H&S - the nadir
Discussion
It's well-known and accepted that bashing 'elf and safety is a national pastime. I understand and accept the requirement for controls around people being able to work safely, but I have today witnessed something which has surpassed even my own cynicism over some aspects of these controls.
Company A want Supplier B to come into their premises to repair an item of equipment situated some 15m above ground. Whilst you would quite rightly expect there to be controls around the use of the access equipment, have you ever considered that the ambient temperature (in an industrial building, in the UK, in January) at 15m may be higher than that at ground level, and therefore the risk assessment and method statement is rejected on the basis that it does not detail how Supplier B will ensure that appropriate refreshment is available for the operative working (for probably less than 60 minutes) at the higher level? Be aware also that the operative should not take said refreshment above ground with him, as that is also a rather dangerous thing to do.
True story.
Company A want Supplier B to come into their premises to repair an item of equipment situated some 15m above ground. Whilst you would quite rightly expect there to be controls around the use of the access equipment, have you ever considered that the ambient temperature (in an industrial building, in the UK, in January) at 15m may be higher than that at ground level, and therefore the risk assessment and method statement is rejected on the basis that it does not detail how Supplier B will ensure that appropriate refreshment is available for the operative working (for probably less than 60 minutes) at the higher level? Be aware also that the operative should not take said refreshment above ground with him, as that is also a rather dangerous thing to do.
True story.
I was once struggling to get acids approved to clean small valve parts in an acid bath. Anything they would let us use didn't work, and anything that would work they would not let us use.
Someone remembered that coke cleans pennies in a couple of days, so we stuck some parts in a glass of coke. They came out clean, so the next time the H&S guy was on site we told him that we would use coke in future.
He told us we couldn't use it as a cleaner due to the acid content!!!!!
Someone remembered that coke cleans pennies in a couple of days, so we stuck some parts in a glass of coke. They came out clean, so the next time the H&S guy was on site we told him that we would use coke in future.
He told us we couldn't use it as a cleaner due to the acid content!!!!!
Edited by 98elise on Friday 16th January 13:48
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