Elf & Safety

[Marmora Man]

Did anyone read the article about Robin Knox Johnson - this man sailed single handedly around the world in a 21ft yacht. On starting out he was still recovering from jaundice. Later on the journey he had appendicitis and treated it with antibiotics & whisky. His chronometer broke - meaning he couldn't fix his position at sea accurately and his radio broke down after 100 days - leaving him to finish the remainder (250 days) of the journey with no contact with the outside world. He faced mountainous seas around Cape Horn, major storms at sea and all the perils of a single handed voyage with no external support whatsoever.

But - the BBC decided that for health and safety reasons, when filming him for their programme "Dogs of War", he had to have a safety person on standby while he lit a primus stove.

Does anyone have a better story of pointless H&S thinking?

[HonaloochieB]

Primus stove, eh? Honestly you couldn't make it up.

[Brendan]

Well precautions only have to be taken, ?So far as is reasonably practicable?.

Ever tried to come up with a legal definition for what goes so far as to be reasonably practicable during the day to day working of a construction site? This in itself is a serious threat to mental health and psychological safety.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Marmora Man Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Did anyone read the article about Robin Knox

> Johnson - this man sailed single handedly around

> the world in a 21ft yacht. On starting out he was

> still recovering from jaundice. Later on the

> journey he had appendicitis and treated it with

> antibiotics & whisky. His chronometer broke -

> meaning he couldn't fix his position at sea

> accurately and his radio broke down after 100 days

> - leaving him to finish the remainder (250 days)

> of the journey with no contact with the outside

> world. He faced mountainous seas around Cape Horn,

> major storms at sea and all the perils of a single

> handed voyage with no external support whatsoever.

>

>

> But - the BBC decided that for health and safety

> reasons, when filming him for their programme

> "Dogs of War", he had to have a safety person on

> standby while he lit a primus stove.

Normally I only repeat the salient point of a thread that I am referring to but given the enormous test of Human endurance he underwent I have repeated what MM wrote in its entireity and then to run into The 'elf an' safety Czars is fantabulous:))

[????]

elf & safety...that's the Service Economy at it's best....now, where should we start on the knife we are going to have to take to the Public Sector eh Hugenot? Any job title with "Safety" or "Diversity" in it wouldn't be a bad start

[PeckhamRose]

I remember a few years ago an item in some news programme about a man who had survived both world wars and survived such hardships and so on, and was absolutely insensed that in his old folks' home they would not serve his boiled egg 'soft' as it was considered unhealthy and dangerous.

He told them 'what for' and apparently this practice has all now stopped.

[Huguenot]

I'm not sure that it's the public sector who make demands like this particular one.

In TV, the H&S demands are set by (private) insurance companies. They stipulate the premiums alongside the precautions. It's often cheaper to pay for the additional person that it is to pay for the additional premium, or go uncovered.

You can blame that on the mighty US of A, with their litigious culture and (private) lawyers etc.

That in turn is down to the extraordinary charges made by their (private) healthcare system.

[????]

Try reading the Recruitment Section of The Guardian (*spits) if you want to find 100s of highly paid (and pensioned) non-jobs Huge...and if you want to really weep look back at the volume of these over last 10 years....tax payers of the future will be funding these non-jobbers retirements for years to come. Final salary pensions in the Private Sector are now nearly extinct and currently ?100,000 grand of private pension pot will buy me an annual pension of ?6,000 at 65....the wealth generating parts of the workforce can't carry on funding Public Sector pensions and that is a fact.

[skidmarks]

The company I work for issues health and safety information sheets (they?re American). As one of our p[ssed up colleagues fell down the escalators on the tube we were all issued a 3 page double sided A4 information sheet on how to use escalators safely. If three pages weren?t enough at the end there were around five links to websites with further information!

I'm with you on that ????.

[Huguenot]

Quite right Quids, more than that I get cross about all their blinking sanctimony.

My Dad thinks I work in a shocking industry (online marketing) compared with his previous profession (headmaster).

I have to highlight to the bugger that in order to get his current pension, I'd have to save 1m pounds by retirement. I can no longer do this in teaching, so I have to get this 'shocking' job in hope that I'll have enough in the future to pay for rice in my dotage.

