40th anniversary scientific meeting

The IOM held a one day scientific meeting in June, to commemorate 40 years since the institute was founded by the National Coal Board in 1969. This was held at Heriot-Watt University, before an audience of around 100 customers, collaborators, business partners and former IOM colleagues. Opening the programme, Professor Anthony Seaton (former Director of the IOM and Honorary Senior Consultant), gave an account of the contribution the IOM has made to occupational and environmental health over the years, highlighting the diversity of influential and standard-setting research carried out at the institute, as well as the development of the IOM's many consultancy services There followed two parallel streams of presentations on topics of current interest, presented jointly by IOM scientists and invited external speakers. Towards the close of the meeting, Professor Bob Maynard of the Health Protection Agency reflected on the IOM's forty years of distinction in occupational and environmental health, and spoke of the crucial role that an independent organisation such as the IOM has in the development of policy in these important areas.

Copies of all of the presentations from this meeting have been posted on the IOM's website, together with a selection of photographs from the day.

A commemorative brochure has been produced: ‘From Coal To Carbon Nanotubes – The First 40 Years', and this is also available in pdf form on the IOM website.

Staff social event

As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations, staff spent an afternoon at Winton House, Pencaitland (near Edinburgh), taking part in a variety of activities ranging from the moderately strenuous (highland games) to the positively sedate (wine tasting). The afternoon concluded with a barbecue and an impromptu game of cricket, and not surprisingly perhaps, this heralded the onset of some gentle rainfall just as the party came to an end.