H&S - we are doomed

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I heard that if you complaining that H&S rules are stupid, you can be banned from working as you are becoming H&S risk…

So they can introduce every stupid rule they had dreamed while sleeping after being drunk, and if we want to work, we can’t complain that this rule is stupid…

I just had a wee job, making some passenger surveys on the buses. I had to wear steel cap shoes and long sleeve hi-vis jacket. When I complained that this not makes any sense, as every other passengers are safe enaugh without this hi-vis and safety boots, they told me what I just quoted to you… They even refused to let me go with just a hi-vis jacket without sleeves, as “the sleeves protect my hands in case that I will fall”. When I demanded explanation how on earth this sleeves can protect me and how wearing a long sleeve jacket, which makes me sweating, as it’s made of plastic, is good for my health, I was just told to do not ask this questions - this is H&S and this is good for me (or I can go look for another job, I guess).

I grew up under communists rule and basically speaking that was the same: Soviet Union is our Friend and Ally, or you are outsider. Communist Party is our leader, supported by the whole nation, or you are in jail. Russian is very useful language and everyone should be able to speak it, or you can learn english for yourself, but you’ll never finish school and find a job…

:unamused:

2

Well Spoken Orys. you are absolutely right about H&S and stupid rules made up by stupid people.

No one expects 7 year old children to clamber up chimneys with a stiff brush any longer. But to follow H&S rules without question is what you and your countrymen put up with through the communist era.

Across the road from my house is a small building site, there are 3 labourers at the moment who have to wear hard hats, hi viz vests and safety boots, the boots I understand, the hard hats and hi-viz is more difficult, apart from the fact that they are working under the East Midlands Airport flightpath.

The biggest danger to them though is getting knocked over by 70 yearold plus hells grannies on mobility scooters as they go to collect their pensions.

Morrisons employ a man dressed in a hi-viz to collect supermarket trolleys from the same car-park that a woman carrying a child keeps her elder offspring under control with threats of no sweets, she isn’t wearing a hi viz, neither are the kids.

While I was fueling up, the cashier had to put on a luminous vest, to change the till roll in the pump, even the Group 4 money van driver wears hi viz, In my local supermarket, children are not allowed in the wine section, but they can get crisps from the shelf opposite, :unamused:

We will end up drowning in a luminous glow, it wouldn’t surprise me if the earths core temperature is rising because of hi-viz. forget global warming, think power saving, 24 hour lighting with no power stations :laughing:

It is all ■■■■■■■■

3

Some building sites make me laugh when you turn up and they insist you wear safety goggles and gloves to go with the hi-biz bash hat and boots, have your crane cert present and correct and then say you can’t get on the bed of your truck to take the net/straps off or operate the crane because you might fall off :confused:

4

Grayham:
Some building sites make me laugh when you turn up and they insist you wear safety goggles and gloves to go with the hi-biz bash hat and boots, have your crane cert present and correct and then say you can’t get on the bed of your truck to take the net/straps off or operate the crane because you might fall off :confused:

Yes, on one occasion I wasn’t able to drop the load off, as it was impossible to unstrap it without climbing up on the back.

What I did? I left that place, stopped arround the corner, unstrapped my load there and then came back.

How safest it was for me to drive with the load unstrapped (even for this 100 mtrs? :stuck_out_tongue:)

5

All the sites pay lip service,put up all signs (no hard hat boots goggles ect ect)the have trucks tipping all over the place soft uneven ground unsutable vehicles ie artics where really only ridgit vehicles should go,it is all just to cover them selves

6

The people in this country have to take the blame for this as well.

Your doing your job on a bus talking to passengers with no hi-viz and no steel toe caps, some half blind pensioner accidentally bumps into you and stands on your toe. Its a tiny bit sore, will be fine later on, you get on with your job.

