HSE national purge

[steve gregory]

Every time I speak to anyone from the HSE they're going to be 'having a purge' of some sort or another. It's just words.

Last year when I spoke to some fat bird from the HSE at Safety & Access in Nottingham she told me that the HSE were 'gonna have a massive crackdown on all the small, cowboy outfits, rathger than picking on the big boys'

I don't remember that ever happening!

Which hse events have you attended lately. They havnt got the resourses to keep going after the small firms. That's why they are doing the working together scheme all over the uk. Those who don't attend get ready. Wether they purge or not. If this saves somebody a fine then it's been worth while in my eyes. Or next time i'm told do I keep my gob shut. Veiws please.

 

[dangeruss]

Driving past the cowboys to get to the big sites

Definition of an HSE 'Blitz' :-

1, Pick a dozen, massive, high profile jobs between the 3 major cities.

2, Get a few women who know absolutely nothing about scaffolding.

3, Make sure the Women are on the blob, have an attitude problem (or preferably, both together)

4, Kit them out in oversized, spotless hi-viz jackets and rigger boots.

5, Turn up on said jobs and tell the site manager that it "looked like one of the scaffolders was not clipped on" (who was working 500m away on the 19th lift)

6, Leave site before angry scaffold foreman comes charging into the site office after recieving a generic phonecall from site manager saying "THE HSE ARE HERE!! MAKE SURE ALL YOUR BLOKES ARE CLIPPED ON! WHO'S WORKING ON THE 19TH LIFT? I WANT HIM REMOVED FROM SITE!"
If it was a woman inspector she would have to follow the criteria below
7, Leaving an improvement notice because the sink is too small to wash her hands in and the toilets smell of poo .

8, The said inspector was probably from the Agriculture section of the HSE the week before but due to maternity leave is now covering construction, which she knows nothing about BUT her son watches "Bob the builder" on Jetix so she can tell what a proper site should look like.

9, Drinks coffee with no milk or sugar takes 1 swig and leaves the rest, cus she's too busy putting the site right.

10, Has that many lines on her forehead she could screw her hat on !

11, Smells of "MOON WIND" eau de toilet , or other such cheap nasty stuff.

12, Never had a boyfriend at school so resents us good looking building types and is intent on making us pay.

13, Drives a ford Ka

14,Carry's a laptop in a bag but nobody ever sees her use it ?

15, Never watches soaps cus they're silly and complains to the BBC everytime she watches "Grand designs" because its not best practice bla bla bla

16, Uses the catch all line "Reasonably practicable" every other sentance.

Over to you Phil

 

[Otto1485]

Just a quick word of advice before stating that HSE don't pick on the smaller contractors or cowboys.....

HSE Enforcement Notices Area : Notice Details

Going back to the start of the list - see how many bigger contractors are there by working your way through - most of the contractors are small jobs

HSE Enforcement Notices Area : Notice Search - List Results

So to scotch a few myths, that isn't how the HSE work on purges - HSE are well aware of where the problems in the construction industry lie and are doing their best to sort them out - you can belive what you want - however the evidence does not support your point of view.

Otto

 

[phil181]

Definition of an HSE 'Blitz' :-

1, Pick a dozen, massive, high profile jobs between the 3 major cities.

2, Get a few women who know absolutely nothing about scaffolding.

3, Make sure the Women are on the blob, have an attitude problem (or preferably, both together)

4, Kit them out in oversized, spotless hi-viz jackets and rigger boots.

5, Turn up on said jobs and tell the site manager that it "looked like one of the scaffolders was not clipped on" (who was working 500m away on the 19th lift)

6, Leave site before angry scaffold foreman comes charging into the site office after recieving a generic phonecall from site manager saying "THE HSE ARE HERE!! MAKE SURE ALL YOUR BLOKES ARE CLIPPED ON! WHO'S WORKING ON THE 19TH LIFT? I WANT HIM REMOVED FROM SITE!"
If it was a woman inspector she would have to follow the criteria below
7, Leaving an improvement notice because the sink is too small to wash her hands in and the toilets smell of poo .

8, The said inspector was probably from the Agriculture section of the HSE the week before but due to maternity leave is now covering construction, which she knows nothing about BUT her son watches "Bob the builder" on Jetix so she can tell what a proper site should look like.

9, Drinks coffee with no milk or sugar takes 1 swig and leaves the rest, cus she's too busy putting the site right.

10, Has that many lines on her forehead she could screw her hat on !

11, Smells of "MOON WIND" eau de toilet , or other such cheap nasty stuff.

12, Never had a boyfriend at school so resents us good looking building types and is intent on making us pay.

13, Drives a ford Ka

14,Carry's a laptop in a bag but nobody ever sees her use it ?

15, Never watches soaps cus they're silly and complains to the BBC everytime she watches "Grand designs" because its not best practice bla bla bla

16, Uses the catch all line "Reasonably practicable" every other sentance.

Over to you Phil

17, Will comes up with standard smug phrases like "So-and-so had a near miss on one of their sites last week"
"Right, ok. Er, so what's that got to do with us putting up our scaffolding?"

