The Wearing of PPE

i can not belive some of the things i have just read regarding ppe,it is mandortry and thats the fact!dont like it,f,,,, off as for not deducting wagesi totally agree,hit them where it hurts,i have had it done in my early years and it works,tool boxs talks should have allready been done,no wonder we still have problems
 
PPE is supplied usually at the employers expense, steel toe boots, harness, helmet and Hi-vis vest are now a legal requirement are they not, safety glasses are up to the employer or site so far.

Is it not also the employees responsibility to ensure that they are issued with any extra PPE required for given situations eg glasses, ear protection RPE and so on.

Its simple enough, an employer shells out for it and your contract says you need to wear it
 
PW said:
What I write below is exactly what I have implemented within our business, please read and let me have your feed back, I would appreiciate your honest opinions.

When I first got to the Company we were having trouble with our lads wearing their PPE, so I got them all (We only have 10 lads) in and asked them to make sure that they did so and the reasons behind it etc and I would be randomly checking to make sure they were. I knew it would be quite a culture change for them as they had been used to day to day dealings with the business owner who is a really nice bloke and to be honest very laid back. Whilst undertaking these checks if I caught anyone I would just have a polite word (I'm usually not one for the hair dryer treatment because I believe it simply doesnt work and the lads think your a tw*t, but I can get to that if the situation dictates) with them and carry out a Tool Box Talk regarding the subject etc. Anyway over a year went past with a little improvement but not were we needed to be so I brought in the following as Company Policy at the end of last year, all our lads were aware of it so now nasty surprises etc:

1st Instance of not wearing all PPE would result in a £10.00 fine per item and a verbal warning.

2nd Instance would result in deduction of a days pay and a written warning.

3rd Instance would result in dismissal (Gross Misconduct Basically)

So far I have had to 2 lads on a "1st Instance" scenario recently and 1 lad today who has gone to the "2nd Instance" scenario, our lad today was none to pleased with his situation and we had a very heated discusssion on the subject but I stood my ground and carried out the penalty.

My questions to you lads are:

1) Am I being out of order?

2) If you think I am out of order please suggest how I can ensure our lads wear their issued kit?
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Interesting thread and one that i've tried to find the answer to on a few projects, and not only with Scaffs.
I've tried fining, stopping overtime and even in one case having to dismiss someone for persistent offences over a coupe of months, after going through the verbal and written warning stages.
Fining or stopping offenders working overtime worked to a degree, but the only pressure on guys to 'toe-the-line' was from management and possibly their own pockets, neither of which most seemed to care about too much !
Anyway, on one job in the Middle East, the company introduced a system that offered all the guys a fully paid night out once a month if they all kept a good record over that month of wearing the required PPE.
We gave the whole group a number of points (this total varied with the staffing levels which varied widely over the two years of the job), and each time someone was caught not wearing/using the correct PPE, 10 points were deducted from the total for each offence. If the total dipped below a certain level, they all lost the night out. It took some fine tuning, and we increased the number required to 'pass', as the job progressed and they guys got used to it.
You have to remember of course, that these guys were Indian, Pakistani and Phillipino and a night out to them (without booze for those who didn't want it), was a big event and fairly cheap to set up and proved a big success with them and us. We got the PPE used and they got some proper food in nice surroundings, which they didn't really have in their camp which was provide by others.
In the UK on an 18 month civils contract, we set up a £2000 monthly bonus fund for around 25 guys, although this dropped to around 15 guys about half way through. If any one of them were caught not wearing/using the correct PPE, we deducted £50 from the fund and a large chart on the canteen walls recorded the running total daily.
It was greeted with derision when we first suggested it, "...load of ***** !" , "...how much, not worth a w*nk ", etc, etc, but very soon, there was not only pressure from the management to use the correct PPE, but the guys on site were policing themselves and we paid out either a full or very nearly full bonus each month.
These types of bonuses involve laying out some cash, but if the contract is worth enough to justify them, then it might be worth looking at. I also like the promoting of extra official training for people who perform well and i'll have to keep that in mind for the next job, as i helps both the individual and the company/industry as a whole. J
 
Pre-start induction training, which all site personnel recieve and sign on for, regarding not just the statutory requirements of law regarding PPE, but also their companys H&S policy & procedures must be carried out at all times.

