pavman Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Less than 10 years ago I was still buzzing about on a 600cc supa bike and sometimes nudged the speed limit :blink: Oh what excitment i have now A spot lamp bulb had blown in my office, went down the workshop got a new one up on the desk 10 secs job done..... The QHSE Gestapo are making a meal of it Edited January 13, 2010 by pavman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Should you have carried out an assessment to see if it was safe to change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 I was doing some installation work in a well known supermarket and the bloke working with me jumped up onto a table to switch something off. Right then the manager of the shop entered the room and asked who he was. Once he had indentified himself he was told had been an employee of the supermarket, he would have dismissed on the spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC45 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 You need a Degree to change a light bulb and someone to hold the ladder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shot shot Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 "It's my neck and I'll break it if I want" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAULT Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 bunch of beaurocratic a-------s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 The problem is... These days ther are companies queing up to make claims against employers on behalf of employees - so they have to cover their own backsides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Yeah but joking aside, are you sure you are OK Pavman? You've got us all worried now! Edited January 13, 2010 by Cosd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Sweepy Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 In my last job they let me go up a stepladder unaided Just as the boys where comming out of classes for breaktime. Do you think they where trying to tell me something. :blink: Mind you i was most probably safe up the ladder then i was on the ground with the little darlings I think they used to use the health and safety book to prop up the coffee table. xxxxSuzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shot shot Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 In my last job they let me go up a stepladder unaidedJust as the boys where comming out of classes for breaktime. Do you think they where trying to tell me something. :blink: Mind you i was most probably safe up the ladder then i was on the ground with the little darlings I think they used to use the health and safety book to prop up the coffee table. xxxxSuzy best use for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPT1 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 The H&S executive rule industry now. The idea of strict rules and enforcement is so that at least we are trying to achieve perfect safety. That is of course not posssible but by trying we improve safety. Funny enough the rate of deaths and srious injury in he Building Industry have barely altered since 1974. A risk assessment is only looking for risks that may harm the worker. A method statement is just a list of manouvers showing a safe way to complete a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 The H&S executive rule industry now. The idea of strict rules and enforcement is so that at least we are trying to achieve perfect safety. That is of course not posssible but by trying we improve safety. Funny enough the rate of deaths and srious injury in he Building Industry have barely altered since 1974. A risk assessment is only looking for risks that may harm the worker. A method statement is just a list of manouvers showing a safe way to complete a job. you are of course right... be interested in how many accidents related to the same tasks happen at home with none of the above... Of course common sense must be used at all times and for a big task I too would use a risk asesment to ensure I did not miss anything but i would not do one at home to change a light bulb... would you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 As long as there is a piece of paper stating the correct (in a an ideal world) way to do a job, someone’s axre is covered. But practically to that job common sense is often required, and a blind eye. I often joke with my HSE manager, that he has won a weeks holiday to the Caribbean. It would be cheaper to pay him to go on this holiday that the expense needed to do the job "safely" Its amazing how much work gets done at nights and weekends! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagsy Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Whilst it's making things safer there are loads who take it to the extreme unnecessarily. I suppose you can't put a price on personal safety but jesus are we paying for it big style in added costs! Edited January 13, 2010 by Bagsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilR Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Unfortunately having all the ticks in the right boxes may not prevent the HSE from bringing a prosecution. Before I retired I used to work for a major UK company in their property management division. We employed term contractors for building maintenance. One of the properties had a roof leak, the term contractor's workman showed up on site on a Friday, said to the manager he couldn't do anything whilst it was raining and would return the following day as it was forecast as fine weather. Unfortunately the property was closed on Saturday and wouldn't be manned but the contractor said not to worry he could get onto the roof from the street. He duly turned up and clambered onto the roof, his mate who should have been with him failed to turn up for work after a heavy Friday night on the beer. The workman on the roof failed to utilise the safety harness his company provided him with and he fell though the roof to the floor about 15m below. He was eventually discovered because his wife wondered why he hadn't returned home and contacted his mate to find he hadn't been at work with him and raised the alarm. Eventually the police/fire & rescue broke in to discover him in a very serious condition late on the Saturday evening with head injuries and broken limbs. Our company had employed the term contractor and had got all the safe systems of work and risk assessment procedures that our H&S people demanded from them, and our H&S lawyers are no muppets. The