Health and safety gone mad!

[pagoda]

I work in the offshore drilling business, where like the building trade there are some real hazards around.
Compared to 20 odd years ago I can say the safety culture has improved, but at some cost to common sense. There are legions of jobsworths collecting safety stats for even bigger jobsworths further up the food chain. Job creation abounds.
The fundamental problem in industrial situations is that young blokes like fast cars, fast women, football - and are convinced they are invincible. Which they are not unfortunately.
I've often thought that the best way to teach people safety awareness would be to find some way of scaring tham absolutely $$$$less -in safe manner, but not actually being hurt...
I have managed to avoid any harm at work, all my "incidents" have been sport related (snow, water & bicycles), which I don't really grudge at all! I learned quite a lot in the process.
Cotton wool lifestyles are bad for you...

Graeme

 

[maxi77]

I agree, getting the message over to some people is hard, mind you it took me quite a bit to realise that being hooked on outside the cockpit was a good idea. I think part of the problem is there is still too much of the 'do it this way because I say so' approach rather than the 'do it this way and you'll avoid the following injuries'. Explaining why does increase the chances of most people getting the message.

There is no point in 'getting the job done' if you are the one that is unable to go down the pub on Friday because you are in hospital or dead.

 

[Aeolus_IV]

No, I've seem similar in Amsterdam. Also cars parked with their tyres right on the edge, but the car is still only just in the box. I think the Dutch have a better approach to many things.

Jeff.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

As an aside.....

[ QUOTE ]
Look how many road signs you pass when driving along the roads.

[/ QUOTE ]

A friend died a couple of years ago when she came off her motorbike and hit a small sign that read 'Soft Verge'. She was'nt driving particularly fast, the sign ruptured her spleen.
Had it not been there she would, most probably, still be alive.......

 

[nathanlee]

[ QUOTE ]


I read this today: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-handrails.html

Madness.


[/ QUOTE ]

No, just the daily mail. I'd take their opinionated reporting with a pinch of salt.

Ignore the health and safety lot and go do it anyway. I think an inspector would have a heart attack if they looked at Kudu!

 

[cliffordpope]

To comply with H&S all road signs should be made of soft materials with padded edging, and fitted so that they deflect under impact.
They should be inspected and tested annually, and the sticker on the back updated and initialled by a qualified tester.

 

[ChasB]

No-one's said anything here I'd really disagree with. I've always been in favor of health and safety, but think that it's all gone too far. It seems like there's were constantly trying to eradicate all risk, but all we're doing is eradicating some supposed liability. A good example is road signs. We have a plague of them, on which our drivers seem to have become reliant. Countries that don't use them so liberally don't have poorer safety records.

Meanwhile my local residents' association is constantly asking the council for more signs to tell people not to do things! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif We must have four times the number we had twenty years ago.

And dare I say that this attitude, this reliance on rules, re-enforces other things, like binge drinking? Why not drink gallons? Nothing to stop you...

And in addition (I'm on a roll here!) we have this crazy new found hysteria over security. Someone told me that 60% of surveillance cameras are in this country! An announcement on the Gatwick Express tells people not to leave their baggage in the aisle 'for security reasons'. It's the new mantra.

 

[robind]

Sarabande! where did all those zeros come from Oops!

Maxi77 One of the most lethal industries used to be Tunnelling and Mines and we all know what happened to them.

As a general note, the first "Cooperate Manslaughter" charge is being tried soon, so watch out for a possible life sentence, for a company head.

 

[Beadle]

""it keeps 600,000 people employed "

are you saying that about 1 in 5 persons in the UK works in HSE ? "

Not convinced by the arithmetic!

5 x 300,000 = 60,000,000?????????????????????????

 

[ChasB]

Going back to what started this thread - here's some everyday life in Venice you won't see here:<ul type="square">

[/list]