However with the nature of the occupation we are employed in, we sometimes have to visit other establishments wheras there main business could be a complete different state of affairs, regarding PPE, I.E Dairy, Foodstuffs,Chemical and Asbestos removal, to name a few.

No disrespect, to any ney guys to the trade,however, they will be trained to CITB/CSCS/CISRS Safety stds,rightly so, then the guys get a start with *********scaffolding company,more Induction, 1st week chem/refinery work = more induction, next week work over water,then foodstuffs,confined spaces, we are all human and Policies and procedures from diverse occupations can be a bit mixed up for the guys.

Get the Harness on,Keep the Hat on hi-vis and safety boots,gloves and safety glasses if your not sure,and you cant go too far wrong,
 
Hi , I know a company I used to work for had issue's with ppe. So what was done was we were offered £5 per day if we wore our ppe wether on a construction site or doing a back and front. Our boss occassionaly would pop out and it actually worked , in fact it actually worked so well he pulled it after three months because he said it was bankrupting him, lol.

Think , like has been said incentive's work well but you'll always get the odd one who think there a bit of a rebel. But I do think ppe is needed but not to the extent to which it is going.
 
PW,you have got to stick to your policies and principles we all know that if the gaffers give an inch the situation is open to abuse,we have all been in these positions were we have taken the royal pi55,just cant get away with it anymore,up the RAMS...
 
Many thanks for all your comments, they have all been gratefully recieved.

As I have been off the spanner for so long I felt I needed to test the water with real day to day scaffolders to confirm what I already knew really.

The scheme will continue and be rigidlly enforced.

Thanks again to all that have contributed.

Paul
 
?????

there are soo may ways you can look at this, for example: a local company where im working just now give their men a PPE bonus on a anual basis, i think its around £500 per year, but if the fail to wear it just once they lose the bonus,
 
Ppe

Got to take a stand somewhere, offshore if one member of the squad gets caught without PPE the whole squad get sacked, so I would say keep it up after all if anything happens to any of the lads who feels the guilt and who goes to jail.

Cheers
 
PW said:
What I write below is exactly what I have implemented within our business, please read and let me have your feed back, I would appreiciate your honest opinions.

When I first got to the Company we were having trouble with our lads wearing their PPE, so I got them all (We only have 10 lads) in and asked them to make sure that they did so and the reasons behind it etc and I would be randomly checking to make sure they were. I knew it would be quite a culture change for them as they had been used to day to day dealings with the business owner who is a really nice bloke and to be honest very laid back. Whilst undertaking these checks if I caught anyone I would just have a polite word (I'm usually not one for the hair dryer treatment because I believe it simply doesnt work and the lads think your a tw*t, but I can get to that if the situation dictates) with them and carry out a Tool Box Talk regarding the subject etc. Anyway over a year went past with a little improvement but not were we needed to be so I brought in the following as Company Policy at the end of last year, all our lads were aware of it so now nasty surprises etc:

1st Instance of not wearing all PPE would result in a £10.00 fine per item and a verbal warning.

2nd Instance would result in deduction of a days pay and a written warning.

3rd Instance would result in dismissal (Gross Misconduct Basically)

So far I have had to 2 lads on a "1st Instance" scenario recently and 1 lad today who has gone to the "2nd Instance" scenario, our lad today was none to pleased with his situation and we had a very heated discusssion on the subject but I stood my ground and carried out the penalty.

My questions to you lads are:

1) Am I being out of order?

2) If you think I am out of order please suggest how I can ensure our lads wear their issued kit?
Click to expand...