No not these days, would be a case of filling in accident book, take the rest of the day off work, go call up some doctor who prob can’t see you for 6 weeks so just tells you to come in pick up a sick note for a week. Then go see some ambulance chasing lawyer, who will happily sue the bus company because they didn’t provide you with the correct equipment for standing on a bus.

We have created this society through greed, where you can’t scratch your backside without a risk assessment, where local fairs are a thing of the past because of the amount of liability insurance they need.

7

I’m not really anti health and safety you need some rules and regs, but what we have now is an entire sector devoted to Health and Safety and that have to come out with more rules to justify thier existence and fee’s.
From my experience most of these people have very little understanding of the industries they are making rules for, and therefore the rules they make either don’t make any difference or even make things worse. Companies are forced to adopt these rules by insurance companies afraid of big claims from the type of people mentioned by Kenny1975.

To show you how a jumped up [zb]'s make the problem worse I’ll tell you what happened at work this year when our new insurance company asked us to have a Health and Safety review. The insurance company basically wanted us to check everything was okay, fire doors clear, Fire extinguishers ready for work, etc.

The job was given to the bloke who buy’s our stock. this bloke is a jumped up [zb] took a pay cut and moved from being my assistant to have this job as it meant he could sit in an office. Then tried to use the job title of Logistics Manager. :unamused:
He hires in a H&S consultant at £350 per day, after many regular visits we got a new ladder. :confused: a health and safety Document which we then had to sign to say we had read it, but most didn’t bother reading it, including the boss, they just signed. I read it, it was pathetic, no account had been taken of the particular needs of the industry we work in. Just glib phrases like “motorsport is dangerous”. (You don’t Say! :unamused: ) and “Company vehicles must be driven in accordance with road traffic regulations” and “truck drivers are governed by Thier own tachgraph rules”
He then booked an in house Health and Safety course for everybody, Several of us took a day off. That really wound him up. :laughing: He wants to book another one for us that missed it. I’ve asked the boss if I can do a module for my Drivers CPC instead. :smiley: I’ve now found out that the insurance company don’t require us to do a health and safety course, it was a recomendation from the consultant. :imp:

And finally we were asked to sign out of the 48 hour week. I refused because I can’t sign out of the 48 hour week. He went straight to the boss, who understood why. So as he didn’t believe him he phoned the Health and Safety consultant, she didn’t even know there were different WTD regs for Truck drivers. :imp:

So what should have been a simple process had been made into a total farce by a jumped up pen pusher and somebody who’s job it is to make money out of Health and Safety.

Finally she wanted her and her Husband to come to a test or race, she was willing to pay for the flights and hotel, but would charge us £350 per day for the priviledge of watching us work. :imp:

8

There are some quite ridiculous rules made by companies to cover arses, such as the modern idea that the safest place to walk in a busy transport yard is straight across the maneuvering area sticking to yellow hatchings, another one is the companies who insist you drive with hazard lights, or headlights on in daylight should look at their own H&S and stop employing myopic loading staff.

Muckles said that he is not anti health and safety, I agree, we do need rules and regs, what we don’t need is silly rules and regs. I mentioned the Corus safety rules where drivers are not allowed to climb on their own trailer, however they want a clean trailer bed which has to be swept in a layby outside the gate, 12 pieces of dunnage and 10 pieces of kraft cardboard between the coils, the coils have then to be figure of eight strapped according to their site rules. On the way out of the factory, a random search is carried out by a security guard who climbs in and counts the coils & straps :open_mouth:

As a tanker driver, we had to climb on the tanker to open the lids at a cleaning station, but were not allowed to check the tank after it was cleaned and sealed by the staff, in a chocolate factory the tank had to be positioned by the driver but he was not allowed to check the lids were secure before leaving the site after loading.

When loading expensive or targetable saleable goods, the factories or warehouses will not allow parking on site in the name of health and safety, not my health and safety anyway.

