Two recent HSE prosecutions

[humpo48]

Goes to show as of previous threads I have read on Arb Talk that chain saw certificates to show you are a competent operator are a must these days and in turn insurance.

[FatherJack]

I think that some should read the articles.............the employer's risk assessment stated that the operator must be trained and wear PPE. So the employer was not even complying with his own "requirements", let alone what is deemed to be "best industry practice".

 

Yep, there is alot of box ticking and cotton wool, etc these days, but if you look at the recorded injury & death facts for 30 years ago in forestry, agriculture, construction etc......................do you really want to revert to those days?

 

Remember.............just because you have never been knocked down crossing the road does not mean that it doesn't happen to someone most days in the UK..............

 

Here ended my lesson..................

[JosephD]

i admire tree surgeons back in the days before health and safety , they just got on with the job.

 

Fearless buggers!

[s.varty]

i admire tree surgeons back in the days before health and safety , they just got on with the job.

 

Fearless buggers!

 

Still some about mate, single rope and strop boys.

[devon TWiG]

I was at Merrist wood in 1985 and believe this was the first year that the PPE we now consider standard was compulsory , although helmets were not used whilst climbing . what perplexes me about accidents as above, why the injured party never seems to be deemed to be "at fault " do they not know they need to be trained , wear PPE etc and are to some degree responsible for their own mistakes , do they not read the RA's which they usually sign to demonstrate they have understood ?

[Spruce Pirate]

I was at Merrist wood in 1985 and believe this was the first year that the PPE we now consider standard was compulsory , although helmets were not used whilst climbing . what perplexes me about accidents as above, why the injured party never seems to be deemed to be "at fault " do they not know they need to be trained , wear PPE etc and are to some degree responsible for their own mistakes , do they not read the RA's which they usually sign to demonstrate they have understood ?

 

Part of the problem with our current H&S culture, the best RA's are done on site talking through what's actually dangerous with the guys on who are going to do the job - not signing something that says you know that the ground might be slippy and that chainsaws can be dangerous to satisfy the need of a manager who needs to document something. There comes a point where you give up on it and just sign them to get it out of the way, I think this becomes counter productive: RA signed can stop thinking now.

 

Much better to talk through stuff on the ground, but you can't document it so managers and the HSE don't like that. :thumbdown:

[FatherJack]

In some other industries, you'll have your RA, but before the boys start the job they have a "tool box talk" which covers the conclusions of the RA and other things that are more apparent on the day at the job site. And this is repeated for each shift / start of each day.

[FatherJack]

I was at Merrist wood in 1985 and believe this was the first year that the PPE we now consider standard was compulsory , although helmets were not used whilst climbing . what perplexes me about accidents as above, why the injured party never seems to be deemed to be "at fault " do they not know they need to be trained , wear PPE etc and are to some degree responsible for their own mistakes , do they not read the RA's which they usually sign to demonstrate they have understood ?

 

Given that there are still "dinosaurs" out there, the IP may have been brought up in a culture of not questioning what the boss told him to do??

 

However, the first step should always be "looking after No. 1". But in addition to 'making things safer' we have also developed a generation of folks who have difficulty thinking and looking after themselves.

[AcaciaRental]

Careful out there, if you are given PPE by an employer, you don't wear it and (god forbid) something happens, the company AND the individual can now be fined by the HSE, as the individual will be at fault for not following the site safety rules as much as the company for not enforcing it effectively! (it is, of course, situation dependent).

 

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