Fastrantiger:
arse paper like tracing paper
I call this “re-distribution paper” 
i used to work for a company in blackpool. at first it was ok until the insurance people came in. wear your hi-viz, no smoking on the factory floor, then no smoking in the building at all, then no smoking in the yard.
i spoke to the MD and asked what was happening. he just said i’ve put the signs up, thats all i have to do, i couldn’t give a toss what you do after that.
the only bloke who was bothered was an ex-army bloke who still thought he was in. OY no smoking. OY hi-viz. thats all you could hear day in, day out.
told the boss that he was about to loose some drivers as a result. he sacked him. which was nice. one of my mates there was an ex RSM. he couldn’t understand him even with 20 odd years in the army.
So the moral to my story is does the boss of the company with all the rules give a toss or is it some idiot who uses H&S to boost his ego■■?
The one thing I fail to see any logic in is not being able to smoke outside (unless the place is full of gas cylinders etc) as the LAW does not restrict this practice but COMPANY POLICY can do - why do companies do this 
ROG:
The one thing I fail to see any logic in is not being able to smoke outside (unless the place is full of gas cylinders etc) as the LAW does not restrict this practice but COMPANY POLICY can do - why do companies do this
this was well before the smoking ban. but it was a sign of things to come.
ROG:
the LAW does not restrict this practice but COMPANY POLICY can do - why do companies do this
Maybe because it is their property and they can choose what they do and don’t allow. Likewise it is their company, their company policy.
I think it would be more of a concern if companies were told that they had to allow smoking etc on their premises.
When I go to do certain parts of my current job, I take another person with me; there are 3 people to choose from, one of who is a ‘nicotine addict’. Funnily enough, he seems to spend a lot more time in the office, rather than out on the road, than the other two . . . . . . . 
The fact that he is quite a capable and reliable operator don’t make up for the ‘aroma de smoke’ that accompanies him (and his breath!) everywhere!!! 
marcustandy:
Yes, H&S has gone a wee bit OTT.Claim culture has also gone OTT.
Life is a balance; if people stopped making such a fuss (and claims) over the slightest thing, then companies wouldn’t have to focus so hard on implementing such restrictive H&S rules/regs.
End result; if people/drivers would stop doing stupid (and dangerous) things i.e. pulling trailers off loading bays with red lights, then companies wouldn’t need to put PITA measures in place such as handing in your keys when on a bay.
Just because you don’t do such stupid/dangerous things, doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been done by someone somewhere. The company don’t know who, where or when it will it happen next and so, have to take the precautionary measures that affect us all.
Still a PITA though.
Accidents happen no matter what.
H&S won’t change a thing.
When your times up your dead.
ROG:
The one thing I fail to see any logic in is not being able to smoke outside (unless the place is full of gas cylinders etc) as the LAW does not restrict this practice but COMPANY POLICY can do - why do companies do this
Prob mess a part of it, people would chuck cig ends all over the place.
Remember having arguments before the smoking ban coming in, sitting my cab for hours on end waiting to get tipped. Having a ■■■ in my cab and being told not allowed to smoke on site, told him where to go, i was using the ash tray and would shut the windows so no dangerous smoke would escape.
Another pain was the smoking ban in Scotland when it wasnt banned in England. Used to do a trunk down to Warrington from Glasgow.
TM asked me if i was aware it was illegal and had i been smoking in the truck, i replied yes as soon as that truck hits the English border at gretna i light up 
He said well company policy is you can’t now smoke in the trucks, i said well tough i am still gonna smoke, i said you smoke youtself and quite heavilly do you really want me stoping at services every hour to have a ■■■ ?
He seemed to actually think about it and said ok keep the windows open when your smoking and for f**** sake don’t get caught by anyone !
I agree with others that H&S is important and that in the past some employers really didn’t give a toss and allowed inexperienced and non-qualified workers to do jobs which indangered others.
I remember one of my first jobs had to use a forklift truck shifting pallets of slabs. My forklift training was heres what the controls do, now take it easy at first and you’ll soon get used to it.
But problem these days is company policies, insurance companies, jobsworth’s have gone to such extremes that now H&S is a laughing stock which a lot of peple don’t take seriously.
They have gone to far and usually legislation and policies are now ■■■■■■■■■■■ to such an extent they at times become useless.
willie_mac:
Does anyone else feel that health and safety has gone over the top…
I total agree whit this one
i am not convinced that H and S had gone over the top.
What I do agree is that lots of jobsworths are using the H and S label to impose petty rules that are patently ludicrous.
Does the driver CPC come under this heading?
