November 2019 Newsletter
1. Report on Neuss Meeting, 13th November.
The Neuss meeting was a great success. We had 22 attending with nearly half of these from Mainland Europe and two guest presenters from the Americas Section. We always welcome guests from other Sections.
We had six technical presentations and an update on the Oxford Conference in 2020. I have placed five of these on the members section of the isrp.com website. They are copy protected but not print protected. If you need more detail then approach the presenters, either directly or through myself. I attach a photograph of the speakers, from the left we have Greg Olsen, myself, Stephanie Lynch, Leo Steenweg, Gabriele Troescher, Graham Clements and Maxine Dolloway.
Greg and Stephanie described two different methods of fit-testing, which led to a lively discussion to say the least. Maxine talked about the practical aspects of training for Fit-2-Fit based on her experience, Gabrielle covered developments in European standards, Graham talked about how BSI were planning to respond to BREXIT, when/if it happens, and described the potential outcomes of the forthcoming General Election in the UK. I talked around the implications of test regimes that look for a failure level in terms of concentration where many chemicals are classified in terms of dose.
2. Spring Meeting and AGM, Lodz, Monday 16th March 2020
We now have three presentations for our 2020 Spring meeting and AGM at Lodz, Poland. The Meeting will be on Monday March 16, 2020. Our thanks to Krzysztof Makowski for this. We have chosen this site and date to collocate with meetings of CEN/TC 79/WG 4 and 6 Working Groups. That meeting is scheduled for March 17-20, 2020.
We are still looking for presenters for this meeting. If you have work that you want to tell the meeting about please let me know. Presenting here will not prevent you presenting the same work at our International Conference in September at Oxford.
For those of you from the UK there is a direct flight from Stanstead by Ryan Air on every day of the week except for Tuesday. Otherwise there are many flights to Warsaw.
3. ISRP International Conference, Oxford, September 2020.
The booking site for the International Conference should be open at the start of December. Book via https://www.isrp.com/events/next-international-conference. You will be directed to our partners, Conference Care, who are handling the bookings for the meeting. We are operating an honesty policy. You do not have to renew your membership for 2020 before you book but you must have done it before the conference. I shall check your membership in the summer and you will find it is cheaper to be a member than to pay the excess. See below for 2020 membership rates for the European Section. There are benefits for Corporate/Organisational members thinking of sending more than 2 delegates.
Payments will be taken against credit card unless you need an invoice. It could take a week for an invoice to be issued by Conference Care. If there are any problems please contact me.
Conference Care are not handling the bookings for the rooms in Pembroke College or for Hotels. You will be sent an Email with a link to Pembroke College to book accommodation. Their rates for Bed and Breakfast at are very reasonable for Central Oxford. We have guaranteed to fill 50 rooms from Sunday 27th night to Wednesday 30th night. There are some rooms available at Pembroke before and after the conference but we haven’t guaranteed them so they are subject to availability. Most of the rooms are single rooms in a modern block but there are some double rooms available in older buildings. There is Wifi but no TV. Unfortunately Pembroke do not allow children to stay in College. I have been told that the cut off age is 16.
4. Memberships for 2020
We have opened the website for 2020 memberships. It did not make sense to keep the 2019 membership registration open once there were no more events in the year. The new memberships will last until the end of 2020. At the last AGM it was decided unanimously to increase the fees to £75 for individuals and £400 for corporate/organisational members. This is the first increase since 2001, if not earlier, during which time the amount that the Section has to send back to the International Society has risen until, by 2018, it consumed a high proportion of the money that we took as fees locally.
Corporate/Organisational members should be aware that, under the rules of the International Society, though they can only have two named members in any Section, they can send an unlimited number of employees to the International Conference at the member rate.
5. Society Posts that need filling – Volunteers please.
Leo and Andy are co-chairs of the Section this year but will be stepping down at the next AGM. So we need volunteers to be Section Chair for 2020. There is no “job description” for this role but it involves taking decisions on future policy, meetings and working with the International Society. We also have a vacancy for an International Board Member. This post involves attending International Society Board meetings if possible or dialling in to them if possible. The meetings usually take place in the USA but there will be one associated with the Oxford Conference in 2020. I have been a Board Member for a long time and have only been to the meetings in Dublin and Prague. I have been dialling in on a regular basis.
6. Bob Bentley Bursary
The European Section of the Society promotes the Bob Bentley Bursary. In keeping with Bob Bentley’s passion for the support of young scientists/engineers, the bursaries are intended particularly for young persons who are relatively new to the field of respiratory protection, but there is no fixed upper age limit. Young people who may not otherwise be able to attend the conference are encouraged to apply for bursaries.
Mike Williams at Secretary@isrpeurope.com
Secretary isrp European Section.