Drivers not being allowed to check load security or to instruct the loaders how you would prefer the vehicle loading, just because the last bloke wanted a 6 foot gap between the headboard and the first 3 drums of acid doesn’t mean everyone wants it loaded like that, a factory near Chester expected us to park outside and open our curtains, remove the boards if it was a Euroliner and then drive inside with curtains flapping, the forktruck driver would then pull the curtains back while driving the forklift because site rules prevented him getting off the forklift where vehicles were moving around. After it was loaded you had to drive back outside and struggle alone to refit the boards. Of course if you didnt have a Euroliner or you turned up with a container, it was simple, or you backed onto a ramp.

As Fuse says, POA, don’t make me laugh.

Health and Safety, it’s not for our benefit.

9

Wheel Nut:
another one is the companies who insist you drive with hazard lights

Yes, that my pet hate. I never do it, unless someone insist.

I saw plenty of situation of misunderstanding while someone was reversing and the other someone got wrong his intention. Or similar cases on the construction sites. Can anyone explain to me, why I should reverse with my hazards on? Reverse lights and beeper should be good enaugh and my indicators I need to indicate my intentions…

10

orys:
Can anyone explain to me, why I should reverse with my hazards on?

A lot of trailers don’t have reverse lights, so hazards are as close as you can get. “Look at me, I’m a hazard”

It makes this

Wheel Nut:
companies who insist you drive with hazard lights

about as safe as pointing at someone and putting your foot down :unamused:

11

arronls:
A lot of trailers don’t have reverse lights, so hazards are as close as you can get. “Look at me, I’m a hazard”

Most of trailers and all rigids have, and yet they have to use hazards as well.

12

making you use hazzards when moving the vehicle is where health and safety contradicts the rules of the road as its prohibited to use hazzards on a moving vehicle on the public highway.

13

My pet hate is FLT drivers beeping when the go through a door. If you are working anywhere near the the constant beeps soon fade into the background noise and serve no purpose. If you are trying to rest nearby they just keep you awake.

14

Now guys a slightly OT story you won’t believe, but I assure you it really happened.
Hanging around a city with our friends (young couple with 2-3yrs old daughter), sightseeing, ladies shopping, amongst other things also for shoes for the little one. After entering about 79th shop we actually found shoes that fit and the little one liked.
mum: OK, we’re having them.
shop assistant: don’t you think they are too big?
mum: well, yes, they’re half size bigger but her feet are quite wide, not all shoes fit
assistant: I am not sure we can sell them to you
four shocked faces :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: , assistant leaves and return with a manager
manager: I’m afraid we cannot sell these shoes to you
mum & dad: aaaand whyyyyyyy!!!
manager: they’re too big for a girl of that age, there’s potential risk of tripping
dad: geez, what do you mean? she’s 2.5, she keeps tripping all the time, with shoes or without them! have the bloody shoes, we’re going elsewhere, it’s last time you have seen us here…
mum: hold on sec, we need those shoes, we went through all shops around and these are the only ones that fit. she cann’t walk barefeet…
manager: there’s one option - there’ll be a notice on your receipt that we refuse any responsibility and liability for incidents and accidents resulting from use of this pair of shoes
dad: pack the shoes, take the money and bugger off

anyway, I remain optimistic. it’s just a fashion that will wear out at some point. Do you remember the days when everyone demanded quality management certificates?

15

HomoFaber:
anyway, I remain optimistic. it’s just a fashion that will wear out at some point. Do you remember the days when everyone demanded quality management certificates?

Aargh No! BS5750 and ISO 9002, someone will suggest KPI are a good idea next :laughing:

Here is a snippet I found that made me smile.

This works perfectly ok for some things. I mean, if you wanted to buy a piece of rope, and you wanted to make sure it wasn’t “money for old rope”, and the important thing was it had to be possible to hang a 1 ton weight on it, then if you bought an ISO9002 standard piece of rope, you could be absolutely assured that someone somewhere would have at some time hung a ton and a half on that piece of rope and it would definitely not have broken. (And they’d have written a nice neat report about it). So, great for things that are measurable objectively!

