Health and Safety gone too far...

[igs942]

I was horrified when I read this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derb ... 425384.stm

Thank you to all those, from whichever war, who gave their lives to allow us all to enjoy what we have today.

Lest we forget.

[Craig.]

I'm sorry but I can only laugh. It is absolutly amazing how quickly this country is going downhill thanks to guys. Its only a matter of time before the streets will be lined with rubber and corners and edges of buildings and everything else, covered in bubble wrap.

One day these morons will realise just how big a mistake they are making. Disrespect abound in this case.  :-/

[Hagar]

This is ridiculous & no longer a joke. Health & Safety is now an industry in its own right (much like Quality Assurance) & the people that work in it are making a fortune out of it. I'm all for quality control & safe working practices but like many other things this has gone too far.

PS. I heard a snippet on the radio this morning that smokers have no chance of being accepted for certain jobs in the armed services. Not so long ago they used to hand out containers of free cigarettes to every soldier on active service. If they were going to risk their lives for their country surely they were capable of deciding whether they wished to smoke or not.

[C]

[quote]I'm sorry but I can only laugh. It is absolutly amazing how quickly this country is going downhill thanks to guys. Its only a matter of time before the streets will be lined with rubber and corners and edges of buildings and everything else, covered in bubble wrap.

One day these morons will realise just how big a mistake they are making. Disrespect abound in this case.

[ozzy72]

That is simply disgusting

[eno]

This is the Eagle Centre in Derby ....... and the reason they were moved was because of continuing  refurbishment work.
The location of the stall was close to an area where welding was going on, hence the fire risk. ......  A stallholder in the Indoor market attached to the centre allowed them to set up, less than 20m from the original location, in probably a better location as it's on the main throughfare between the centre/market and the attached carpark. The original postition was in a narrower aisle where people would be less likely to stop and not on one of the main passages through either the market or the shopping centre.

Once again not the whole story told.

[Tweek]

A fire risk?! I'll bring a can of deoderant and a box of matches along, and show them a fire risk!

[Hagar]

Once again not the whole story told.

Right. That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

[ozzy72]

Do the world a favour and shoot a journalist today

[Craig.]

thanks for the rest of the story eno.

[smashie]

This type of coverage is really starting to bug me. I have a hard enough job anyway (health & safety manager for a construction company).

So now along with all the macho crap that you find with builders, "I bet I can lift more than you can" I find my self increasingly having to deal with the readers of certain "red top" papers sneering at my profession and assuming that everything we do is either to 1. keep me busy in a pointless job 2. cover the arses of the directors.

I have stated on many occasions that I really don't think about the prosecution of the directors, if they don't follow my advice then they are negligent and don't deserve any defense. But I would have difficulty sleeping if one of the employees got injured or killed because of above negligence. Not one single person here leaves the house in the morning with the intention of being maimed or killed. So I, and other professionals, try hard to stop it happening. Stories like this and all the the other

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

What's a poppy??

[eno]

Smashie ....... we all agree with you totally. I have been responsible for H&S on numerous occasions and I'm tougher than most when I see breeches of the regulations. However sometimes the "Red Tops" get it right and there are some mad interpretations of the regulations, resulting in obvious stupidness. The one in this thread was just sensationalised for effect.

I delivered to a warehouse  in Birmingham a few weeks ago .... this was my 3rd visit in as many weeks. The guy who checks in the deliveries approached with a hard hat on. I asked him why the hard hat ..... were they doing any building work?
Nope ...... they had just been given a new H&S policy which required hard hats. Now for the stupid bit ...... NOTHING was stored over head height. There was a fenced mezzanine level where small items were stored on shelves ..... the shelves were 6ft back from the fence at all points. This part of the warehouse was seperate from the major part of the warehouse, for which the policy was designed (forklifts and high storage units). At no time did the guy in this part of the building have to enter the other part not even to get to or leave work.
He said that the policy applied to the whole building ..... my reply ..... if so, why aren't the guys in the offices wearing hard hats then? ...... I advised him to get another risk assesment done on his part of the building as the hard hat was causing him problems rather than doing anything useful. I also pointed out that if they refused then to push the fact that if the policy applied to the whole building then the office workers should be wearing hard  hats too. This should be the clincher and at least he would be free of what was becomming a hinderence.

I've not been back since so I can't give an outcome.



Woozy ...... a Poppy is a flower .... they were the first flowers to populate the battlefields of France after WW1. They symbolise remberance here in the UK (the French equivilant is the Cornflower) and paper poppies are sold for the Haig Fund. The Haig Fund is a charity set up to provide services to ex servicmen and their families, especially those who have seen active service in war zones. It also serves as a way of remembering those that lost their lives in all wars.

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Woozy ...... a Poppy is a flower .... they were the first flowers to populate the battlefields of France after WW1. They symbolise remberance here in the UK (the French equivilant is the Cornflower) and paper poppies are sold for the Haig Fund. The Haig Fund is a charity set up to provide services to ex servicmen and their families, especially those who have seen active service in war zones. It also serves as a way of remembering those that lost their lives in all wars.

Ah....now it makes sense...and it's not the greatest of articles..... :-/

[Hagar]

This type of coverage is really starting to bug me. I have a hard enough job anyway (health & safety manager for a construction company).

It's not the managers like you I have problems with. Quite the opposite & you have my full sympathy. As QA Manager for my company for 10 years before I retired I was also responsible for complying with Health & Safety & the Fire Regulations. This was fine when I first took the job on but became increasingly more difficult as time went by & the "professional" experts got involved. Instead of people with years of experience working in an industrial environment we were dealing with people with university degrees who had never done a proper day's work in their lives. This "new breed" as we called them have no sense of humour & everything has to be done strictly to the rule book whether it's practical or even necessary. It's a waste of time trying to reason with them. This is the main reason I grabbed the chance of early retirement as soon as it was offered. I enjoyed my job but simply couldn't cope any more & almost had a nervous breakdown over it. Many of my old colleagues in the industry did the same leaving it wide open for these people to replace them. My brother took over my old job & I honestly don't know how he puts up with it. The situation is ten times worse now than when I left & it's almost impossible to run a business while complying with these stupid regulations they keep dreaming up.



PS. Never trust anyone without a sense of humour.