Hey, your boys sound just like the guys i'm looking for.
If your gonna wear PPE you just won't make it with the big dawgs offshore ZAP!
We are actually recruiting right now.......but not offshore, my uncle has a floor polishing business in Croatia and trust me he won't dock your pay.
If you polish good, and I mean the floors maybe he refer you to me and I get you number 1 job in Australia offshore 1 Grand a day, cause you know how we rollz.
 
P.W

I realise this is an old thread and all but closed but I was wondering if you have had any improvements within the squads. Just being nosey.:D
 
PPE gets the lads home at night.No 1 likes 2 wear it but .warnings work. but docking the money is hard.i work 4 a firm that docks us and it bad m8, times r hard and moneys is hard 2 get ur hands on at the moment.
 
aom said:
P.W

I realise this is an old thread and all but closed but I was wondering if you have had any improvements within the squads. Just being nosey.:D
Click to expand...

Hi mate

On the whole its gone very well...we had the initial couple of instances of have to implement the fines scheme but I havent witnessed an instance of not wearing PPE for some time now.
 
Just been given a portfolio picture by a lad, guess what... his mate in the background has no harness..hehehe.

Did read this thread earlier, but sometimes its good to see something revived just to see whos doing what.

As far as docking money for PPE offences, Im 99.9% sure that illegal, our company goes through an employment law firm before implementing any policies so thats why we dont do it despite how much I would like to. We used to operate a bonus scheme, where at the beginning of the year you started with a pot of money. Each time you got caught, it was £15 per item untill the money ran out, then 2 more times and you were sacked, obviously warnings were issued along the line, verbal, 2 written, final written and gone!
We stopped paying the bonus due to the leaner times and tbh, I dont think men should be paid extra for doing what they should be doing anyway.

We are in the process of altering our PPE warning system at the moment making it slightly tighter, this is mostly to do with the contractors getting even tighter on the monitoring. The guys have just got to realise if they get caught and keep getting caught its going to cost contracts, if thats the case, several men will loose their jobs, not just the offenders. But, 99% of our men are now pretty good in my opinion in conforming, at least on major sites, the smaller stuff..well they know we cant be eerywhere all the time to monitor so Im sure they chance it now and then.

Dave.
 
Ppe

Photo's are always the best evidence.
When I was supervising I court a lad without wearing his harness, no hard hat and he was wearing trainers, I took a photo of him and stopped him and he still tried to say he was doing everything right, argumentative **** he was. so I gave him a warning, still he argued, I gave him a written warning, then he backed down and now he is one of the best scaffolders at the firm which I worked for.

Please wear it, it might save your live or your wallet.
 
As far as docking money for PPE offences, Im 99.9% sure that illegal, our
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Hi Dave

If it is implemented within your Company Policy and as a revision to your Employee's T&C's of Employment then following consultaion and the operatives are made fully aware of the situation and furthermore register their signature against said policy then that is all above board.

As you know its all about covering your arse, and you are right in regards to bonus schemes, why reward someone for doing something they should be doing anyway.
 
Know what your saying PW. I said the same thing about signing contracts etc, Mentor the employment law company we use said it is still illegal to 'fine', 'dock wages' etc, so that why we personally dont do it. I dont agree with it at all though.
 
I have been scaffolding for 26 years now and to be honest i hate harnesses and helmets but its part of the job now and part of everyone responsability to wear all PPE. I think you have done the right thing. If they never erected a scaffold properly or never replaced a dodgy frog and the spanner fell on some poor git then there would be trouble so not wearing thier PPE should have the same outcome. Good luck
 
Ppe

shaz said:
I have been scaffolding for 26 years now and to be honest i hate harnesses and helmets but its part of the job now and part of everyone responsability to wear all PPE. I think you have done the right thing. If they never erected a scaffold properly or never replaced a dodgy frog and the spanner fell on some poor git then there would be trouble so not wearing thier PPE should have the same outcome. Good luck
Click to expand...

Yes you are correct allways wear your PPE
 
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