Quite a few things have gone / are going over the top in this country, H&S one of them. Not neccessarily in terms of “amount” or ideas, but in terms of “appropriety” or the way they are imposed.
I’d disagree with those saying “accidents happen, you can do anything about it”. H&SEs are right in this, “accidents are caused” and something can be done. But the way/time/place they do it turns all the good ideas into a farce.
The place I work at now has several gates, one of them dedicated to lorries. From time to time someone misses big “no HGVs beyond this point” sign and heads straight away to the gate for passenger cars. Normally such a lorry is allowed in to turn in the car park and go out to the right gate. But the other day one chap knocked down lamp pole and bent railings during reversing so the next lorry driver arriving at the wrong gate was told to reverse back down the road to the right gate. He decided to turn around (!) - on a standard-width two lane road… Tractor had to go off the road and of course got stuck in the grass - trailer across the road. There are normally numerous trucks on site any time of day plus some tractors, loaders and similar machines. Any of these would pull the struck truck out; 15min job in normal world. But in this time, age and country, our company is not equipped, licensed, authorized, insured etc. to do this type of work so the poor guy was told to ring his base and arrange for proper recovery. It took two hours for the recovery truck to arrive - the road was all that time blocked, cars piling up in both directions… Fortunately, no ambulance or fire truck had to go down that way at the time. Wondering what would our HSE said if it had to.
The other day I wanted to open a parcel so was looking for a cutter. What I found? It is illegal to keep this type of sharp edge tool in office environment! So I used scissors - it was 10x more dangerous than using a cutter. What would happen if I got hurt? I’d told breaking H&S law, company policy etc by not using proper equipmnet. According to HSE who I rang afterwards, I had to go down to warehouse where people have proper equipment and are trained to use it and who would gladly open the parcel for me…
Also, we are not allowed to drive cars through goods in area, because of risk of collision with manouvering trucks. I understand this. But: walking through this area is Ok and perfectly in line with H&S policy…
Smoking is also not permitted anywhere on site, not even in your truck or your own car in car park. Because it’s all company premises where company’s no smoking policy applies. But, cars and everything in them is left in the car park on your own risk, company accepts no responsibility for losses or damages…
HomoFaber:
I’d disagree with those saying “accidents happen, you can do anything about it”. H&SEs are right in this, “accidents are caused” and something can be done.
A bit of an Americanism, but there is a train of thought that states;
“There’s no such thing as an accident, there’s always a reason and some one is always at fault!”
One of the main problems and contributing factors is the amount of people who treat ‘rules’ as ‘options’.
Errr, no. Rules are rules and are not open for ‘flexing’. ‘Options’ are where you get to make a choice.
206doorman:
I do.
Who is it that wants to keep us all alive?
And who told them to do it? I didn’t ,that’s for sure.Death happens. Accidents happen. That’s what you get for being born.
There’s far too many people on this planet, far too many drugs making us better, far too much being spent on the NHS, far too much being spent on AIDs
research, (let AIDs do it’s job, that’s what it’s there for)
Stop warning us about killer food additives, stop trying to cut obeseity, let us jump on and off moving Routemasters, ban hard hats (they’re very uncomfortable anyway), ban hi-viz, ban steel toe-caps, ban ABS and air-bags,
ban human-rights activists and lawyers.Radio 2 news said today that 70% don’t want to fund green policies/taxes.
70% reckon that environmental charges are all about collecting more tax.
I reckon they’re right.It’s a load of boloxnia (sorry alex)
This rant isn’t over yet!
i really do hope none of your nearest and dearest ever get that bad but please, please, please inform me when your mam, dad, you, your wife, your kids or your best mate get a treatable killer disease or have a bad accident, i want to be there laughing my head off when you’re imploring the docs to use whatever means possible to save their lives.
either that or i’ll shake your hand for standing up for your convictions when you beg the docs to kill them because thats natures way
Health and Safety at work act 1974
Section 2
As Far As Reasonably Practicable
done a lift on a site today,the tower crane couldnt even get it of the ground,they brought a mobile in ,that nearly went into the hole when he tried it.
so it was left to me (cheers)
working at my maximum radius sweating /haveing a mild heartattack as you do,
must have broke at least 3 rules ,
but i knew i was safe apart from the fact, i was ,to close to a 50 ft drop,
if the ground had gave out i would have been on the news.
like i said work in the rules kill someone your ok
work outside the rules your zb.
i gambeled today
not recommended .
but thats reality on site .
and if things had gone wrong its highly unlikeley i would have been able to post this 