workman injured failed to carry out a risk assessment of the job, use a safe system of work, utilise the safety equipment provided by his company and disobeyed company rules about working unaccompanied. The HSE prosecuted the term contractor, they were fined in the region of £25k and they started to proceed with a prosecution of my company as we were the employer of the term contractor in the shape of our property director. Our QC determined that it would be in the company's interest to plead guilty rather than put the property director in the dock and were fined £12k. I also believe, although the case was still ongoing when I retired, that the HSE were going to do the injured workman too. Quite how the HSE managed to prosecute us I don't know, a good scalp I suppose and a warning to others. We'd done everything in our power to ensure that we were using companies that were reputable and had everything in place to prevent such an accident happening. At the end of the day I suppose our manager should have instructed the workman not to get on the roof when the site was unmanned and return after the weekend when it was open. The company was paranoid after that and banned all work taking place above 2m height, just think how many light fittings there would be in nigh on 3000 properties mostly industrial units - that really brought on the agony, until each job was risk assessed again and all safe systems of work reviewed. We couldn't bend over to tie our shoe laces without someone sticking a form in our faces! Boy was I glad I wasn't involved in the building maintenance team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawi72uk Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 HSE Keep peolpe in a job and lowers unemployment thats why jobs where created, Its like these new traffic officers on the motoways my sister had a blow out the other week and was struggling change her tire these two traffic officers turned up didnt let her in there car and didnt help her change the wheel its just gives a load divs a job, iv work up ladders since i was 15 and i now have to get a permit to use them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg31 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 the hse is a better paid job than the police!! so all the kids that were picked on at school or did'nt quite fit in.have now got a better paid option to bring misery to all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight32 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 HSE Keep peolpe in a job and lowers unemployment thats why jobs where created, Its like these new traffic officers on the motoways my sister had a blow out the other week and was struggling change her tire these two traffic officers turned up didnt let her in there car and didnt help her change the wheel its just gives a load divs a job, iv work up ladders since i was 15 and i now have to get a permit to use them You got that right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felly100 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 HSE Keep peolpe in a job and lowers unemployment thats why jobs where created, Its like these new traffic officers on the motoways my sister had a blow out the other week and was struggling change her tire these two traffic officers turned up didnt let her in there car and didnt help her change the wheel its just gives a load divs a job, iv work up ladders since i was 15 and i now have to get a permit to use them Who is the div Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Had a project recently with a lot of wc cubicles with vent above to be balanced. Room for small steps but not for 1 man pop up scaffold - Builders safety officer would not issue permit for steps, and said the only option was for fixed low level scaffold (and his PM said we had better get is sorted quickly or else.) It escaslated to director level That was until we pointed out to their management all fixed scaffold was in their bill - they were now delaying completion of project. Magic -- Safety officer runs in with ladder permit within 5 minutes D Edited January 13, 2010 by Yellow Bear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diceman Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Years ago I hosted an HSE audit of our factory. We rounded a corner and there was a production supervisor leaning over a tank of caustic, one gloved hand hanging on to a steam pipe and the other battering a valve with a huge spanner and swearing his head off. The HSE bloke went white and started scribbling on his clipboard as I hurried him past. The next day I tackled the supervisor and asked him what he thought he was playing at. He said "I've been asking for that valve to be fixed for 6 months and everybody has ignored me. One hour after the HSE bloke left there were 2 blokes from engineering in there. What do YOU think I was playing at??" Cunning sod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawi72uk Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) By law its down to the architect to take in to account any and access and what access should be used this should all be written down in a scope of works and if he doesnt take this into account with any job refurb or new he can be held responsible tell this to the next site agent Edited January 14, 2010 by shawi72uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agusta Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 New Zealand is the place to live, if your as think as two short planks and hurt yourself.....tough bananas, you can't sue Why dont we do the same, the EU no doubt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 In my last job they let me go up a stepladder unaidedJust as the boys where comming out of classes for breaktime. Do you think they where trying to tell me something. Mind you i was most probably safe up the ladder then i was on the ground with the little darlings I think they used to use the health and safety book to prop up the coffee table. xxxxSuzy And how many of the little boys were holding the bottom of the steps making sure you were safe there at the top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPT1 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Pavman, do I do risk assements at home? Course I do. I check is the light switch off, make sure the chair is robust enough to take my weight etc etc. SEEEEMPULL. Then get the wife to change the bulb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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