Reverse park or get sacked - More Health & Safety madness
Discussion
Not really sure what to say about this tbh, i'll let you lot decide
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
The Daily Mail said:
Thousands of workers have been told they must reverse into parking spaces at their offices under a ‘draconian’ health and safety regime imposed by Britain’s second-largest power supplier.
The decree is the top ‘golden rule’ that the 20,000 staff of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) must follow under threat of disciplinary action.
Workers have also been told they must hold the handrail when using stairs – and that if they disobey the rules, they should expect a ‘challenge’ from colleagues, which they must accept graciously.
The measures have angered some employees, who say they are absurdly stringent. The Government’s Health and Safety Executive sets no guidelines about parking, while the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: ‘In general it is preferable to allow the driver a choice depending on the car park layout or circumstance.’
One SSE insider said staff are regularly plagued with safety memos highlighting the dangers of not using stairs properly. On an internal company blog, one worker at the company’s Perth headquarters said: ‘The do’s and don’ts are becoming so ridiculous they are losing their effect.
‘Staff feel the measures are so draconian that they can barely move around the workplace without breaking a Golden Rule. Under current company policy, anyone seen using stairs without holding the handrail must accept a “challenge” from a colleague or manager.
‘It’s known as a “yellow card”. If you are a repeat offender then the company can begin disciplinary action.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
SSE confirmed that if a worker continually refused to respond to such challenges, the issue would be raised with their boss. A spokesman added: ‘Reversing into a static parking bay is safer than reversing out into a road or car park, which may have traffic and pedestrian movement which you cannot easily see.
‘A quick internet search will highlight the number of fatalities each year arising from people falling down stairs.
‘If everyone held the handrail when going up and down stairs it might not prevent all deaths, but it would probably prevent many of them.’
About 1,000 people die falling down stairs in Britain each year, with elderly people most at risk.
Another of the ‘golden rules’, which are prominently displayed at the company’s premises, says staff must wear ‘PPE’, or personal protective equipment.
Workers posting on the company’s online forum claimed they had been banned from wearing flip-flops in the office, sparking a heated debate over whether women should be banned from wearing high heels at work.
One employee said: ‘Women’s shoes are not very suitable for ascending or descending the stairs. Are three or four-inch heels a good idea?’
However, SSE said there was no ban on high heels or flip-flops, and that no review of the policy was under way.
But the spokesman added: ‘What we insist on is that everyone considers whether what they are wearing is appropriate for the environment they are working in.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
The decree is the top ‘golden rule’ that the 20,000 staff of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) must follow under threat of disciplinary action.
Workers have also been told they must hold the handrail when using stairs – and that if they disobey the rules, they should expect a ‘challenge’ from colleagues, which they must accept graciously.
The measures have angered some employees, who say they are absurdly stringent. The Government’s Health and Safety Executive sets no guidelines about parking, while the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: ‘In general it is preferable to allow the driver a choice depending on the car park layout or circumstance.’
One SSE insider said staff are regularly plagued with safety memos highlighting the dangers of not using stairs properly. On an internal company blog, one worker at the company’s Perth headquarters said: ‘The do’s and don’ts are becoming so ridiculous they are losing their effect.
‘Staff feel the measures are so draconian that they can barely move around the workplace without breaking a Golden Rule. Under current company policy, anyone seen using stairs without holding the handrail must accept a “challenge” from a colleague or manager.
‘It’s known as a “yellow card”. If you are a repeat offender then the company can begin disciplinary action.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
SSE confirmed that if a worker continually refused to respond to such challenges, the issue would be raised with their boss. A spokesman added: ‘Reversing into a static parking bay is safer than reversing out into a road or car park, which may have traffic and pedestrian movement which you cannot easily see.
‘A quick internet search will highlight the number of fatalities each year arising from people falling down stairs.
‘If everyone held the handrail when going up and down stairs it might not prevent all deaths, but it would probably prevent many of them.’
About 1,000 people die falling down stairs in Britain each year, with elderly people most at risk.
Another of the ‘golden rules’, which are prominently displayed at the company’s premises, says staff must wear ‘PPE’, or personal protective equipment.
Workers posting on the company’s online forum claimed they had been banned from wearing flip-flops in the office, sparking a heated debate over whether women should be banned from wearing high heels at work.
One employee said: ‘Women’s shoes are not very suitable for ascending or descending the stairs. Are three or four-inch heels a good idea?’
However, SSE said there was no ban on high heels or flip-flops, and that no review of the policy was under way.
But the spokesman added: ‘What we insist on is that everyone considers whether what they are wearing is appropriate for the environment they are working in.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243877/Al...
cs02rm0 said:
Hold the hand rail on the stairs or face disciplinary action?
WTF?
I work for an IOC and we can be sacked if caught ignoring the hand-rail rule. The hygene levels where I work means that I'd rather throw myself down a flight of stairs than touch a handrail...WTF?
At all of the oil/chemical/gas plants I've visited, then reverse-park is a must for evacuation.
At the listed buildings I've parked beside, they have a nose-in rule so that the exhausts don't stain the walls...
:shrugs:
Eric Mc said:
Ron Dennis used to insist on reverse parking at McLaren HQ.
I used to work for a firm of accountants who insisted on this as well.
It was more a "neatness" thing and good parking etiquette thing than Health and Safety though.
I do like the look of a carpark with all the cars pointing the same way. Very neat and tidy.I used to work for a firm of accountants who insisted on this as well.
It was more a "neatness" thing and good parking etiquette thing than Health and Safety though.
Edited by Eric Mc on Sunday 17th January 11:53
Reverse parking makes more sense generally, assuming you're not loading a boot or there is an obstruction. Holding the handrail? When I'm 90, but thanks for your concern. I'll even miss one or two steps on the way up or down, and those flights of 5 steps, expect me to leap down them just for the challenge. I might even land backwards.
Edited by ShadownINja on Sunday 17th January 12:16
jshell said:
At the listed buildings I've parked beside, they have a nose-in rule so that the exhausts don't stain the walls...
:shrugs:
Also nose-in means staff occupying the ground floor offices do not get a lungful of exhaust whenever someone parks next to their window, especially some plonker who has five goes at getting to right.:shrugs:
Speed addicted said:
This is pretty much normal in the oil industry. You just get used to it eventually.
That's how I maintained my fabricated start cards. 
Just wait till the company gets out an H&S man employed to SHOW you how to use the trailing hand technique for going downstairs.
ShadownINja said:
Owwwww!!!
ks they force upon people and charge even more money...Taffer said:
I have a couple of friends who have been working at Sellafield, and apparently the management are rather big on the 'handrails at all times on the stairs' rule. Considering what's lying around the site, I think that's the least of their worries in terms of H+S!
You would have thought "Stop contaminating stuff with nuclear sh*t" would have come before "Use the handrails when on the stairs" .
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