Tory Peer Bids To Cut Health And Safety Laws

[The real Apache]

Now we're cooking

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Health-A...


with a fire extinguisher and fire blanket to hand of course

[BiggusLaddus]

They have been making a lot of good noises since coming into power. Hopefully they will match them with actions.

[rs1952]

The problem is that when you look into the matter in more detail, it isn't Health & Safety legislation in itself, its the "Compensation Culture" we now have. Primarily insurance companies, local councils, and ambulance-chasing no win no fee solicitors are the real problem, and I'm not sure that any whizz kid (or whizz pensioner in this case) is going to be able to sort it out.

A former employer of mine shelled out to an individual who alleged they went arse over tit in a pothole in a private road owned by that employer. The "pothole" was barely nore than 1" worth of top surface missing. When I heard the story the Only Fools & Horses episode about Uncle Albert falling down cellars spring to mind.

There was an item on the local BBC news last week about kids visiting a farm. They were all wearing hi-viz jackets. What the fk for?

I had a minor bump in my car last year with an impact speed of no more than 1mph. My insurance company wanted to know if there was going to be a whiplash claim.


Etc etc.

And the biggest problem is, it isn't H&S law that is causing this, its people like you and me and the bloke next door that are driving it for all they are worth. The Compensation Culture is never a problem if you can get a couple of quid out of it

[WhoseGeneration]

The real Apache said:

Now we're cooking

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Health-A...


with a fire extinguisher and fire blanket to hand of course

Sorry, you can't be allowed to cook.
Generic "fire extinguisher" is no good, we have to be told the type, to ensure you understand the potential sources of fire in this environment.
Then, the training in it's effective use.
You are trained?

[thinfourth2]

As already said it ain't elf and safety laws

Its no win no fee lawyer scum and even worse the lazy gits who hide behind elf and safety to avoid doing any work.

Council employees being number 1 for this sorry i can't do X as it is against elf and safety sir and i would have to get off my big fat useless arse

[anonymous-user]

Heard this on the radio today, quickly followed by some quango safty group type quoting the figure of 13,500 deaths or serious injuries last year from accidents where "existing health and safty laws had clearly not gone far enough".

My opinion.... Stop interfering with natural selection!

[Mr Dave]

If I worked in a machine shop I would like all guards in place, first aid kit available, cut off switches to work, the place to be clean and tidy(ish) all wiring in good repair etc. Health and safety enforces and encourages this practise and I think that is a good thing.

People who ban putting up christmas decorations at a work place and then blame health and safety is a problem.

[Balmoral Green]

He won't find many H&S laws to cut, they're nearly all made up by the media and stupid people using it as an unverified excuse, they don't exist in the real world. I would like to see him look into it though, to expose the myths if nothing more.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/index.htm

Edited by Balmoral Green on Monday 14th June 22:20

[jules_s]

Quinny said:

Where I used to work, we had a guy who placed a pallet on a presure mat, so that he could operate a bending machine whilst behind the safety barrier

This downright stupid act, resulted in him loosing a finger....


Did he get the sack for gross negligence??? NO, he got £6.5k for the loss of his finger, and the company were prosecuted and fined..

How does that work then?

Sounds more like he put a pallet on a pressure plate so he could work inside the safety barrier to me.

Balmoral, I'm glad you added that link lol, I was just about to throw a ton of CDM regs in your direction

[hidetheelephants]

As already noted, most of the Daily Mail 'H&S gorn maaddd!' bks is really 'where there's blame there's a claim' bks; bin no-win, no-fee ambulancechasers, or slap a minimum comp rate on it(i.e. to be eligible for no-win no-fee comp, you have to be due over £30k(say a lost limb)).

Most industrial H&S is good sensible law based on best practice, and needs more funding to work properly; there is a direct correlation between the number of site inspections in high risk industries(fishing, construction, farming etc) and the number of injuries and deaths per annum. The number of inspectors has declined under Labour and consequently accident rates have risen.

[jules_s]

Quinny said:

jules_s said:

Quinny said:

Where I used to work, we had a guy who placed a pallet on a presure mat, so that he could operate a bending machine whilst behind the safety barrier

This downright stupid act, resulted in him loosing a finger....


Did he get the sack for gross negligence??? NO, he got £6.5k for the loss of his finger, and the company were prosecuted and fined..

How does that work then?

Sounds more like he put a pallet on a pressure plate so he could work inside the safety barrier to me.

