we now have a voice of reason. it’s called the health and safety executive.
it may be hard for some to comprehend that they will back up the workers, and voice our concerns regarding jobsworths.
it’s the health and safety executive that are always put in the frame for this craziness. but it the jobsworths that work in places like morrisons RDC wakefield, etc.
guardian.co.uk/law/2012/apr/ … sfeed=true
about bloody time, i get fed up with some of the completely stupid rules some numpty behind a desk has come up with, they need to be sorted out 
wildfire:
about bloody time, i get fed up with some of the completely stupid rules some numpty behind a desk has come up with, they need to be sorted out
It is a vicious circle, the companies employ a H&S person and everything is hunky dory but then they find they have to justify their position and wages and come up with crap. AT LEAST THEY SHOULD BE CONSISTENT
H & S wot a pain in the arse for us anyway.
One of our halogen decklights blew last night so needed changing today, all that is needed is a screwdriver (and the new bulb of course) but to do this we had to :-
- Risk assessment, written and kept on file for 12 months.
- As the job involved was considered working aloft, about 12ft above deck level, safety harness should be worn.
- A permit to work had to be signed on with all details and signed off again when job completed, written and kept for God knows how long.
- All other work in the area that may involve a risk to the person changing the bulb to be suspended.
- The staging used for the man changing the bulb to either stand or sit on is supposed to have a certified strength certificate for either the strap or rope, whatever its made of.
Sure there was one more but its getting late and I’m knackered.
Oh yes, electrical circuit must be isolated and a sign placed warning others not to activate, why would they? its daylight ! and its a bloody light switch FFS.
Like the old joke says 'How many men does it take to change a lightbulb. (one, but another six to do the paperwork).
Of course we stick religiously to the book of rules.
limeyphil:
we now have a voice of reason. it’s called the health and safety executive.
it may be hard for some to comprehend that they will back up the workers, and voice our concerns regarding jobsworths.
it’s the health and safety executive that are always put in the frame for this craziness. but it the jobsworths that work in places like morrisons RDC wakefield, etc.
guardian.co.uk/law/2012/apr/ … sfeed=true
None of these address the requirements of PUWER which we are subject to. They only seem to come into play when there’s a mishap. We’re ok with conkers, who pays when your tail lift fails? 
the only way this will benefit us, is if we tell the HSE our concerns.
they can’t do anything about these tossers, unless we tell them who the tossers are.
The HSE have absolutely no idea about our job, I can imagine the conversation after ringing up at an RDC:
Drive: they’ve made me hand my keys in
HSE: they say it’s so you don’t drive off whilst they’re still in the trailer.
Drive: I’ll pull my red line off
HSE: isn’t that dangerous? what does that do? how do you do it?
Drive: It’s not dangerous, it locks the lorries air brakes so I can’t drive off, I have to get up on…
HSE: have you done a risk assessment for working at height? have you got fall arrest gear? Do you have a safe working procedures in place for compressed air…blah…blah…Lone worker…what’s the SWL of the handholds? have you got handholds Mr Drive?..blah blah blah…
Drive: No
HSE: We’d like to make an appointment to visit your workplace Mr Drive, by the way, there’s no extra charge for debit cards.
MADBAZ:
The HSE have absolutely no idea about our job, I can imagine the conversation after ringing up at an RDC:Drive: they’ve made me hand my keys in
HSE: they say it’s so you don’t drive off whilst they’re still in the trailer.
Drive: I’ll pull my red line off
HSE: isn’t that dangerous? what does that do? how do you do it?
Drive: It’s not dangerous, it locks the lorries air brakes so I can’t drive off, I have to get up on…
HSE: have you done a risk assessment for working at height? have you got fall arrest gear? Do you have a safe working procedures in place for compressed air…blah…blah…Lone worker…what’s the SWL of the handholds? have you got handholds Mr Drive?..blah blah blah…
Drive: No
HSE: We’d like to make an appointment to visit your workplace Mr Drive, by the way, there’s no extra charge for debit cards.
i think the point they are trying to make is that they are trying to get away from acting in the above manner.
i don’t believe they have ever acted like that in the past. i’m sure it’s the jobsworths that make out they are carrying out HSE legislation, when it’s not the case at all.
i was told when loading in Hull, that drivers couldn’t use the toilets, they showed me a sign explaining this, and it also said the HSE had agreed to it. i phoned the HSE, and they hadn’t condoned such action, but there was little they could do at the time. but it appears they could do something if it happened now.
if we come across any problems in the future, then we should all take it upon ourselves to enlighten the HSE, and see what happens. hopefully it’s not just hot air.
Here is the link for complaints:
hse.gov.uk/contact/contact-myth-busting.htm
Good luck
limeyphil:
MADBAZ:
The HSE have absolutely no idea about our job, I can imagine the conversation after ringing up at an RDC:Drive: they’ve made me hand my keys in…
i think the point they are trying to make is that they are trying to get away from acting in the above manner.
i don’t believe they have ever acted like that in the past. i’m sure it’s the jobsworths that make out they are carrying out HSE legislation, when it’s not the case at all.
i was told when loading in Hull, that drivers couldn’t use the toilets, they showed me a sign explaining this, and it also said the HSE had agreed to it. i phoned the HSE, and they hadn’t condoned such action, but there was little they could do at the time. but it appears they could do something if it happened now.
if we come across any problems in the future, then we should all take it upon ourselves to enlighten the HSE, and see what happens. hopefully it’s not just hot air.
I know what they’re trying to get across and it’s nothing but a damage limitation exercise, borne out of the culture that they err well cultured. I’ve been on the receiving end of an investigation after a maintenance contractor broke his back, pelvis and a femur and sustained many deep lacerations in one of the Point to Point CNC routers that I specced, operated and programmed for the company, some of the ■■■■ they came up with was unbelievable, they’d make the Civil Aviation Authority’s investigation branch look like amateurs, fortunately most of their investigation was outside my remit and lay with the manufacturer and their contractors. One example was where is the safety data sheet for the enclosure door (electromechanical) interlocks? even though the locks had nothing to do with the accident (machine was in maintenance mode, many safety interlocks were automatically overridden), contractor in the tub working on head and his mate poking around in the cabinet, some poor communication between them and the guy in cabinet sent the head to it’s setpoint, there is no stopping it when it moves and the poor guy in the tub got ‘run’ over by the head whilst trapped between the suction cup rails.
Whilst that investigation warranted the spanish inquisition some of the the recommendations afterwards were absolutely doolalley, such as we couldn’t load one end of the machine whilst it did it’s thing at the other end of the bed (which is what they are bloody well made for) in case any failsafes failed, the bloody thing has double redundant failsafes when operating normally, but as they were recommendations they were, for the larger part, ignored. The amount of paperwork that was subsequently generated was probably responsible for most of the Amazons deforestation that year