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The author forecasts the likely changes to accident recording and reporting and assesses some of the unexpected consequences and implications of the SSP legislation.

Decimalisation, value added tax, metrication, the Industrial Relations Act—perhaps the four most outstanding individual training subjects in the last decade. Do we now, with the death of the Industrial Relations Act, need a de‐briefing?

Pre‐retirement activities, ranging from man‐to‐man counselling to weekend “bargain breaks” in hotels, are expanding. The most active organisation in the field is the Pre‐Retirement Association, covering the scope of personnel, education and training. Core contents of all seminars in this area tend to be similar, covering finance, health and fitness, and retirement activities. (List of commercial organisers included.)

No one needs help to get into trouble At the beginning of 1975 that is a quotation to be remembered by people as far apart as ex‐President Nixon, ex‐Lord Mayor of London Sir Dennis Lowson, and Fred who cleans our offices—but never satisfactorily.

Ask young executives what they think management is, and one is given a vague and somewhat confused answer: linking together the work of a lot of people by such techniques as organisation and meetings.

The Royal Assent to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 received a sixteen line paragraph in Topics for September. In dozens of journals it did not even rate a mention. But if what Lord Robens in his 1972 Report saw as necessary for securing better standards of health and safety at work is to be realised, the education and training programme necessary is wide and deep.

Two former “proposals” will become embodied in new legislation now that the return of a Conservative administration has removed uncertainties. The first of these (to enable employers and employees to agree on non‐cash forms of wage payment) will demand research and education. The second (to be dealt with later) will require some constructive rethinking of training in manual lifting and handling as it will reduce the areas for excuse for manual handling accidents.

Critical examination of the concept of flexible working hours has been conspicuously lacking from most management magazines, although individual appraisals have appeared in less popular journals.

As part of a research into flexible working hours in offices, the question ‘Has it improved productivity?’ was put to a number of executives. Their replies form the basis of the material in this article.

IT SEEMS natural that at the commencement of each New Year people look backward and forward. They assess their achievements during the year that is gone and try to make some sort of forecast of the future.