’s work on robotic and autonomous systems (RAS), including the event it held in June 2024, has led to the Charity developing relationships with members of the National Committee on RAS Regulation, Standards and Ethics.
The Charity’s November 2024 event, held at the National Football Museum with the support of the IChemE’s Safety Centre, enabled it to hold an in-person event outside of London and through this The Charity was able to reach new audiences. The kind sponsorship of RAS Ltd (https://ras.ltd.uk) enabled The Charity to create marketing material to promote this event and The Charity more widely.
Also in November 2024, The Charity collaborated with the IChemE at their Hazards34 conference at Emirates Old Trafford where it hosted a workshop on the effective relationships between dutyholders and regulators. This event, along with its staffing of a promotional stand throughout the three-day conference, enabled The Charity’s representatives to establish new contacts for future collaboration, and to network with representatives of The Charity’s current members.
Throughout 2024, the Charity has worked collaboratively with the Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research (a collaborative partnership between the HSE and The University of Manchester) and the Process Safety Forum, to develop a research proposal to improve learning from incident investigations conducted by regulatory bodies, for which the collaborating organisations are seeking funding for.
During 2024, a representative of The Charity participated in the ICE’s Safety Risk Review, a task and finish group set up by the board of trustees to review the evolving risk landscape in civil engineering. Although prompted by the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022, the review team sought to assess all significant changes to the safety risk landscape since the ICE published its final In Plain Sight Report in 2018. The Charity’s representative was not a civil engineer, and therefore contributed to the review by providing a perspective from a different experience base, thereby contributing to interdisciplinary learning.
The Charity’s website (www.hazardsforum.org) continues to mature in content; event reports and video recordings, where available, will be publicly available for all events conducted during 2024. The Charity continues to have an active presence on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
In 2024, the Charity remained a member of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (P&SC) and supported its events by sending representatives to discussion meetings. Once again this has proved to be useful in maintaining awareness of the activities of the Hazards Forum amongst other members of the P&SC. The Charity’s representatives have worked closely with the staff of the P&SC to deliver a joint webinar which is scheduled to take place in 2025.
The Charity maintains several links with other bodies and networks via its Trustees, members of its Technical Advisory Committee, and interest groups, including but not limited to: the Met Office; Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research; the Natural Hazards Partnership.
Strategic Objective Three: Ensure we are Sustainably Funded
The Charity has continued to grow its membership during 2024 and is delighted that the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors has joined as an associate member, and RAS has joined as a corporate member. This builds on the recruitment successes of the previous reporting period with a net gain of six members since the start of 2022.
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
In September 2022, the Trustees decided to invest a portion of The Charity’s reserves, over three years, to improve the effectiveness of The Charity’s operations. They set out to achieve this by entering a contract with a supplier to work alongside them in improving the operations of The Charity. Concurrently, the Trustees and the new supplier would work together to grow income, to offset the deficit that this arrangement would incur, so that this new operating model is sustainable within three years. In January 2023, the Trustees entered a contract with the new supplier, and they are pleased to report that the charity is on track to achieve these goals.
Notwithstanding the progress made, financial sustainability is one of The Charity’s key risks. Amongst other actions taken to mitigate this, in 2024 the Trustees co-opted a Trustee to the board with extensive commercial and marketing experience, to aid the board in developing a commercial strategy. The reader can find further details of this key risk in the Risk Statement section of this report.
The Trustees are grateful for the continued support of The Charity’s Members.
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
RISK STATEMENT
Summary
The Trustees have considered the risks which The Charity is exposed to and are satisfied that established systems and procedures are proportionate to managing these risks. The Trustees have collated the risks that they assess as being material to realising the Charitable Object into four categories:
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Compliance.
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Financial.
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Reputation.
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Operations and delivery.
The Trustees are committed to maintaining an appropriate system of risk oversight, risk management, and controls, to identify, assess, monitor, and manage material risks to the conduct of The Charity’s activities.
Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for:
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Ensuring that they identify the risks to delivering the Charitable Object.
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Ensuring these risks are mitigated and the residual risks are tolerable.
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Continually improving the management of risk, balancing risk with the likelihood and expected benefits of planned outcomes.
The Trustees continue to develop, implement, and maintain appropriate management systems, that enable them to:
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Identify, assess, manage, and prioritise mitigations to identified risks in an effective, proportionate, and efficient manner.
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Make decisions based on a comprehensive view of the relationship between risks and the desired outcomes that realise the Charitable Object.
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Provide certainty over the delivery of the Charitable Object and satisfy legal obligations.
Policy and procedure
Risk management is central to the management and operations of The Charity. The inclusion of risk management enables the Trustees to prioritise the application of its resources and focus on managing the things that matter. This involves:
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Identifying risks . Each quarter the Trustees consider the operational and administrative activities of The Charity, review any changes, and update the risk register when needed. Annually, the Trustees undertake a strategy and planning session including horizon scanning, to uncover anything missing from the list of possible risks, and implement relevant lessons learned from both internal and external sources.
