Not now, that was back in the 80's. Your pulling that shit out. Sites are much safer now. Trade awareness has improved. Construction still remains a dangerous industry and due to the nature of the environment, will always have a risk, but the risk is assessed. You don't get to leave shit work at your ass. That isn't H+S, its quality, to a required standard as spec'd. You leave shit work, you remove it, do it right or you don't get paid.
I've been working on sites all my life, and I've seen no discernible difference other than falling from height incidents as I previously mentioned.
of course we need HnS,, I remember the day when we had decent trade unions who would take up and support us inany safety issues we had, now we have no unions for support and these H n S geeks are all that we have to protect us from uncaring managers,,, but as some one said , it is not the principle but the traffic warden mentality of the usually totally inexperienced reps that are the problem and cause the resentment
Safety has improved, conditions have improved. Technology has certainly helped. I suppose you can't help bad practise or a bad work ethic. The days of contractors ignoring H+S are over, othwise enjoy your time in prison.
Is you were looking at some of the referendum coverage you will have noticed how the vote counters in one large returning station were all wearing hi-vis but everyone was dressed normally in others. This seemed patently absurd. Were they running about so fast to get the result that they might bump into each other? Was the amount of votes so vast that they were being brought in off camera by a fleet of fork-lifts? Andrew Marr also commented on it so it wasn't just me who thought it looked ridiculous. I suppose that to mow my grass at home I should be wearing eye protection, ear defenders, steel-toe capped boots and gloves and indeed a hi-vis vest so that I don't take unaware any neighbour who might pop in whilst I'm on the lawn mower. Jest we may but if someone was employing me to cut my grass I'm fairly sure all the above would be required. You either think that's highly sensible or a bit bonkers.
My late father had a fall from some scaffolding; and if it wasn't for the rope around his neck he'd have broken his leg.
.[/QUOTE] What started the rot in my area of industry was the weekly alerts of deaths happening in quarries and mines,the constant deluge of printed out flyers with pictures we had to add to our "folders". Till one day we pointed out to the traffic wardens that a mine in south africa has absolutly no bearing on our state of safety awareness whatsoever and that one death a day over there was nothing worthy of remark compared to the 100+ deaths happening "outside" that mines compound probably within yards of the main gate. We also suggested they went direct to the source of these failings and addressed them directly...met with silence obviously..worth a try They wouldnt have it though and still to this day berate uk workers for failings in other countries/other cultures. their desperation actually has a smell to it nowadays as they continue to slowly destroy all respect for theyre earlier efforts and achievments. They ,as that is what they have insisted they become ie no longer the "us", also seem to be desperately intimating that they are somehow of greater importance to each company than the actual workforce ,indeed even than the actual company sometimes,something i find quite mystifying as they must surely know that not a single one of them would last a week working in our conditions and on such pitiful wages and especially when they have to crawl down a tunnel on their hands and knees dressed as mr Blobby whilst carry a hand shovel and a lamp.. i doubt very much if theyd even pass the "wipe your own arse" course supplied by their very own "ideas department". The hse will if left to its own ends, dissapear up its own arse entirely one day in a fitting tribute to its current set of "officers". lmao,time for a fry up..
Now that is so ridiculous, it's beyond belief - where to fuck are their Hi Vis Jackets FFS!!! :Wideyed:
They ,as that is what they have insisted they become ie no longer the "us", also seem to be desperately intimating that they are somehow of greater importance to each company than the actual workforce ,indeed even than the actual company sometimes,something i find quite mystifying as they must surely know that not a single one of them would last a week working in our conditions and on such pitiful wages and especially when they have to crawl down a tunnel on their hands and knees dressed as mr Blobby whilst carry a hand shovel and a lamp.. lmao,time for a fry up..[/QUOTE] That is because you only generate profit in the thousands whereas they prevent losses in the millions Hasn't anyone told you that fry ups are bad for you ?
I worked in demolition when I was young. For many years. My old steel toe cap boots were very worn at the toes. The leathers had all worn away. When you are knocking stuff down, you can kick the last few rows of brickwork down. Plus you would kick the debris around your feet away to keep your feet clear. So they wear out frequently. When you had reduced a wall to a pile of bricks, you'd form a chain to stack them on pallets. As bricks were money. You'd throw them to each other 2 bricks at a time. In pairs. You get in a rhythm and you can stack a pallet of 1000 bricks quite quickly. Once whilst carrying this procedure out, I had just readied myself to receive 2 bricks, which were in mid air, when I looked down momentarily as I felt a steel toe cap fall out. This distraction caused me to forget about the bricks and concentrate on my toe. Which as I stared at it, caught both bricks. All in milliseconds. I kid ye not. Never give fate an opportunity. She has a wicked sense of humour.
The biggest problem when trying to make a construction site safer is trying to change attitudes towards safety. Sites are full of people who say 'it will never happen to me', people who simply don't pay attention and in my experience the worst of the bunch 'I've been doing this all my life, don't tell me how to do my job'. In the 12 years I have been a Site Engineer / Sub Agent I have unfortunately been on 3 sites where there have been fatal accidents, all of which have fallen into the 3rd category.
H&S has transitioned through three step changes. First was removing the faulty equipment along with engineering improvements. Then there was the implementation of policies and procedures And finally there was the human element; people being empowered to take personal responsibility for safety.
