Where does H&S stop after all the high risk activities are managed was one of the questions. Since these have never been stopped, the answer is the HSE will constantly target the high risk areas i.e. work at height, workplace transport, asthemagens, carcinigens, etc. Most resources are pushed towards these.
Someone mentioned why they have to wear hardhats all the time. From my first post, because employers are lazy and it is easier to make everyone wear a hat than to manage where hardhats should be worn. The HSE & H&S get the blame but once again it is the lazy who are the culprits.
The guy who went for £300,000 for slipping on a grape lost the case. But lets not lose the chance to say how silly H&S is just because the facts do not fit.
I would agree that falling from a ladder is the employees fault, if they have the training, the ladders are in good condition, and they are the most suitable piece of access equipment to do the job. You can paint the whole shop front from a pair of ladders, but is it the safest equipment? A cherry picker, tower scaffold or full scaffold would be much safer.......but more expensive. But then again, how much is a life worth?
Can you ask for a data sheet at ASDA? The Health and Safety at Work etc Act speaks for itself........the at Work bit kind of gives it away. When you go to a retail shop it is for the general public who take their shopping home. Homes are not covered by the Act, so ASDA have no reason to hold a datasheet. If you are an employer and want to use it at work, then if you require a safetysheet then you contact the address on the bottle and they will send one to you.
H&S is sensible, it is the lazy employers and employees that make it in to something it is not.
Dave_Notts
ive nearly finished doing my CSCS card, this enables me to work on building sites.
( the whole industry will be asking for them soon ) the questions asked in the H&S touch screen test are just beyond belief, they are so stupidly simple
sorry to upset the pc brigade, or people that make a living from telling us what we can or cannot do, but if i have a gearbox to change,i will lift it. if a mechanic of mine says he shouldn`t do it cos of health and safety, he`ll be unemployed the next need to pick jobs they are able to do.
Makes you wonder how the human race survived for all these years :shock:
But it's stupid - I wouldn't dream of applying for a job that I didn't have the skills or ability to do. If I said I could do the job but then couldn't, for whatever reason, I'd expect to be sacked!
Situations Vacant:
Wanted: Qualified auto technician. Must be capable of lifting a 75 kilo gearbox to neck height under a vehicle. An ability to withstand intense discomfort as the back muscles try to do something they were not designed for would be an advantage.
Have a wander through the prosecutions database of HSE.
Very instructional.
You should also note that an industrial injury treated at a hospital is reported. Indeed, any 3-day-off injury sustained at work is a mandatory report under the RIDDOR regulations, many injuries are reportable anyway, time off or not.
As said, most health and safety is common sense. Most employers have none, common sense or health and safety.
Had a guy at work injure his back through lifting steel plates and moving them on-and-off a punch. He had to go to hospital because he was in so much pain. He required an operation, which would have taken several months to be done. He had to go private and use a credit card to pay.
Steel plate: Max 30 kilos.
The company HAD to install lifting equipment afterwards. As in TOLD TO DO SO. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice carries a heavy fine.