[david_carnell]

From today's Guardian:

Cameron makes it up as he goes along

[reggie]

Dont forget that Santas got a CRB

Elf and Safety

[ruffers]

Marmora Man Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Did anyone read the article about Robin Knox

> Johnson - this man sailed single handedly around

> the world in a 21ft yacht. On starting out he was

> still recovering from jaundice. Later on the

> journey he had appendicitis and treated it with

> antibiotics & whisky. His chronometer broke -

> meaning he couldn't fix his position at sea

> accurately and his radio broke down after 100 days

> - leaving him to finish the remainder (250 days)

> of the journey with no contact with the outside

> world. He faced mountainous seas around Cape Horn,

> major storms at sea and all the perils of a single

> handed voyage with no external support whatsoever.

>

>

> But - the BBC decided that for health and safety

> reasons, when filming him for their programme

> "Dogs of War", he had to have a safety person on

> standby while he lit a primus stove.

>

> Does anyone have a better story of pointless H&S

> thinking?

I'd be happier if they'd spent exactly no pounds whatsoever reporting on his self centred little adventure.

And I think to be fair "the bbc decided" is probably "the bbc were advised that in order to avoid exposure to being sued they were advised that the least risky option was"

Agree it's blx though.

[SteveT]

I remember being told to tie up a ladder (by the union representative) before climbing it, I said I believe I have to climb it to tie it up.

He repeated his dire warning then shuffled off.

Useless unhelpful prat I thought to myself,

he was mouthing off to cover himself if there was a disaster.

[brum]

...unless he meant for you to tie it from the bottom?

I once worked at a place run by the HSE, where there were small cactus plants in plant boxes on display in the foyer. Inside each box was a very small sign on a stick pushed into the soil, warning you that you must not touch the cactus.

"Thank heavens for that sign", I thought, just as I was about to grab a cactus with my ungloved hand....

[Moos]

OK, so here's a real one.

The company I work for is currently being sued by an ex-employee.

This person was part of the HR team, and was responsible for office management. Her boss asked her to get the reception desk fixed, as it had a loose panel. She didn't do it, and a week later it fell on her leg and gave her a nasty bruise. She got signed off from work for a week by her GP, then came back to work and all was fine. Not long later she resigned to go travelling round the world.

She is now suing the company for the hurt that she incurred. No idea whether she'll win, but even if she doesn't the company has to spend time and money defending itself.

My point is similar to Huguenot's in that these absurd rules and signs may be an attempt to head incidents like this off at the past. When brum picks up a cactus and the resulting prick on his finger turns septic he might decide to sue. No idea how strong his case would be but I'm sure there would be someone prepared to represent him.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Anyone care to imagine about how a conversation re: heath & safety might have gone between the authorities and the nightclub in question BEFORE the night in question?

Loving those atmospheric candles

ussian officials said club managers had ignored repeated demands from authorities to change the interior to comply with fire safety standards.

[brum]

Moos I'm sure you're quite right, a lot of the nonsense is generated by a fear of being sued. Common sense gets forgotten in the process. I expect your ex-employee can sue because the company has a vicarious liability for the injury incurred, however it is also the responsibility of employees themselves to ensure their own health & safety. A problem can also arise if a company fails to inform employees of its H&S policy and their own responsibilities under it.

[Sue]

Moos Wrote:

--->

> The company I work for is currently being sued by

> an ex-employee.

>

> Her boss asked her to get the reception desk fixed, as it had a

> loose panel. She didn't do it

xxxxxxxx

So not got a leg to stand on, basically, has she?

[brum]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Anyone care to imagine about how a conversation

> re: heath & safety might have gone between the

> authorities and the nightclub in question BEFORE

> the night in question?

>

> Loving those atmospheric candles

>

> ussian officials said club managers had ignored

> repeated demands from authorities to change the

> interior to comply with fire safety standards.

Good point Sean, a balance has to be achieved. Unlike H&S legislation, companies don't seem to fear being sued under Fire regulations are so often ignore taking adequate precautions - and then we see the consequences.

[Santerme]

It is interesting that whilst the HSW appplies to the armed forces, actually they enjoy what is called Crown immunity.

This disallows statutory enforcement including penalties and prosecutions.

So really nothing to report.....oh Snatch Landrovers!

[computedshorty]

?

[SteveT]

I watched a programme by James May about 'flying cars and their designers, one of the things he said was that you could not get anything done in years because of the paperwork.

The spin off to this ridiculous farce is that it makes us less competitive, and reduces our potential in world markets because everything one would like to manufacture and offer to the market is strangled by the litiginous red tape.

How did it H&S take over to such an extent, was it just job creation schemes?