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Assessing risks . For each risk the Trustees identify a lead Trustee to assess the likelihood and timeframe for a risk to materialise, its potential impact and related consequences. To maintain a consistent, calibrated, and coordinated assessment, the trustees assess the impact (consequence) and likelihood of each risk in terms of the agreed framework of compliance, financial,
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
reputational, and operations and delivery. Risk owners, be they Trustees or other persons, will be identified on the register and included in the assessment.
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Acting, to manage and prioritise mitigations to risks . The Trustees ensure actions are taken and resources allocated to mitigate, transfer, or avoid the identified risks, and to monitor the effectiveness of mitigations taken.
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Reviewing risks and mitigations . The Trustees review all material risks at least annually and determine whether the residual risk remains acceptable and tolerable, or intolerable. This shall reflect the Trustees’ views as to what level of risk is acceptable. The Trustees seek to apply a consistent approach when determining risk tolerance and ensure that responses across risk categories are proportionate.
To support the identification of risks and their assessment, risks are considered in four categories. The impact of each risk is assessed using an aligned scale from 1 (insignificant) to 5 (intolerable) in each category:
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Compliance . The Charity must comply with applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, and meet contractual obligations. A failure to do so could lead to reputational damage, financial penalties, or the closure of The Charity.
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Financial . The delivery of The Charity’s activities requires adequate financial resources. Risks may arise due to cost management and inflationary pressures, dependency on key funders, and inadequate reserves to cover cash flow volatility.
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Reputation . This includes a range of occurrences including content or speaker controversy, unethical misconduct, conflicts of interest, and a lack of representation.
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Operations and delivery . This includes a range of occurrences including failure in event safety, inadequate capacity to deliver quality events, failure to communicate with stakeholders, failure to deliver tangible impact.
Each risk is assessed for its potential impact and consequence. Potential impacts range from ‘extreme’ where the impact would be intolerable, to ‘minor’ where the impact would be insignificant. Given the diverse nature of the risks that could potentially impact The Charity, the Trustees maintain a schedule that calibrates the relative impact across each of the five categories. The likelihood of the occurrence of a risk is assessed, and, if the likelihood is deemed to be greater than 50% (is deemed more likely than not to occur) then the Trustees will update the delivery plan to accommodate the risk. The likelihood of risks occurring will be rated from 1 (low - less than 10% chance of occurring) to 5 (high - between 40% and 50% chance of occurring).
Overview of key risks
Material risks are those which could jeopardise The Charity and its ability to deliver its Charitable Object. In conducting their risk management responsibilities, the Trustees recognise one risk as having a potential material impact on The Charity:
- “As a result of a serious reputational incident, there is a risk that major stakeholder(s) withdraw their support for The Charity, resulting in The Charity having a significantly reduced capacity to deliver its Charitable Object”.
To address this risk, the Trustees have implemented several governance and management checks and balances which they continually review. Examples of these
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include the risk management framework described herein, a framework of internal financial controls, the independent examination of accounts, declarations of conflicts of interest, and the reviewing of public-facing content prior to events and/or publication. The Trustees and the Head of Operations also conduct routine stakeholder engagement with our members to maintain relationships and seek their perspectives on our operations and direction.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Over the past few years, the Trustees have developed a policy which would see the reserves maintained at a level corresponding to around one year’s income, to provide some assurance against a sudden loss of income. The accounts for this year, shown in this report, record a net increase of receipts over payments of £7,455, compared to a deficit of £12,320 in 2023.
The unrestricted accumulated fund amounted to £44,990 at the year-end compared with £37,535 at year-end in 2023. This is broadly in line with the reserves policy.
The strategic plan seeks to address financial sustainability and enhancement of The Charity’s activities, its reach and influence. Surplus funds are placed on short term deposit.
Degree of financial dependency
The Charity is dependent on the voluntary efforts of its Members and other volunteers, and the continuing financial, and other support, from its Founding Engineering Bodies and other Members.
Organisational context
The Charity’s mission is to enable interdisciplinary learning between professionals for the prevention and mitigation of hazards and disasters. This role is not something that can exist in isolation and The Charity maintains many important links with other engineering disciplines, professional bodies, and academia. Although legally and structurally distinct from other bodies, The Charity seeks to cooperate with other bodies in areas of common ground.
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Future plans
Next year, the Trustees and Technical Advisory Committee will continue to focus effort on the following three strategic objectives, while maintaining the quality of activities and events, and providing a forum for debate:
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Enhance our offering.
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Expand our profile, reach, and influence.
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Ensure we are sustainably funded.