I think thats what I said isn't it

Wrong terminology on your part methinks....

Inside the safety barrier is nearer the source of danger, not behind it. Behind is the safe side or to the rear of.

Welcome to the world of HSE terminology.

Edit: I'm a bit lost now too after re reading your post.

Edited by jules_s on Monday 14th June 23:41

[The real Apache]

Quinny said:

Out of the hundreds of reports I was involved in over the years, I can only think of 2 genuine accidents, where the operator was at no fault whatsoever...

Pretty much all of the rest were down to carelessness, incompetence, or down right stupidity

Why do they win then? If the cases are that clear cut they'd win any costs

[Somewhatfoolish]

The real Apache said:

Quinny said:

Out of the hundreds of reports I was involved in over the years, I can only think of 2 genuine accidents, where the operator was at no fault whatsoever...

Pretty much all of the rest were down to carelessness, incompetence, or down right stupidity

Why do they win then? If the cases are that clear cut they'd win any costs

Employer has a duty to stop them being fkwits by giving them classes in common sense, essentially

[AJS-]

The thing with health and safety laws is everyone seems to agree that there is too much of it but whenever you raise a specific law you would like to see repealed, someone will pop up and say "ahh no, that particular law is sensible" or "I had a friend who died that way" or something along those lines.

Let's see:

Wearing a helmet on a motorbike should not be compulsory.
I don't need or want a smoke detector in my house, even if it's a rented house.
Driving while talking on a handheld mobile is perfectly ok most of the time.
The drink drive limit should be doubled.
Turning left at a red light is ok at most junctions.
Smoking in a designated indoor smoking area should be allowed, even on aeroplanes.


Anyone agree?

[The real Apache]

Conkers shouldn't be banned at school, window cleaners should be allowed to use their ladders, Flags are not lethal, firework displays are dangerous live with it, statues with pointy bits have always existed to get rid of the terminally stupid, safety shoes are, in most cases, pointless, I don't need a safety case to make toast and if I ever feel the need to use a pushbike I will not wear a stupid fking hat,

next

[BliarOut]

Quinny said:

I don't agree that safety shoes are pointless

As long as they're external toecaps

[The real Apache]

Quinny said:

I don't agree that safety shoes are pointless

I did say in most cases as are hard hats

[BliarOut]

Interesting, what was your reasoning against external ones in your environment? We preferred them as it was easier to remove the toecap while keeping the ankle support in place.

ETA: And they looked god polished up on the linisher

Edited by BliarOut on Tuesday 15th June 14:07

[DailyMailHater]

The real Apache said:

Conkers shouldn't be banned at school,

They are not.
Some schools have banned them through fear of being sued by parents who are too piss scared to let their children breathe on their own. It's the compensation culture not health and safety.

[rs1952]

AJS- said:

The thing with health and safety laws is everyone seems to agree that there is too much of it but whenever you raise a specific law you would like to see repealed, someone will pop up and say "ahh no, that particular law is sensible" or "I had a friend who died that way" or something along those lines.

Let's see:

1. Wearing a helmet on a motorbike should not be compulsory.
2. I don't need or want a smoke detector in my house, even if it's a rented house.
3. Driving while talking on a handheld mobile is perfectly ok most of the time.
4. The drink drive limit should be doubled.
5. Turning left at a red light is ok at most junctions.
6. Smoking in a designated indoor smoking area should be allowed, even on aeroplanes.


Anyone agree?

Agree totally. Its known as the state getting out of your hair. I have numbered them for simplicity when making further points.

1. Could clean up the gene pool too, which would be a further benefit.
2. There is already no legislation requiring owner ocupiers to have smoke detectors (retro-fit anyway) and many many people haven't got them.
3. No more dangerous than many other distractions that aren't illegal at the moment (although this is sod all to do with H&S legislation)
4. DD at night is not the major problem that it used to be. "Morning after" DD convictions would be reduced by an increase. Therefore it is a good idea
5. The Yanks and Canadians manage it without carnage, and I doubt they've got a lower proportion of feckwits on the road than we have. Good idea.
6. Good idea (first part) - exactly the way that most other EU countries have dealt with this issue. As regards planes, presumably you are aware that the airlines used the anti-smoking legislation to lower the amount of air filtration going on, so bizarrely the air was cleaner on planes when smoking was permitted than now. So once again a good idea.