Health and Safety at work

Okay Billy no wages and company lets take a look at what you wrote shall we?
First of all the way you sit and position your VDU has an afect on your posture and all the talk of common sense did not make you position your desk correctly did it? You had to be shown. What were the consequencies of not sitting correctly ? well chronic aching back pain is one for a start which would mean in a few years down the line you losing time of work which would cost your employer more than buying you a chair right now. In your story I saw no proof that the other factors you state regarding gas smells and idiots driving so fast into the carpark were no goiing to be addressed. This man was a specialist within the field he conducted his survey into. Under the HSAW act 1974 it is your duty to report the gas smell and driving at speed problem so you should not complain it is not being sorted if you have not reported it.
If your employer/manager is picking on you for receiving equipment that prevents ill health due to bad backs then he is at fault, as he is begrudging you the correct equipment for carrying out your duties injust the same way as giving you a computer enables you to carry out your duties. You have fallen into a false sense of what is working equipment and not realised being safe from accidents, and ergonomic illnesses and stress is all part of modern working life. We have gone a long way from the days that employees had to suffer so that the employer could make more profits. Xmas parties funds should not be part of company purchase orders for equipment and safety.

Thanks a lot for such a nice posting . I appreciate it .

http://www.justblogme.com/workworkwork/258369/Workplace+Safety+Issues.html

This is really a nice story . Yah sure I am in a better position nothing to worry about . I don't want to waste money on that type of silly tips .
http://www.justblogme.com/workworkwork/256007/Tips+on+Workplace+Safety.html

Health and Safety at work. Just one of the ways the Government is trying to wreck this country altogether. It's just a load of bullspit dreamed up by these politically correct, hi-vis wearing clowns. The way I see it, if you are thick enough to stick your hand into a dough mixer, wire a plug whilst standing in a jacuzzi or work under a truck that is propped up with a laundry basket, then you shouldn't be allowed into society altogether!!

It's certainly daft!

If you visited a building site today you would probably be amazed to find that as many, if not more, people are working in offices (nice & cool no doubt) on site as there are builders actually doing the job. The office workers are there to implement things like health & safety and environmental policies as well as all the stuff actually necessary to getting the job done.

Yet still nobody is capable of thinking things through!

I could show you "safety" goggles with which you could seriously damage your eyes! They are made in one piece with the arms shut so that you have to pull them apart to put the goggles on. If you happened to try to take them off with one hand by grasping them in the middle at the bridge of your nose the arms would snap shut and the ends of the arms could scrape across your eyeballs in the process!!

Risk assessments are unfortunately done a long way ahead of the job, which doesn't help either.

grumpy old woman

The situation sounds daft to me.

In this particular situation the principal contractor has not implemented the provisions of CDM (Construction Design & Management Regulations) or general H&S law and guidance correctly.

Risk assessments must be be specific to each task dependant upon the circumstances and if the contractor has merely implemented a blanket policy irrespective of site conditions and hazards (such as the current heat wave) then he will be found negligent should one of the workers fall ill with heatstroke, dehydration or other heat related symptoms.

The 'numpty' who is insisting on the current regime needs to undertake a course of education as soon as possible.

Re Manx Hound's comment; we are the employers but the decision on PPE is taken by the main contractor on the site and it is in our contract with them that we play by their rules.

In this case they are a company which does some work in quarries, where reflective clothing is now standard. Some numpty decided that it made sense (!) for ALL their sites to be covered by the same regulations, so even though the job is actually a building in the middle of a town all the reflective clothing has to be worn! It is not remotely necessary for this particular job; but the jobsworths have no latitude.

One of the men nearly got thrown off the site a couple of weeks ago for taking one glove off to look at the drawings!

It strikes me that I presume someone 'above' called in this H&S bod, I don't think they do random calls, so the company should have allowed for that in the budget, not re-allocating other funds.

It's a bit rich blaming 'Billy' that there was some cost involved, though it sounds like the manager is blaming Billy to other staff, which is a bit naughty too, perhaps Billy should contact his HR department to clear things up?

The employer and employees shoud complete risk assessments for the work and one of the factors is - especially for the building industry - weather conditions.

In this particular example the employer could consider some of the following: allowing adequate 'cooling' breaks, investigate the possibility of shading part or all of the the work, provide plenty of cool fresh drinking water, programming the jobs to avoid working in peak temperatures (like for example the Spanish) etc. however what he cannot do is disregard the safety of the employees and allow them to shed the PPE (personal protective equipment) if the risk assessments have shown that they are necessary for the tasks being undertaken.

As a follow up to my post of 14th May; we are now having really hot weather and we have people working on a site where they have to wear the following;

Hard hat (plastic)
Reflective jacket with long sleeves (nylon)
Reflective trousers (heavyweight fabric, 80% polyester)
Plastic coated gloves
Heavy workboots

I am expecting cases of heat stroke any day! This, ladies and gentlemen, is health & safety at work!

To be fair, loads of people sue unfairly with these no-win-no-fee companies, so you can't blaim the places for wanting to cover themselves.

Also, many people still get seriously injured or even die at work due to shoddy safety practices.

I'm trying not to get started on this as in the building trade it's a nightmare! Timelord has got it right; the grumpyoldman says it's just an ass covering exercise. They have to wear so much protective gear on site now that if we have a hot summer they'll be fainting with heat stroke!