**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
## **Trustees and other information**
|**TRUSTEES**|Wilson Lambe (President)|
|---|---|
||Heather McKinstry (Vice President)|
||Wendy Moore (Chairperson)|
||Ian McIlveen (Vice-Chairperson)|
||Jimmy Fenton (Public Relations Officer)|
||Wendy Beatty (Immediate Past Chair)|
||Nicola McCracken (Secretary)|
||Priscilla Woods|
||Mandy Nelson|
||John Thompson|
||Will Johnston|
||Jim Hegarty|
||Ashleigh Birkett|
||Jim Donnelly – appointed January 2025|
||Elaine Osbourne – appointed January|
||2025|
||John Murray|
||Tom Stephenson|
||David Cooke|
|**PATRON**|Louise Armstrong (ARCO)|
|**REGISTERED ADDRESS**|Northern Ireland Safety Group|
||Room J805|
||Ulster University|
||Cromore Road|
||Coleraine|
||BT52 1SA|
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## **NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
## **BANKERS**
## **ACCOUNTANTS**
Ulster Bank Limited Connswater Branch Arches Retail Park Belfast BT5 4AF Hopper & Co Chartered Accountants 6 Doagh Road Ballyclare BT39 9BG
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
## **Trustees Report for year ended 31 December 2025**
The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025
## **Reference and Administrative Details**
Northern Ireland Safety Group Room J805 Ulster University Cromore Road Coleraine BT52 1SA
Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 100743)
## **Charity Trustees/Dircetors**
The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the date of this report were
Wilson Lambe - President Heather McKinstry - Vice President Wendy Moore - Chairperson Ian McIlveen - Vice-Chairperson Jimmy Fenton – Public Relations Officer Wendy Beatty - Immediate Past Chair Nicola McCracken - Secretary Priscilla Woods Mandy Nelson John Thompson Will Johnston Jim Hegarty Ashleigh Birkett Louise Armstrong (Patron Rep) Jim Donnelly - appointed January 2025 Elaine Osborne - appointed January 2025 John Murray - co-opted February 2025 Tom Stephenson - co-opted February 2025 David Cooke - co-opted February 2025 Ernie Spence - Treasurer – resigned at the AGM on 20th January 2025
## **Status**
The Charity is registered with the NI Charities Commission under reference NIC100743
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
The Charity has also been accepted as a charity by HMRC under UTR number 0115305845 and as such no provision for taxation has been made.
## **Structure & Management**
Northern Ireland Safety Group is a charity which is governed by its Constitution.
The organisation is primarily managed by an Executive Committee made up of the Office bearers, 8 other committee members and 4 technical advisors on the committee.
There are no employees. However, 2 members of the Executive Committee functioned as Secretary and Treasurer during the year on a self-employed basis. They tendered for their services on a 3-year contract. The self-employed Treasurer resigned in January 2025 as he retired. A self-employed Bookkeeper was engaged in the first quarter of 2025 to undertake the management of the data entry for accounts and the Secretary has undertaken the remainder of the financial actions required by the organisation. Note that the Bookkeeper does not sit on the Executive Committee.
During the period of 2025 the payments to the two Executive Committee members were as follows:-
Nicola McCracken (full year) £36,842.94 Ernie Spence (January only) £ 1,006.25
## **Description & Purpose**
The principal aim and objective of the Charity is to promote occupational health and safety amongst all people in the workplace and as such raise awareness of the reduction of work-related fatalities, workplace incidents and cases of ill health in Northern Ireland for the public benefit.
## **Activities & Objectives**
This is carried out by running monthly meetings which allow health and safety practitioners (and other interested parties) to network together, share ideas and in general strive to improve the overall health and safety of and for the workforce and those who come into contact with them.
The Trustees are greatly appreciative of all their funders and the continued support of their members, without whose help the charity could not fulfil its charitable aims and objectives.