More to follow later mate.

I'm having an unbelievably hard time with TFL trying to get a dispensation for parking in a bus lane...

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:20 PM ----------

Which hse events have you attended lately. They havnt got the resourses to keep going after the small firms. That's why they are doing the working together scheme all over the uk. Those who don't attend get ready. Wether they purge or not. If this saves somebody a fine then it's been worth while in my eyes. Or next time i'm told do I keep my gob shut. Veiws please.

You're welcome to say what you like mate.

All i'm saying is that it's a standard thing that the HSE come out with when they speak to anyone related to the scaffolding industry.

It's hardly inside information.

 

[1969scaff]

Why do the HSE announce that they are having a blitz on sites?Why not just do it,how many sites have you been on that suddenly turn in to text book sites the day before a visit?

 

[jakdan]

Why do the HSE announce that they are having a blitz on sites?Why not just do it,how many sites have you been on that suddenly turn in to text book sites the day before a visit?

i think ideally this is what they want, text book sites?
i dont think they want to prosecute everyone, just want men to go home on an evening.
never really had a problem with them if your doing things the best you can,
we were doing a hanger under an arch on southwark bridge, literally 20m from head office and all they ever did was give advice on how we could do things better. they were great with the lads on site.
P.S. i have also met those women they have working for them :laugh:

 

[1969scaff]

Think your missing the point,a lot of the sites only get things in order if they know they are going to get a visit,if the HSE did visits without letting them know maybe the site would always be spot on.Don't get me wrong I'm all for safety on sites and we always try to work to current regs.What gets me is the first trade they go for is us,mainly because scaffolding is the first thing they see.They seem to be obsessed with rules and regs for us but how many other trades get the same treatment? To make it worse we are still not classed as tradesmen!!

 

[numbnuts]

so just wondering,if were not TRADESMEN,were just people that dont know diddly.how can we be held to account,if we know fek all.there prosecuting the wrong people.if a member of public walks into a tube,we have to be done for it.but if we are not tradesmen,we are the same as the public,so therefore ,not liable.

 

[phil181]

so just wondering,if were not TRADESMEN,were just people that dont know diddly.how can we be held to account,if we know fek all.there prosecuting the wrong people.if a member of public walks into a tube,we have to be done for it.but if we are not tradesmen,we are the same as the public,so therefore ,not liable.

You don't have to be a 'tradesman' to be liable for your actions, mate.

 

[numbnuts]

so its there fault they walk into tube,we have to use or common sence,why cant they.mate.

 

[Andymac]

With the blitz being yesterday did anyone get a visit They didnt come near Trafford Park

 

[moanalot]

definition of an hse 'blitz' :-

1, pick a dozen, massive, high profile jobs between the 3 major cities.

2, get a few women who know absolutely nothing about scaffolding.

3, make sure the women are on the blob, have an attitude problem (or preferably, both together)

4, kit them out in oversized, spotless hi-viz jackets and rigger boots.

5, turn up on said jobs and tell the site manager that it "looked like one of the scaffolders was not clipped on" (who was working 500m away on the 19th lift)

6, leave site before angry scaffold foreman comes charging into the site office after recieving a generic phonecall from site manager saying "the hse are here!! Make sure all your blokes are clipped on! Who's working on the 19th lift? I want him removed from site!"
if it was a woman inspector she would have to follow the criteria below
7, leaving an improvement notice because the sink is too small to wash her hands in and the toilets smell of poo .

8, the said inspector was probably from the agriculture section of the hse the week before but due to maternity leave is now covering construction, which she knows nothing about but her son watches "bob the builder" on jetix so she can tell what a proper site should look like.

9, drinks coffee with no milk or sugar takes 1 swig and leaves the rest, cus she's too busy putting the site right.

10, has that many lines on her forehead she could screw her hat on !

11, smells of "moon wind" eau de toilet , or other such cheap nasty stuff.

12, never had a boyfriend at school so resents us good looking building types and is intent on making us pay.

13, drives a ford ka

14,carry's a laptop in a bag but nobody ever sees her use it ?

15, never watches soaps cus they're silly and complains to the bbc everytime she watches "grand designs" because its not best practice bla bla bla

16, uses the catch all line "reasonably practicable" every other sentance.

Over to you phil

bwahhaaahhhaaahhhaaaa....excellent stuff...love it....

 

[Flinty]

so its there fault they walk into tube,we have to use or common sence,why cant they.mate.

I see your point mate, but remember the average joe blogs today is a complete idiot. Espicially students... you ever had to work at a college...??... f*ck me theres a reason these people are still at school.... anyway its all about being covered so you cant be sued. If theres a tube that could possibly be walked into, wrap yellow sponge around it so you can say if someone trys suing "we indentified problem, we came up with a solution" and (hopefully) the judge will agree with you the said facial-tube-seeker is an idiot.

 

[aom]

Read Paddy's post from the house of lords, maybe a wee change of direction on that front.