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SSE is folklore in contractor circles - for a contractor isn't it instant dismissal if you go down the stairs not holding the rail?
We have a big posh (multi-million £) staircase in this building with a leather wrapped rail on each side. Below each rail is a glass partition type thing, which our contract cleaners decided to try to polish with pledge...with obvious results. All the signs in the world aren't going to help Big Donna when she goes top to bottom on the way to the canteen...
Aint habd rails likely to be covered in germs n fecal matter
How many times are stairs used in the workplace over a year? This is needed to make sense of the number of accidents
Lol! Thought my place of work would be mentioned a number of times in this thread 🙂
Are the handrails on stairs to be held going, up, down or both? What if someone is coming the opposite way?
Yes, there should also be a hold the left handrail rule.
I know a few folk who work in H&S and none have been able to provide stats to back up reverse parking, so anyone ever found them?
One for the AvE fans:
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https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/530489313/2-toolbox-security-stickers-for-5
The last time I had 'health and safety innit' thrown at me for why something had to happen, I asked to see the risk assessment. Amazingly, there was not one, just some jobsworth trying to make something happen.
Which reminds me, I need to make a sign encouraging people to wash their hands after goign to the toilet. I think something like "Wash your hands, you're not some kind of filthy savage" should be subtle enough.
I pretty much always reverse park - it makes it so much quicker to get out of the space.
I did the first CDM risk assessments in my office in about 96/97 - those soon spiralled completely out of control into telling people how to put their shoes on, completely obscuring the real risks of things such as scary working over a 25m deep shaft, or next to a 25kV power cable. I always liked putting in the risk of the presence of pre-1920s hair plaster and the unlikely, but potential top-event of death.
On transportation systems one of the top-events in stations is always falling down stairs and escalators, I think it has by far the highest likelihood during operation.
We had a set of instructions sent around for those that run or walk at lunchtimes ordering us to double knot our laces and watch for cracks in the pavements.
those soon spiralled completely out of control into telling people how to put their shoes on, completely obscuring the real risks of things
This used to be in the Introduction to the 2007 CDM. I think this should be at the heart of Safety Management Systems.
[i]The effort devoted to planning and managing health and safety should be in proportion to the risks and complexity associated with the project.
When deciding what you need to do to comply with these Regulations, your focus should always be on action necessary to reduce and manage risks.
Any paperwork produced should help with communication and risk management.
Paperwork which adds little to the management of risk is a waste of effort, and can be a dangerous distraction from the real business of risk reduction and management.[/i]
Not sure if this is true or an urban myth but I understand that at the BP office in Canary Wharf if they have booked a meeting room for 8 people and 9 turn up i.e. more than the room is allocated to hold then rather than drag another chair into the room they will cancel/re-arrange the meeting.
It's supposed to be related to strict adherence to guidelines cos of like, well being on oil rigs n ever'thang.
EDIT: Oh dear, i have been 'Etna'd' as we would say at work. didn't read the whole thread and already been mentioned on previous page(s)
The hot water is a good one. Went to the Eden project in Cornwall about 7 years ago now. Asked for some hot water to warm some baby food and was told that they couldn't due to the scalding risk. Pointed out the hot tea, coffee, soup etc. that was also a scalding risk. Got my hot water in the end.
I've got a new one (I think, I scanned through) -
convert -My wife's old place - SSE
Also SEE of the handrail and reverse park laws - no coats, cardigans etc on the back of chairs..! Sackable offence.
How many people have been killed by such items? I've always got a spare jacket on the back of my chair, it's never tried to strangle me or nuffing.
I am never sure what to make of this one.
On Edinburgh council business if you are cycling ie between places of work / to appointments you HAVE to wear hi vis but no mention of a helmet.
I would have thought cyclecraft training would be more appropriate
you HAVE to wear hi vis but no mention of a helmet.
Hi Viz is £1. Helmet £15? Inspection requirements etc. Costs a lot more.
I would have thought cyclecraft training would be more appropriate
It very probably would. However, again it definitely would cost a lot more.
Also SEE of the handrail and reverse park laws - no coats, cardigans etc on the back of chairs..! Sackable offence.
How many people have been killed by such items? I've always got a spare jacket on the back of my chair, it's never tried to strangle me or nuffing.
Yes, I forgot about that!
It's a real shame as SSE employees have to do some scary shit as part of their roles from climbing trees to free power lines after storms, to constructing and inspecting pylons and turbines as well as all the potential of power stations and sub stations to fry yourself and they are pretty marvellous at keeping their employees safe doing that stuff. Yet they are best known for their H&S overkill in the call centres.
I just scalded my finger, filling my cup out of the boiler whilst gazing around the kitchen walls for stupid signs 😳
Reverse parking was mandatory when I worked in the Middle East in the oil industry. Lots of different sized vehicles, in particular very big articulated trucks, and varying standards of drivers. Reversing out of a parking space trying to see past a high sided van when there's a 40 tonne rig heading your way = not a good idea.
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My previous institution had a supply of straitjackets which were occasionally necessary. Because each was used many times, we eventually had to put a label in them "Warning: May contain traces of nut"
Quite a bit of talk about overzealous H&S professionals here. Where I work we have a very sensible and very qualified HSE manager, talking to him he has a very sensible and proportionate approach to managing the risks we have.
Unfortunately, despite the fact we employ someone who really knows his stuff, our board of directors and CEO have self appointed themselves as experts without any qualifications whatsoever. And as they are the people steering the business, our H&S direction does not (in my opinion) encourage an improved culture.
We currently strive for zero harm through disciplinary procedures and incredibly frequent audits.
We need a rule at my place to tell people to stop people bringing in massive amounts of cake and biscuits pretty much every day - it's overwhelming.
Of course the risk is in the long term when everyone dies of obesity-related diseases...
If I didn't ride in I'd have joined the rest of the UK in the competition to see who can be the fattest 🙄
We need a rule at my place to tell people to bring in massive amounts of cake and biscuits pretty much every day
FTFY
My favourite gobsmackingly stupid bit of "safety" was when the safety officer bent the pins in the fire extinguishers to stop students pulling them out. We found this out when a litre of diethyl-ether went up in flames.
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