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## **NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
Other activities carried out by the Group include the running of workshops / seminars, running of a safety quiz, running of an annual safety conference, management of a safety awards scheme (in conjunction with the National Irish Safety Organisation).
## **Achievements & Performance**
The 2025 year saw the NISG programme continue to focus on compliance with legal requirement following the 2024 conference theme of “Back to Safety Basics”. The majority of meetings were also planned as in-person to allow attendees the facility to meet each other, discuss common issues, and hopefully find solutions to problems faced at work. Plans commenced for the annual November NISG Conference, with the theme of “Health and Safety for all…” This theme widened the programme content to include security, as this is another topic area of concern in many workplaces.
The Meetings sub committee yet again provided a full programme of meetings and workshops throughout the year to engage the membership and offer a signposting service for current best practice and future planning. NISG activities offer membership an opportunity for interactive and practical learning, and we again collaborated with various organisations to deliver relevant and useful content. A total of nine meetings, one webinar and two workshops were held, and the stats below show the attendance numbers for each of these:
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## **NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Month Meeting type Attendee No of Webinar
Numbers Recording Views
Jan In-person AGM and Monthly Group 92 N/A
Meeting
Feb In-person Monthly Group Meeting 75 N/A
Mar In-person Monthly Group Meeting 53 N/A
April In-person Monthly Group Meeting 45 N/A
May In-person Workshop (Electrical) 23 N/A
(Restircted Numbers)
May In-person Monthly Group Meeting 40 N/A
May In-person Meeting - Visit to Belfast 25 N/A
International Airport (Airport Safety
Week)
June Online Webinar 27 16
July No meeting due to summer break
Aug In-person Monthly Group Meeting 70 N/A
Sept In person ½ day Workshop 57 N/A
(restricted numbers)
Oct In-person Monthly Group Meeting 77 N/A
Nov No meeting due to Annual Conference – reported separately in Annual Report
Dec In-person Monthly Group Meeting 45 N/A
**----- End of picture text -----**
As usual, all meeting presentation pdfs, along with the webinar recording, was uploaded to the members area of the NISG website, allowing members (both the member contact and any others within the organisation who request access to the NISG members area) to download them at their leisure and use the content to further health and safety activity within their own organisations. This allows us to cascade learning from each of our meetings and events.
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
The **PR** sub committee was very active during 2025, with plenty of work taking place to continue with the rebranding which had started at the November 2023 conference. The focus remained on ensuring that members were offered useful and relevant health and safety information and attracting new members was also a priority. The following activity fell under this committee:
## **a. EZINE**
Our e-zine has continued to be a successful communication tool, and a review of the subscriber database to remove undeliverable accounts due to personnel leaving organisations was completed at the beginning of 2025. This removed obsolete emails and meant that the 2025 year commenced with 878 subscribers. The subscriber database increased to 1043 subscribers signed up by the end of December 2025, almost 19% of an increase.
Ezine content continued to focus on offering information on NISG core activity plus signposting to HSENI and other relevant health and safety platforms and publications. The number of ezines sent out in 2025 was reduced from the 2024 total as it was decided to streamline the use of this communication tool to offer highly relevant content.
Ezine open rates remained high with an average of 299 opens over the 96 ezines sent out in the year. This is an increase in the open rate from 2024 (which had an average of 257 opens from 139 ezines sent) and shows that the content remains relevant to our membership. Many subscribers will only open ezines that are of particular interest to them, and we do advise of sector content in the ezine subject line, which assists readers. We also received a large number of emails during the year to thank us for the information being shared as it had assisted our membership, and this feedback has been crucial to ensure we fulfil our purpose.
## **b. SOCIAL MEDIA**
Social media activity continued to increase during 2025 year and has assisted in spreading knowledge about NISG. Facebook and LinkedIn posts showcase NISG, signposting both members and potential members to our activities. The platform statistics have been monitored and recorded at our monthly Executive Committee meetings and show both platforms to be widely used by our members. We have pushed our member contacts to advise their colleagues to follow us and this offers us a greater reach. It is recognised that LinkedIn is more orientated to business use, and this is where we have seen the greatest uptake.
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## **NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
## **c. MEMBERSHIP**
There were 30 new member sign-ups in the year and the total paid members registered increased from 316 to 326 (this nett increase also took into account 15 members who did not renew in 2025. These were due to one member company being taken over by another member company from the same group, retirements, organisations going into administration and organisations who no longer work in Northern Ireland.
## **d. WEBSITE**
The existing NISG website continued to be used fully during 2025 while, work commenced on creating a brand new and modern website which will offer members better access when using smartphones and tablets. The majority of the funds for the new website were ringfenced from the surplus made at the 2024 NISG conference and awards dinner. A small website committee was formed and met regularly throughout 2025. This included a number of meetings with the contracted website designer to discuss and agree format, content and general NISG requirements. The new website will go live in the early part of 2026 and was introduced to the membership at the 2025 November conference via a short pictorial presentation.
Better use was also made of the existing website during 2025 as we ensured that notifications of upcoming meetings and events were uploaded prior to booking becoming available, in order to ensure members received plenty of notice to get dates into their diaries.
The annual **Occupational Health and Safety Quiz** again took place in Ulster University, Belfast in April. The quiz is sponsored by Safety Advice Centre and Ulster University This was a very successful event with 14 teams competing – 11 novices and 3 previous entrants. Winners were Lagan MEICA (Previous Entrants) and Hyster Yale (Novices) – Both teams attended the NISO / NISG All-Ireland Finals in Mullingar in May and part of their prize from the NISG quiz win is free membership for the 2026 year.
Our annual **NISO / NISG All Ireland Occupational Health & Safety Awards** saw 16 entries from NISG. 3 of these were new entrants, again showcasing the interest our members have, and the fact that local organisations view them as being beneficial in showcasing their health and safety commitment. Four of the entrants achieved Category 1 awards, the top category, and for the second time in the past two years a Northern Ireland company, Graham, received the Supreme Award. This great achievement was celebrated at our Awards Dinner following the conference in November.
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
The **John Gordon Safety Person of the Year Award** , sponsored by Safety Advice Centre, received a high number of entries this year, some of them submitted from organisations who have not previously entered. A worthy nominee from a non-H & S background won this year, showing that good health and safety practice remains active outside of the H &S professional who would be our main member contact within an organisation. Our winner, Eamon Lagan, from member organisation Adman Civil Projects Ltd., was surprised to be presented with his winning trophy and prize at our Awards Dinner in November 2025.
Our **Farming** sub committee was very active in 2025. The year’s activity began in March with NISG supporting HSENI with other Farming Affiliates at an ‘Older Farmers Awareness Day’ at the new NIFRS Learning and Development College in Cookstown. The 60 attendees were given information on various farming risks and the NISG representatives presented on respiratory problems associated with farming.
The sub committee took stands at three agricultural shows during the year - Clogher Valley Show, Antrim Show and the Winter Fair and met with many farmers and their families at these events. A Colouring competition and a Spot the Hazard Competition was held at each event for the young attendees, with prizes awarded on the day.
Collaboration continued with the Young Farmers Club, where we fielded Executive Committee member judges at the Young Farmers Annual Public Speaking and Debating Competitions. Our Public Relations Officer, Jimmy Fenton, was also invited as the guest speaker to address the attendees at the YF Public Speaking Final in Ballymena in November. These events offer an opportunity for the work of NISG to be seen by the next generation of the Northern Ireland workforce.
We also continued our work as Affiliate Members of the Farm Safety Partnership in Northern Ireland, working alongside organisations such as HSENI; DAERA; UFU; FSF; NFUM and YFCU to promote farm safety throughout the province. Lakeland Dairies continued as our Farming sponsor for the 2025 year. We have continued to sponsor the 2026 HSENI Farm Safety calendar which is distributed to primary schools with a rural connection.
