Health & Safety is becoming a real Pain!

[Grizzly]

Is it just me, only recently I slipped and bruised down the side of my leg whilst on a customers site.
When I mentioned the fact to the site project manager. His immediate response was to say "Put it in the accident book".
I replied that "I did not think that wise as my company would instantly, pull me off the job. Which would then stop and most likely want a full in depth investigation".
I then added that I was willing to put it down to my own stupidity and should of watched where I was going.

The question is How many of use are taking the easy route of saying nothing nowadays because That Health and safety brigade are making the slightest slip trip or bruise a major issue.
I know of one manager who created a major issue when one of his engineers "hurt his back".
Yet chose to keep quite when doing the same moving something in the office.

I agree that these systems are there to help us. But I think they tend to hinder us as well.

Grizzly

[multisync]

O ur favourite was a small project which needed a tower in an office space. Their H&S man insisted that we post a man EITHER SIDE on the door so their staff could be ushered in/out. His argument was that they could not know what was the other side and as we were working there etc etc

Our argument was the door was 1/2 glass and we were at least 5 m from the door! Not good enough he insisted.

The best and we mean the very best was when he walked through the cordoned off area and stood under the tower spying, someone accidently kicked an adjustable off and it hit him on the head.

He could say nothing as all our guy's had the full PPE and he didn't have his helmet on!

[Grizzly]

What no toe boards!
I assume he was a an idiot then?
Grizzly

[monkey spanners]

What no toe boards!
I assume he was a an idiot then?
Grizzly


They are all idiots, at one site we had to wear harnesses while on a tower scaffold, despite a letter from the hire company stating that aluminium tower scaffold must not have a harness attached to them as the shock of someone falling off would bend the aluminium and make the tower fall down.

So he made us wear them but NOT fix them to the scaffold :confused:

We also had to wear hard hats, gloves, goggles, hi vis jacket etc at all times, had four traffic cones with tape around them and a guy standing by just in case while i measured the air on air off on a cassette....

He's been sacked now but have yet to meet the new guy.

I tend to get a bit "look you! do yo want this fixed or not!" so maybe it best most of my work is on farms where i don't have to cope with H&S numpties :D

[multisync]

What no toe boards!
I assume he was a an idiot then?
Grizzly


All I can say is where's there a will there's a way :D

[glenn1340]

Our pipe fitter was told to wear ear defenders when using a rigid pipe threading machine but we had to walk through the dark plant room with numerous trip hazards to reach the light switch. Oh, and we had to get a permit to work at height to use a step ladder 2 metres high and that has to be renewed daily.
On the other hand stripping out some cassettes the other year the ceiling tiles were made of what looked like hardboard (we had to break them up to get the units out) it wasn`t untill the asbestos guys sealed of the area we found out it was brown asbestos.
H&S is over the top in many places but non existant in others

[cadwaladr]

why do women wear knickers? because the health and safety act 1974 states all manholes must be covered when not in use!!

[rnine]

while working in a food processing factory, I had to change overalls, wellies and hard hat 3 times when entering the green, blue and white zones. All of these zones increasing in cleanliness. Nobody questioned the oily step ladder or tools I carried from the plant room!

[Brian_UK]

Going back to your comment Grizzly....

I know what you are saying about the CYA guys but remember that when you write up an accident to yourself you are providing some evidence, if required, should your 'small bump' turn into something major later on.

We all get pissed off with the excessive H&S stuff but there are times when you need to cover your own arse at some later date.

[Grizzly]

That's why several of my colleagues and my supervisor know what actually happened.
And my reasons for my reticence at the time.
It's getting to the point where an individual could say "I'm not going to work today as I may have an accident (Sorry Something may happen where someone can be blamed)!
I am not against achieving a safer working environment.
Like some of the good examples already. When the cause and effect are rational and sensible no one can truly complain.
But surely you are also coming across more Blanket You will do this Instructions!
Lots of Health and safety people have lots of power and little responsibility for their actions!
I cannot argue with your reasoning Brian.
It is just that more and more H&S instructions appear to have little to do with protecting the individual.