DECLARATION
The Trustees declare they have approved the Trustees’ report above on 11 March 2025 and was signed on its behalf by:
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Nick Shaw Chair of the Board of Trustees
11 March 2025
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Hazards Forum
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Hazards Forum for the year ended 31 December 2024 which are set out on pages 15 to 17.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity Trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts as required under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
(1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
(2) that accounts do not accord with those records; or
(3) that accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than the requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Stephanie Beeston-Clarke FCCA Beeston-Clarke Accountants Ltd 92 Gladstone Street Winsford Cheshire CW7 4AZ
Dated: 15 March 2025
Relevant Professional Body: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
HAZARDS FORUM
Receipts & Payments Account for the year ended 31 December 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| RECEIPTS | Unrestricted funds |
Unrestricted funds |
| Membership subscriptions | 45,515 | 23,705 |
| Events & meetings | 2,160 | - |
| Bank interest | 411 | 338 |
| Facilitation | - | 1,873 |
| Total receipts | 48,086 | 25,916 |
| PAYMENTS | ||
| Administration & support | 11,057 | 11,404 |
| Committee meeting expenses | 192 | 773 |
| Events & meetings | 3,329 | 5,090 |
| Subscriptions to other bodies | 496 | 542 |
| Publicity & promotions | 5,837 | 5,595 |
| Website | 3,442 | 3,087 |
| Facilitation | 900 | 222 |
| TAC Management | 14,675 | 10,872 |
| Insurance | 131 | 110 |
| Legal Advice | - | - |
| Postage | 1 | - |
| Bank charges | 1 | 1 |
| Independent examination | 570 | 540 |
| Total payments | 40,631 | 38,236 |
| Net receipts/(payments) | 7,455 | (12,320) |
| Cash funds & other monetary assets last year end | 37,535 | 49,855 |
| Cash funds & other monetary assets this period end | 44,990 | 37,535 |
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
HAZARDS FORUM
Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 December 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| CASH FUNDS | Unrestricted funds |
Unrestricted funds |
| Cash at bank | 1,799 | 7,692 |
| Short term deposits | 30,938 | 28,262 |
| 32,737 | 35,954 |
|
| OTHER MONETARY ASSETS | ||
| Funds held by the Institution of Civil Engineers | 12,253 | 1,581 |
| Total cash funds & other monetary assets | 44,990 | 37,535 |
| ASSETS | ||
| Prepayments | - | 8 |
| - | 8 |
|
| LIABILITIES | ||
| Independent Examination | 600 | 570 |
| Suppliers | 2,637 | 4,027 |
| Subscriptions paid in advance | 14,295 | 1,680 |
| 17,532 | 6,277 |
The receipts & payments accounts were approved by the Trustees on 11 March 2025 and were signed on their behalf by:
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Nick Shaw Chair of Trustees
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
HAZARDS FORUM
Notes to the Accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2024
1 Responsibilities of the Trustees
The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Hazards Forum and take reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In preparing the financial statements the Trustees are required to:
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a. select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
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b. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
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c. prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Hazards Forum will continue to operate.
2 Accounting Policies
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102. The financial statements have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis.
a. Basis of accounting
The annual accounts have been prepared on the historical cost basis of accounting.
b. Direct charitable expenditure
Most of the Hazards Forum’s expenditure relates to direct charitable expenditure. Fund-raising costs are not applicable.
It is not practical to place a monetary value on the support provided by The Institutions of Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Engineering and Technology and other bodies.
c. Income recognition
All income is recognised on a receipt basis.
d. Payments
Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are paid and include any attributable VAT that cannot be recovered. Resources expended are allocated to the activity from which the cost relates directly to that activity.
3 Related Party Transactions
None of the Trustees have been paid any remuneration in their role as Trustee. Committee expenses, event and meeting expenditure, and website charges were reimbursed to one Trustee in 2024, totalling £655 (2023: one Trustee £506). During the year, the Hazard’s Forum received a donation in kind of £5,860 from the Institution of Civil Engineers (2023: £4,240): this was for the use of rooms for meetings and events. The Office of Rail and Road also provided £500 of in kind donations for meeting rooms used during the year (2023: £nil).
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Hazards Forum – Registered Charity No. 1047047 Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 December 2024
APPENDIX 1
Voting Members of the Hazards Forum as of 31 December 2024
Founding Engineering Members
Institution of Chemical Engineers Institution of Civil Engineers Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Engineering Members
Royal Academy of Engineering
Associate Members
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health Health and Safety Executive Office for Nuclear Regulation Office of Rail and Road Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors
Corporate Members
AtkinsRéalis BP plc Corporate Risk Associates Costain EDF Fluor Frazer-Nash Consultancy Sellafield Ltd Ras Ltd
The Hazards Forum’s Mission is to enable interdisciplinary learning between professionals for the prevention and mitigation of hazards and disasters.
The Hazards Forum was established in 1989 by four of the principal engineering institutions because of concern about the major disasters which had occurred about that time.
The Hazards Forum holds regular meetings on a wide range of subjects relating to hazards and safety, produces publications on such topics, and provides opportunities for interdisciplinary contacts and discussions.
Hazards Forum One Great George Street Westminster London SW1P 3AA
E-mail: admin@hazardsforum.org Telephone: 020 7665 2244
Website: www.hazardsforum.org
Registered charity number 1047047
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