Elf n Safety

[Andy Collins]

my POV for what its worth.... The boss was working in an unsafe manner, untrained and not wearing the correct ppe...big deal! Just one of many in this country, the fine is disproportionate to the offence IMO.

The employee was put in danger, by not being trained and not being supplied with ppe, this is the big issue here, the fine relates to this part I feel, and in this part is iin proportion to the offence, the bosses in some cases have to start accepting their responsibilty as employers of others.

The neighbour.... Well what can I add to what s already been said in this thread.

Are all of us whiter than white, do everything in a totally safe manner. Would we all stand up to such scrutiny. Be careful out there, and be careful who is watching you...

[the hedge man]

my POV for what its worth.... The boss was working in an unsafe manner, untrained and not wearing the correct ppe...big deal! Just one of many in this country, the fine is disproportionate to the offence IMO.

The employee was put in danger, by not being trained and not being supplied with ppe, this is the big issue here, the fine relates to this part I feel, and in this part is iin proportion to the offence, the bosses in some cases have to start accepting their responsibilty as employers of others.

The neighbour.... Well what can I add to what s already been said in this thread.

Are all of us whiter than white, do everything in a totally safe manner. Would we all stand up to such scrutiny. Be careful out there, and be careful who is watching you...

 

I agree with that also, it's one thing for the boss to take his own risks- if he was too fall and seriously injure himself then he only has himself to blame. I too feel the fine is disproportionate, afterall he has already been named and shamed so there is no point in placing a fine.

[bob]

about time the hse looked at some of the vids on youtube.

saw one today of a so called professional and made me cringe and even worse he obviously thought he was good and posted it for the world to see.

[agrimog]

again I ask the question, what law has been broken, yes somone has quoted various acts etc but where is it actually written down int law that the minimum ppe that shall be worn, or is it such that no one will actually commit and state it, or is that even these acts dont actually demand, but only advise, come on someone, dig into these and actually shed some light

[bob]

Unsafe tree work leads to fine for Lincolnshire man

posted before but look towards the bottom of the article:thumbup:

[treequip]

For those that say the fine was over the top, let's look at that

 

The fine was 4k the other was costs

 

How much would it cost to train and equip (PPE) a climber and groundsman to the appropriate standards? Training, kit and loss of earnings while training is going to come out somewhere in the ballpark of 3 grand, that's what this clown SHOULD have spent, so relative the fine is a grand, if he hadn't landed himself in court he would not have seen the bill for costs.

 

If the fine was a couple of hundred as some have suggested, who would bother with training and PPE? Save a couple of grand a year and go on a holiday instead. Fines are supposed to be punitive.

[HCR]

...where is it actually written down int law that the minimum ppe that shall be worn, or is it such that no one will actually commit and state it, or is that even these acts dont actually demand, but only advise, come on someone, dig into these and actually shed some light

 

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

[Andy Collins]

When a drink driver kills someone through his own stupidity, the fines and penalties are a farce, the fines in this case therefore are disprortionate. Had the employee receivrd an injury through the negligence of the employer, the fine would have been appropriate, a fine line, but an important one. i know we all would like standards to improve, that we are all against the dodgy cowboy element, but is the nosy parker way the way we wish to go? Big Brother is one step too far IMO.The argument that it costs the NHS good money is flawed, no one was injured in this case, therefore no costs were incurred surely?

All this case may lead to is another struggling small business going the wall, costing the State even more than the fine in supporting two families.

Education is the key here, more along the lines of speed awareness courses, compulsory education in ths results of action, costing say £100 for the day, loss of a days earnings etc, surely this would be far more beneficial? We can argue the case till the cows come home, but at the end of the day we need a better, safer working community, and I feel the HSE need a far more proactive way of solving this.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Andy Collins

[treequip]

When a drink driver kills someone through his own stupidity, the fines and penalties are a farce, the fines in this case therefore are disprortionate.

 

Thats a bit flawed, if the Penalty for drink drivers is a farce, surely the case is to beef up the penalty for drink driving rather than using a farce as a benchmark for other penalties?

[Pedroski]

Andy, I fully agree - compulsory education would have been far more beneficial.

 

I also think that the current course costs are far too high for the majority of people. I was looking at doing CS38 - course fee over £700, add loss of earnings for the week of £500 (makes £1200) - it's just not viable for someone like me who who is struggling every month to pay the bills.