H and S has plus points but also far too much BS due to over zealous H and S officers. I worked as Project Manager a few years back where I had to wear the Hi viz, safety boots, hat, glasses and gloves...just to do internal inspections on social housing. Mean while Jo public could walk around the site un hindered! Mental.
I was always led to believe that cost was part of risk assessment and that common sense did have a part to play it was put over as "when the cost out ways the risk" then a more suitable method must be found. Sounds like jobsworth hadnt heard of that.
Jobsworth got thrown off site shortly after that episode. But he's just one of many - the annoying thing being it's the H&S nazis that are the ones with the least common sense.
Cost benefit is not the same as risk assessment. RA is about consequence (although cost is implied in this) and probability and how by mitigation they can be reduced to As Low As Reasonably Practicable. If the risk is still at an unacceptable level after mitigation the task does not proceed, although there is the possibility of referral to a higher authority.
Volvo construction equipment have started supplying 'bump caps' to there fitters for when they work underneath plant equipment, they have to wear the hard hat though to walk from there van to the machine lol yes, he was wearing one, he was run over because the dumptruck was overloaded and the driver couldnt see where he was going, funny thing was that for about 3 hours, no-one knew who he worked for, he had normal clothes on and a yellow hi vis, it was later that they realised he drove the truck parked a few hundred yards away, our company have now given out uniforms and id tags to the workers, the id tags stick on your hard hat.......
Yeah, I did some some gas turbine work on the Clair west of Shetland. The lads on there were telling me they were not allowed to ride their bikes to the main office in Aberdeen. Bikes are dangerous, y'see. How fucking annoying! The troube with the HSE as far as I can work out, is they are virtually self regulated. Its all got a bit daft and become a created industry. I was 12 years in the North Sea and some of the HSE shite dished out was unbelievable.
In the early 90's when the Military lost its crown immunity, i was in Northern Ireland, and we had to build a concrete pad 6m x 6m and a few inches above ground and a couple of feet thick. Every one on site High viz vests hard hats a site office and weapons!!!! just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we had to dismantle the PVCP's on the boarder, again hard hat (white) High vis vest (yellow) working outside at height whilst dodging the occasional pot shot from the south, as a blanket "its a construction site" that's what you wear thankfully no one was hit but we stuck out like nothing else! I could go on but it annoys me too much There is talk of not fighting at night due as you may hit someone other than who is shooting at you, so should we down tools at last light?? I give up
we had a saying in the fire service if you loose your hand make sure there's a glove on it when its found.
I think you can see, gentlemen, that this is not just about me having a rant. There is a genuine problem with the way safe working practises are implemented in the UK - everyone has a story about stupid HSE bods. The onus must lie on the HSE themselves to man the fuck up and take a long hard look at themselves.
The HSE take a lot of grief about Health and safety, but a lot of the time it has nothing to do with them - it's just some petty-minded local numpty who has been given the "H&S" job because they are useless at everything else and no-one else wants to do it, or someone ( as in the teachers / conkers story ) who comes up with their own daft idea and blames "Health and Safety" to justify their own stupidity. In both cases it's just someone who likes to show off their little bit of power...
I collect my parcels from a Unipart depot in Burton on Trent. We have to wear high vis vests if we go around the counter. Probably for the manager and other people to see that you are still moving and not died of boredom.
Whilst traveling along a back road yesterday I was struck by a conker, should I report the incident to the health and safety roads department or just assume I've been conquered.
