I went to see Grace Jones last night. Astonishing woman, astonishing performer and a long-term supporter of the powered access industry it seems. She started her set with Nightclubbing about six metres up on a scissor lift.
I couldn't get any decent pictures on my phone, but have found some from the Australian leg of the tour.
Louis
And to prove what I said about her being a long-term MEWP user, here's another one from almost 30 years ago.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Simplicity itself
Anyone in need of an antitdote to stories about the burden of complying with overly complicated health and safety laws may be interested in news of a garden centre in Lancashire prosecuted after an employee broke his ankle falling from the top of a skip.
The company was fined £8000 after it turned out that there was a door at the bottom of the skip allowing access at ground level. Nobody had told the worker concerned so he climbed a ladder on the side of the skip to fill it from the top, overbalanced and fell.
The “hierarchy of control for working at height” might not be very meaningful to someone who’s never come across the Work at Height Regs, but the idea of telling your staff there’s a door at ground level so they don’t need to use a ladder is a fairly simple one.
Jocelyn
The company was fined £8000 after it turned out that there was a door at the bottom of the skip allowing access at ground level. Nobody had told the worker concerned so he climbed a ladder on the side of the skip to fill it from the top, overbalanced and fell.
The “hierarchy of control for working at height” might not be very meaningful to someone who’s never come across the Work at Height Regs, but the idea of telling your staff there’s a door at ground level so they don’t need to use a ladder is a fairly simple one.
Jocelyn
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
I am consulted on the strategy
I spent this morning in one of the consultation events on the HSE's draft strategy. There were about 80 of us at 10 tables discussing the proposals and then feeding the results back to a plenary session chaired by HSE board member John Spanswick. Most people agreed with the strategy goals but then, as some pointed out, they are pretty unarguable (more worker consultation, more leadership, more competence, enforcement where appropriate), but until we know how the HSE plans to help achieve them (which will come in the delivery plans) it's difficult to know how to judge the strategy overall.
The most interesting feedback i thought came in the form of suggestions about who could help the HSE get the safety message across and cut accident and ill health rates. These ranged from GPs to FE colleges, to insurers (by giving premium discounts) and several groups suggested that bigger organisations could do more to influence their supply chains. This has been common in the environmental field for a long time but less so in health and safety.
There was also a feeling that the draft underplays preventing ill health a bit and that though it does mention the HSE's enforcement role it doesn't really say anything about the beneficial efect of inspection (probably because the pressure from other parts of govermnment is for light touch regulation and for the HSE to avoid visiting sites randomly).
Apart from that there seemed a genuine keenness to get more health and safety into the educational curriculum from infants to postgrad level.
It was an interesting morning and obviously only one of a clutch of similar events round the country. Nevertheless I'm glad the HSE is emphasising that people are welcome to send in written submissions to the consuiltation, as these sessions feel like a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the traditional consultation route.
Louis
Louis
The most interesting feedback i thought came in the form of suggestions about who could help the HSE get the safety message across and cut accident and ill health rates. These ranged from GPs to FE colleges, to insurers (by giving premium discounts) and several groups suggested that bigger organisations could do more to influence their supply chains. This has been common in the environmental field for a long time but less so in health and safety.
There was also a feeling that the draft underplays preventing ill health a bit and that though it does mention the HSE's enforcement role it doesn't really say anything about the beneficial efect of inspection (probably because the pressure from other parts of govermnment is for light touch regulation and for the HSE to avoid visiting sites randomly).
Apart from that there seemed a genuine keenness to get more health and safety into the educational curriculum from infants to postgrad level.
It was an interesting morning and obviously only one of a clutch of similar events round the country. Nevertheless I'm glad the HSE is emphasising that people are welcome to send in written submissions to the consuiltation, as these sessions feel like a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the traditional consultation route.
Louis
Louis
Friday, 16 January 2009
Health and Safety Offences Act: probably not a new era
The Act takes effect today, raising the level of potential fines in magistrates courts for offences under most health and safety regulations from £5000 to £20,000 and giving magistrates the option of imprisonment for some breaches, see here
IOSH have put out a press release describing it as a "momentous day" and there was even some coverage in the national news. I'd like to agree with IOSH but I'm more cautious.
We all want bigger penalties for employers who are negligent, but most lawyers we talked to when the Act was passed reckon it might have the opposite effect. Faced with a serious offence, most magistrates have till now passed it up to a higher court which could fine far higher than the £5000 ceiling they had to operate under for any charge other than one brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The higher courts often doled out penalties above the magistrates' new £20,000 limit. Which means if the magistrates feel their new powers mean they don't need to had as many cases over, the average fine could drop, even if they go for the maximum they are allowed.
We'll see.
Louis
IOSH have put out a press release describing it as a "momentous day" and there was even some coverage in the national news. I'd like to agree with IOSH but I'm more cautious.
We all want bigger penalties for employers who are negligent, but most lawyers we talked to when the Act was passed reckon it might have the opposite effect. Faced with a serious offence, most magistrates have till now passed it up to a higher court which could fine far higher than the £5000 ceiling they had to operate under for any charge other than one brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The higher courts often doled out penalties above the magistrates' new £20,000 limit. Which means if the magistrates feel their new powers mean they don't need to had as many cases over, the average fine could drop, even if they go for the maximum they are allowed.
We'll see.
Louis
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