But supposing, for the sake of discussion, that you went to commission a POET to write some quality poetry, and you selected a poet who was “ISO9002 accredited”, you’d be paying them PER-VERSE, so to speak, and they’d be guaranteed to churn out stuff as per some predefined rate of writing per hour, and all the spelling would have been looked up properly in a school dictionary. However, the resulting quality of the artistic work would be BOG-STANDARD and probably lack any spark of brilliance or excellence of lyrical masterpiece. Plus, most of the most startlingly powerful poets would scorn such a standardised way of working, because the artistic temperament has an aversion to conformity, so you’d be missing out on the best people for the job!

16

When my child was taken for her first pair of shoes had similar problems. Every time assistant removed a shoe she asked me for permission to straighten the girls sock, I eventually asked whats it all about.Assistant said a lawer had tried to sue for touching childs leg.A manager had to advise on the sale of our shoes as well.

17

mentioning of shoes…a couple of years back a person sued Nike (of all people) due to that fact when they brought their shoes there was nothing telling them to ensure the laces were tied. They subsequently tripped over and sued, think it ended up being settled out of court but in their favour!!

I’m afraid to think that commonsense has now been replaced by the H&S steamboat.

I remember as a little kid, building a field shelter (which we later turned into a hay store) for our horses, needless to say the amount of fun we had jumping off this 12ft+ roof into a load of hay and straw, flips and everything was great fun. I would hate to think about the amount of H&S regs and rules wud be in place now which would have prevented it going up in the first place!

And dont even get me started on the rubbish that is the Data Protection Act and the Human ‘Hide behind it everytime you mention the criminal word’ Rights Act as well!! GRRRRRRRRRRRR :imp: :imp: :imp:

18

I had to laugh yesterday. I was collecting from the loading bay area of a morrisons store. Along comes morrisons guy in full H&S gear. opens up locked contain and puts some fireworksin his trollet, locks container and pushes his trolley past a guy cutting a metal pipe with an angle grinder, sparks flying everywhere! sadly we wasn’t treated to an early firework display :slight_smile:

19

As kids we had a rope swing over a railway line, and a trolley made out of an old pram, some rope, a few nails and a big coach bolt for the front axle steering, add to this mix the railway bridge near the rope swing and my brother and I were popular kids, especially as we could nick pop from my dads pub too.

It was always fun to be on the rope swing as the train went past, especially if you timed it right, you could push yourself off the side of the carriages. I was born at a young age, and we were teenagers when we left the pub.

I don’t remember any accidents where we lost friends hitting a train and occasionally when the trolley crashed, we just laughed, it was a valuable lesson in slowing down for corners and the need for brakes. It taught us some common sense, where are people supposed to get that from these days, hopefully not a health and safety symposium.

One thing I did learn and we were warned about was that pop rots your teeth :laughing:

20

Wheel Nut:
As kids we had a rope swing over a railway line, and a trolley made out of an old pram, some rope, a few nails and a big coach bolt for the front axle steering, add to this mix the railway bridge near the rope swing and my brother and I were popular kids, especially as we could nick pop from my dads pub too.

It was always fun to be on the rope swing as the train went past, especially if you timed it right, you could push yourself off the side of the carriages. I was born at a young age, and we were teenagers when we left the pub.

I don’t remember any accidents where we lost friends hitting a train and occasionally when the trolley crashed, we just laughed, it was a valuable lesson in slowing down for corners and the need for brakes. It taught us some common sense, where are people supposed to get that from these days, hopefully not a health and safety symposium.

One thing I did learn and we were warned about was that pop rots your teeth :laughing:

You obviously never timed the rope swing wrong then wheel nut.There would have been a big difference between pushing yourself of of the side of the moving train doing 125 mph than trying to get out of it’s way in time.But at least the driver might have seen you in time to stop if you’d been wearing a hi viz jacket. :laughing: :laughing: