Health and Safety - The Modern Day Myth...?

Is 'Health and Safety' a Myth...?

  • Yes, its a Myth... Its never truly used and ONLY used against us.

    Votes: 9 52.9%

  • No, its not a Myth... I feel safe at work and Health and Safety works well.

    Votes: 5 29.4%

  • Im not sure.

    Votes: 3 17.6%
  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
J

Jason-Gibbs

Guest
Hi guys.

Just a quick gooooooogle search of: 'Timeline of Myths'
found me this - Mythical Timeline of the World.

I had a quick read and found something missing or indeed something that i would like to add to it.

Health and Safety, is what id like to add to that list, as i truly believe that its a modern day fairlytale designed to 'scare' us peasants... like the tales years before of Mermaids - that ensnared, then killed poor sailors, Trolls - that used to kidnap and then eat children and Witches - that would cast spells and curses on normal people.

After being in the Construction trade all my working life and being on some huge jobs, where Health and Safety is literally shoved down your throats - even when it is NOT practised correctly, yet only used to scare us, the normal working man into being afraid to scratch our noses, through fear of losing our jobs.
I find that true Health and Safety is never more then a shadow of what it should be. :mad:

  • How many jobs have you been on where your MADE to do things in the name of 'Health and Safety', that in its-self makes things MORE dangerous? - Like wearing Safety Glasses in the rain?

  • How many jobs have you been on where your told that Safety is paramount, then being unable to walk 20ft, without nearly breaking your neck/tripping over shiite, due to very poor house-keeping?

  • How many jobs have you been on where your asked to do a 'quick job' and not put too much into it, as: "He'll only be on the Scaffold for about 5 minutes, its just a quick favour"...?

  • How many jobs have you been on where your made to sit on 2 day inductions and preached 'Safety this and no-blame culture that', only to BE BLAMED for every little thing thats gone wrong on a job, even though most of it, is nothing to do with the Scaffolders?
I bet its LOTS and LOTS and LOTS, as nearly every job i have ever worked on this is the clearly the case.


Shall i go on...?


Who here thinks as i do, that Health and Safety, in its principles are a great idea, but is used and abused by Construction Firms to make life harder for us and to cover THEIR arses?

These c.unts dont give a flying f.uck about us Scaffolders or any trade for that matter.
They care only about THEIR insurance, THEIR figures and THEIR own self-deluded importance...

Health and Safety is a f.ucking joke and a modern day myth, thats nothing more then a boogy-man fairly tale, thats used to keep us inline, while the people who enforce it get away with having to do their jobs properly - literally with murder.

One day, maybe not in my or your lifetime, Health and Safety will be practised correctly and us normal, hard working guys wont have to be scared to look at our own shadows and really be able to work and feel safe, as the name says. :wondering:

Rant Over.
 
Fcuk me Jason, Is you on drugs or Summit, How the fcuk did you think of gooooogling " Timeline of Myths " That would just never of popped into my head. :nuts::laugh:
 
Health and safety has its good points as we would still have kids sweeping chimneys without it
 
superscaff75 said:
Fcuk me Jason, Is you on drugs or Summit, How the fcuk did you think of gooooogling " Timeline of Myths " That would just never of popped into my head. :nuts::laugh:
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised what floats about in my head sometimes, lol.
 
H & S a modern Day Myth, perhaps for some it may well be---for me it is a state of mind which is cultivated my the degree of indoctrination required to satisfy my personal ideals and the requirements of the Legislation of which ever Country or Region one is working in.

Let us not forget that we are fortunate to have such a mature and set in stone and enabling H & S Statutory Requirements and Instruments---many other Regions of the World do not have that provisions...

I try to stay within the perimeters of compliance as is reasonably practicable or practicable, which ever the case may be ;)
 
All good points Jason but I'm afraid I'm the weakling who voted not sure as I would love to say it's all perfect in my world but the truth is commercial decisions have to be made every day.
 
aom

spot on, the fly in the ointment FISCAL considerations---a consideration that must be factored into every action---the conundrum is how to gain the fiscal advantage in H & S expenditure---find the negative in the positive...

It is quite easy to observe and record breaches and omissions, however, it is finding the remedial and corrective fiscal friendly solutions to irradiate, not an easy task eh...we got to trade off...
 
Jason-Gibbs said:
You'd be surprised what floats about in my head sometimes, lol.
Click to expand...


You wanna try getting in my head , Its a fcukin jungle in there man :bigsmile: thats how I couldnt understand how you thought of it, that just wouldnt have register in my mind :nuts:

On a more serious note:

Health and Safety is not the problem in this country, the problem we have over here is the way its interpretted which is highly influenced by the No win No fee compensation culture.

If you have a bunch of clever solicitors or barristers looking for tiny little cracks in a H&S policy or piece of legislation so as to use that to sue you or your company for many thousands of pounds , the application of common sense becomes distorted so in order to protect yourself or company you just throw a huge H&S Blanket over your operation in order to protect yourself.

Instead of looking at the piece of legislation understanding exactly what it is that is expected of you as an employer , then implementing some simple basic rules and procedures to ensure all persons coming into contact with your operations will be safe.

The compo culture No win no fee companies are the one causing all the beaurcratic red tape bullpap we all twist about.

look on a Razor package somewhere it will say caution contents are very sharp.

look on most takeaway hot drinks cartons. somewhere it will say. caution contents are very hot.

look in a car manual for a car that has auto pilot function or cruise control. it will say caution this function is not designed to actually drive without human input and is incapable of avoiding objects etc etc blah blah blah

look on any packaging of anything in the world most will have some of the most obvious warning signs on ever.
 
Good to see you back on the forum Gary, even just to understand where I'm coming from. Mr hse will tell you fiscal considerations should not be a factor but I operate in the real world and know different. Funny how the threads have been over lapping lately but Simian touched on a story of a roofer now wheel chair bound and on the speaking circuit. I saw his video which I think is on U-Tube and drove straight down the road and re-enforced our working practices as in no way would I want to have an injured man like this on my conscience no matter what the hse or other arm of the law would do to you or what you lost nothing would get you back on your feet after that.
 
Alistair

You are a Man of Morals a rare bread in this Day and age of dog eat dog and the Devil take the hind most---there are many facets that make up the right mix of HSQEF Policies and Arrangements---we can only do the very best we can with the resources we got eh...

Thanks for the welcome back, been a bit busy lately, just been popping in now and again to see if there any engaging debates...

Very best regards

Garry...
 
Health and safety is a tool that should be used for the betterment of the worker,however it is a tool that like anything were human nature is involved can and is abused.
But without it we would still be running around on 1 board runs half drunk and harming ourselfs and others even more than we are today.
I remember when the harnesses were introduced on the street in glasgow i fecken hated it,but now i wouldnt think of ever not putting it on.this is due to health and safety,the videos the pep talks sooner or later it becomes second nature,just think about the seat belts
 
Other trades work at height without harnesses.Easy to except changes /rules if applied to all. Some companies spout h/s but focus on the last resort as its visible,minimum standards.
 
The H&S act if used correctly can be a very usefull tool both for educating the workforce as to their legal responsibilities in this modern world & also to protect the employer against some of the absolute fkuking morons they have to deal with.
Case in point: in 2008 I was a contracts manager for a large flar roofing company based in Wakefield. One of the ongoing projects was a £1.5 million re-roof at Eggborough power station. This job was being re done using torch on underlay & top sheet. The roof was the 40" switchroom roof running the full length of the boilers.
One Friday I turned up on site to do my monthly audit only to find 3 of our men including the foreman smoking in the gas storage area that contained over 500 kg of propane gas!
Thanks to the H&S act I was able to sack these men on the spot without the fear of any further action against the company.
My main issue with it is can at times take common sense out of a situation & result in in something potentially more dangerous, like the safety glasses point. I'm on a chemical plant at the moment & safety specs are mandatory at all times. On top of this there are areas where goggles must be worn. We were asked to do a 8" cantilever over a handrail with a 30" drop the other side to address a steam leak. The goggles were steamed up before we even started erecting, but thanks to the American chairman who cut his grass at home in these goggles with no problem it is an instant dismissal offence not to wear them. We just had to keep going off the job to clean them off. The job took all day.
 
Having just sat through a mandatory Health & Safety seminar arranged by the client, the relization and appreciation of H&S is down to us the individual.......................................

the guy giving, the talk was in a wheelchair speaking to about 120 of us 18 years after is accident, he fell off a ladder that in is own words was an unsafe situation but after originally questioning his own thoughts he decided to go back up the untied ladder to access the roof in inclement weather ( he was not a trained roofer just helping out is father in law) the two hour job needed done in one hour, anyways after coming to terms with falling 10ft and being paralized at 23 years old (also his wife left lost his home got into drink & drugs eventually coming out the other side he kept reverting to... it was his choice to go up the ladder and no was elses and he had to live with that and also the concequence of never being able to play football with his boy or walk is daughter down the isle.

So we do have a choice and the wrong choice regarding Health & Safety can define the rest of our lives and have a detremental effect on all our loved ones & friends.............
 
Equipment fit for purpose Karlj?? Antifog masks and respirators. Saftey kit supplied by employer.
Working over steamy pipes,rams and all that lol as I said earlier minimum standards for some company's. Probly down to cost and not enough in the budget to make steam stop.
 
frederik said:
Equipment fit for purpose Karlj?? Antifog masks and respirators. Saftey kit supplied by employer.
Working over steamy pipes,rams and all that lol as I said earlier minimum standards for some company's. Probly down to cost and not enough in the budget to make steam stop.
Click to expand...

It was a leaking gasket on a joint. The fitters needed access to some injections points. Apparently it happened on occasion & they squeeze some magic stuff into the points & hey presto. Normal safety specs wod have been more than adequate for our task.
Poacher turned gamekeeper. I have seen Jason on 3 occasions at ratcliffe now. He certainly openes your eyes to what you could potentially have to go through.
As an apprentice we had a roofer the same age as Jason who fell off a ladder pointing a gable end on a bungalow. There were eave scaffolds but none on the gables. He was told by the site agent do do it from a ladder as no scaffold would be erected for that. The HSE ruled that the roofer was at fault even though he was following instructions & got no form of compensation whatsoever. Luckily for him his wife & 3 kids stood by him.
I explained to Jason that even though he's in an awefull situation he was very fortunate to receive the compensation he did. Still wouldn't swap places with him though.
 
you gotta play yer safety officer at his own game, report every single thing you think would be a health and safety concern, however trivial, and watch him try to avoid you at his next visit
 
simian said:
Health and safety has its good points as we would still have kids sweeping chimneys without it
Click to expand...

yeah, but who else is small enough to do such a cramped job, and dont say dwarfs, their avin enough trouble with the hse, what with dwarf tossin under threat and their crazy circus antics coming under criticism from the equalities commision!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom