Working Safely?

Seems to me that the bloke who was attempting to pick up the machine without getting down off the staging was at least partly to blame.
 
Trouble is you will not like the cost when you need to get the yard to do some work like polishing. looking around Lymington no rails is comon practice. Space ( lack of) between yachts agrivates the problem. Yes I do polish from a ladder or bandstand without rails. Would not do it at work

Maybe hook a harness on to guardrails is the answer.
 
RMC said:
Looking at this case - http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-se-11112.htm

I should know better, but I would work on a similar arrangement on my boat without any fall protection, but would not accept it at work!
Click to expand...

What a load of cobblers. The bloke has been working there for 16 years. You would have thought that by now he was an "expert" at what was safe or not and was capable of making his own decisions.
 
I know the yard quite well, and the squeezing of boats together in the winter time is astonishing, Adding safety rails will necessitate greater distance between boats, and losing the ability to work on two boats at a time.

Some jobs have inherent, intrinsic dangers, and where risks can be mitigated, they should. But if the chap has been there for years....
 
sarabande said:
I know the yard quite well, and the squeezing of boats together in the winter time is astonishing, Adding safety rails will necessitate greater distance between boats, and losing the ability to work on two boats at a time.

Some jobs have inherent, intrinsic dangers, and where risks can be mitigated, they should. But if the chap has been there for years....
Click to expand...

Surely the adjacent boat acts as a barrier against falling .. so you just need the barrier where the boat isn't ...

H&S at work is different to working on your own vessel - although I suspect some boat parks may impose some standards on those of us capable of doing our own work ...
 
There really is no excuse for not having guarding around this platform. It is no different than working from a scaffold used on a construction site where two guard rails and a toeboard are required.

The fact that this seems to have been the practice for some time, and that the employee had worked there for 16 years, just makes people more complacent.
 
RMC said:
I should know better, but I would work on a similar arrangement on my boat without any fall protection, but would not accept it at work!
Click to expand...
Working on your own boat you don't employ anyone so the act doesn't apply. I have an endless battle at our sailing club convincing people that it isn't a workplace as we don't employ anybody so the act doesn't apply.
And yes 1.4m is now considered working at height. I've seen men working on stagings and stepladders with full harnesses and fall arrest systems but the lanyards are longer than the distance they could fall.
If my experience in construction is anything to go by then the last thing you want around a lot of yachts propped up ashore is a gang of scaffolders!
 
RMC said:
Looking at this case - http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-se-11112.htm

I should know better, but I would work on a similar arrangement on my boat without any fall protection, but would not accept it at work!
Click to expand...

Me too. But then the HSA go overboard. At work I was forced to erect scaffolding for a guy to replace a bulb in one of those halogen wall lights - they would not allow the use of a ladder! Stupid and very very expensive.
 
fireball said:
..... H&S at work is different to working on your own vessel ...
Click to expand...

DJE said:
Working on your own boat you don't employ anyone so the act doesn't apply. ....
Click to expand...

The risks and their consequences to individuals are exactly the same irrespective of employment or not. The intent is to prevent injury or loss to a person when engaged in an activity. Is this not a worthy thing to do when engaged in a private activity?
 
but if you do it yourself it's an accident - if you do it at work then someone is to blame ... ;)

Actually - there is a little truth in that - sensible H&S - you should aim to reduce the risk of injury by establishing the risk of accident for each activity ... and if it is an activity that you are being paid to do then the onus on reducing that risk lies with the employer as well as employee. Hence working at heights - measures should be taken to avoid an accidental fall - is a barrier the best answer? Possibly not ... but the risk should be mitigated by some sort of fall arrest device ...

The silly H&S measures I've come across include full harness for going up in a fork lift cage - what do I clip to? The cage - I'm not getting out of the cage - or leaning out of it - but I'm supposed to be harnessed ... ?!
 
fireball said:
but if you do it yourself it's an accident - if you do it at work then someone is to blame ... ;)

Actually - there is a little truth in that - sensible H&S - you should aim to reduce the risk of injury by establishing the risk of accident for each activity ... and if it is an activity that you are being paid to do then the onus on reducing that risk lies with the employer as well as employee. Hence working at heights - measures should be taken to avoid an accidental fall - is a barrier the best answer? Possibly not ... but the risk should be mitigated by some sort of fall arrest device ...

The silly H&S measures I've come across include full harness for going up in a fork lift cage - what do I clip to? The cage - I'm not getting out of the cage - or leaning out of it - but I'm supposed to be harnessed ... ?!
Click to expand...

You clip to the cage to ensure you don't fall out when you reach out from the cage.
 
DJE said:
Working on your own boat you don't employ anyone so the act doesn't apply.
Click to expand...

I caught a few minutes of a documentary about HSE inspectors a while ago. This woman had dropped in on a garage that serviced vans, obviously at the very downmarket end of things and a bit of a tip. She dished out lots of advice about sorting the place out, to which the scruffy grease-monkey lurking in the corner finally replied

"I don't employ anybody. Bugger off."

Pete
 
fireball said:
The silly H&S measures I've come across include full harness for going up in a fork lift cage - what do I clip to? The cage - I'm not getting out of the cage - or leaning out of it - but I'm supposed to be harnessed ... ?!
Click to expand...
I was fined £1000 (well, my client was) for using a rough terrain forklift as a shooting platform. It was at 2nd floor level and I had a harness on (but no cage).
Unfortunately it was in the middle of Hull and the HSE office overlooked the scene :eek:
 
Lakesailor said:
I was fined £1000 (well, my client was) for using a rough terrain forklift as a shooting platform. It was at 2nd floor level and I had a harness on (but no cage).
Unfortunately it was in the middle of Hull and the HSE office overlooked the scene :eek:
Click to expand...

Classic!
 
VicS said:
My understanding is that the HASAW Act applies to a self employed person and his own safety.
Click to expand...

Well, in the film the inspector harrumphed and grumped but eventually had to leave conceding that there was nothing she could do. Maybe there were further details that weren't mentioned in the programme.

Pete
 
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