The Farming sub committee also assisted at member organisation Foyle Food Group’s Farm of Excellence event held in October, which was a great success.
The **NISG 2024 Conference** entitled “Health and Safety for all…” was held at La Mon Hotel on 6th November. The Northern Ireland health and safety community came together, with over 250 delegates, over 30 health and safety related organisations exhibiting and 13 expert speakers who provided thought-provoking and informative presentations on topics such as violence at work; cybersecurity and safety
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
for businesses; Martyn's Law - Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025; occupational prevention of ill health - A noise risk management case study; Uncovering the True Value of Health Surveillance; an update on the HSENI's Workplace Health Campaign; dynamic risk assessment and behavioural safety.
The event also offered attendees the opportunity to network, take part in lunch time demos and brainstorm with experts and their peers. The 2025 Awards Dinner followed the conference and showcased the award winners from the year.
Our **Development & Governance** sub committee worked extensively during the year, which began with an updated NISG Constitution being approved at the AGM in January 2025. The amendments include updating of content deemed to require clarity and it also includes a user-friendly appendix listing the various Executive Committee roles, how each role is appointed, voting rights at Executive Committee meetings and voting rights at Group Meetings. Throughout the rest of the year the D&G sub committee focused on future planning for NISG and the streamlining of the NISG policies and associated documents. These were then issued under a document control system.
NISG are members of **Safety Groups UK** and entered the 2025 SGUK Awards during the year. NISG won the SGUK 2025 Development through Education Award, picking up the Scottish Chamber of Safety Silver Punch Bowl (SCoS Award) which recognises health and safety development achieved through effective educational engagement of learners of any age in the UK. The content of the award was the work carried out by the NISG Farming Sub Committee, as detailed above.
NISG were also named as one of three Gold Award Winners in the SGUK Excellence Awards for our submission entitled “Widening the Reach of the Northern Ireland Safety Group”. This submission featured the suggestion by Executive Committee Member John Murray for the Executive Committee to offer to attend member H&S days / events and present or speak to employees, who would not normally attend NISG meetings, to explain what NISG can offer the whole workforce, and not just the H&S personnel. This initiative has proved very successful.
Both awards were announced at SGUK Awards Ceremony at IOSH Leicester on Thurs 13th November.
The activity from sub committees of **Occupational Health** , **Workplace Transport** , and **Education** focused the programme of meetings during the year, along with the quiz, workshops and the annual conference.
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**NORTHERN IRELAND SAFETY GROUP YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
Collaboration with other like-minded groups took place as usual with interaction with the Workplace Health Leadership Group, Building Mental Health Alliance, Buildhealth, Electrical Networking Group and Electrical Training Trust to name a few.
As well as the sponsorships previously mentioned our Patron Arco has remained onboard along with Development Sponsors JMD Training and Carson McDowell and IT Sponsor Safety Lift.
2025 has been another very successful year for the organisation, and we now look forward to 2026 with the continued mission of promoting occupational health and safety across all of Northern Ireland and we will continue to provide relevant knowledge and learning for all of our stakeholders, whilst listening to our members suggestions on how they can be best assisted.
## **Public Benefit Statement**
The Northern Ireland Safety Group meets the public benefit requirement as follows:
The direct benefits which flow from the purpose are the improvement of safety and health knowledge in the workforce leading to the reduction of accidents/incidents and ill health at work. These benefits are evidenced through the increase in Group membership, the numbers who attend monthly meetings, feedback from Conferences and seminars that the organisation run, the growing number of subscribers to the organisation's e-zine, the increasing numbers who attend the Annual Safety Quiz and the increased numbers of organisations who enter the All Ireland Safety Awards. There is no harm from the activities pursued by the organisation. The Charity's beneficiaries are Safety Group members and the wider safety and health profession in
Northern Ireland and those people working for or with them be they employers, employees, self-employed or sub-contractors and young people who will be entering the workforce in the future.
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2008 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
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