Or as 1 very high profile site I work on says If you don't do any work then you cannot get it wrong!
They use subbies a lot.
My original question still stands!

Grizzly

[Grizzly]

I am not trying to fight the system as it's pointless!
All I am asking really is has anyone else been in the situation. Where the hassle from reporting a cut or bruise etc, Is not worth the Hassle or consequences of an ever more powerful Health and safety regime?

Or really sometimes not in anyones best interests.

Grizzly

[Magoo]

Hi Grizzly.
I agree with the original question, that the H&S requirements are getting difficult to work with.
To quote an example, a friend is a service manger for a company that installs Sky dishes for sat TV. They are now required to have full harness tied to what he cannot figure, without going up a ladder first, and then scaffolding is also required. He is ripping his hair out, of what is left. Result is all dishes are now installed from ground level access. So instead of being on the roof and out of site, it is nailed onto a wall somewhere, and that you can nut yourself on.

[Grizzly]

Hi Grizzly.
I agree with the original question, that the H&S requirements are getting difficult to work with.
To quote an example, a friend is a service manger for a company that installs Sky dishes for sat TV. They are now required to have full harness tied to what he cannot figure, without going up a ladder first, and then scaffolding is also required. He is ripping his hair out, of what is left. Result is all dishes are now installed from ground level access. So instead of being on the roof and out of site, it is nailed onto a wall somewhere, and that you can nut yourself on.
Spot On!
Another good example!
It's nice to know it is a problem not just in the U.K.
Grizzly

[monkey spanners]

To answer your question, if it was just a small bump or cut or burn, then i'd probaly not mention it (and was a result of something i was doing).
If it was something that might cause long term problems or was because of something someone else had done then i would most likely report it.

I think it would be a case of working out the pro's and con's at the time.

I tend to view minor injuries as part of the job, i think if you expect to spend your days working on stuff that gets very hot, very cold, works at stupidly high pressures, various voltages, has rotating parts, and many components are above the 'safe' lifting weights, has possibly been worked on by incompetant people in the past with many hidden horrors and not expect anything to go wrong then at best it displays a level of naivety.

I have met some very good H&S people who were concerned with the workers not getting an injury and some very poor ones who seemed concerned with not getting sued, the later tend to be the ones who insist you are wearing every possible piece of ppe.



Jon :)

p.s. At work i wear gloves most of the time now, either blue nitrile(really worth a try) or heavier duty ones, goggles whenever i'm working with refrigerants or chemicals etc and ear defenders if i'm working in a plant room.

[Voyager]

Spot On!
Another good example!
It's nice to know it is a problem not just in the U.K.
Grizzly

Know what you mean there Grizzly.

I watched a Sky dish installer working across the road from my house. The amount of safety equipment he used made the job far more difficult than it needs to be -
10 minutes to put it all together, another 10 minutes to take it all apart, and only 2 minutes to fix the dish to the wall !

Who to blame ? Ambulance-chasing law firms.

[glenn1340]

H&S, it`s all about the company whose site you`re working covering it`s arse. They couldn`t give a damm if you had a serious accident ten feet outside the site gates but have that accident ten feet inside the gates and a major enquiry takes place. Were you wearing hiviz, hard hat, eye and ear protection, safety footwear? Did you have the relevant permit to work, method statement and risk assesment?
I`m a firm believer in safety at work but in most large companies it`s got beyond a joke. The easiest way to make a site 100o/o safe is to shut it down and ship the work to China...Oh they`re already doing that.

[lowcool]

having to have three points of contact all the time whilst on a ladder is a joke here,no more site work for me.

[Magoo]

Having worked in China and through Asia. H&S is not even on the horizon let alone practiced. Things like everyone is an electrician, safety clothing is not seen. Using disc grinders and squint. Using a pipe bridge 30 metres above concrete, is quicker than stairs. I could go on for ages.
Hence everything is made in China or somewhere in Asia.
We are our own worst enermy, by allowing the some beaurocrat to dictate.