Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Any work i've ever done in dairies has been very safety conscious i.e. never working at heights unless the area below was barriered off to stop the hard of thinking walking underneath and being hit by something falling (It happens). Now today in my new job in a bottling plant, an engineer turns up and starts hacksawing excess tubing off a new handrail about 15 feet up with people working underneath and sure enough he nearly gubs 1 lass with a foot long length of stainless tubing he's dropped! The line leader just ignores this and everyone carries on as normal. I'm only temping it at this poorly paid job, but some sort of a wage is better than no wage so I didn't want to drop myself in it by demanding that health and safety be brought in to examine his poor work ethics, BUT, do any of you know the letter of the law in HaS matters? Would his work be deemed to be unsafe and therefore illegal, and should the area be coned off by law? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belly Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Any work i've ever done in dairies has been very safety conscious i.e. never working at heights unless the area below was barriered off to stop the hard of thinking walking underneath and being hit by something falling (It happens).Now today in my new job in a bottling plant, an engineer turns up and starts hacksawing excess tubing off a new handrail about 15 feet up with people working underneath and sure enough he nearly gubs 1 lass with a foot long length of stainless tubing he's dropped! The line leader just ignores this and everyone carries on as normal. I'm only temping it at this poorly paid job, but some sort of a wage is better than no wage so I didn't want to drop myself in it by demanding that health and safety be brought in to examine his poor work ethics, BUT, do any of you know the letter of the law in HaS matters? Would his work be deemed to be unsafe and therefore illegal, and should the area be coned off by law? I don't know, but under the health and safety at work act: It shall be the duty of every employee while at work: to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or ommisions at work. Therefore by not taking any action yourself you could leave yourself liable for prosecution. You should have stopped the job, highlighted the line manager his error of his ways. If the girl had been injured you would have been as much to blame as the person doing the work. Full health and safety at work act can be found here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn artist Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 how would you feel if next time it gets impaled in someones head? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seats Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 yer fi blackburn - stop greetin' an get oan wi it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 how would you feel if next time it gets impaled in someones head? Terrible, but if my mouth had been opened I would have had a PO* beside my name on Friday, guarranteed! *Paid Off:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAYEL Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Any work i've ever done in dairies has been very safety conscious i.e. never working at heights unless the area below was barriered off to stop the hard of thinking walking underneath and being hit by something falling (It happens).Now today in my new job in a bottling plant, an engineer turns up and starts hacksawing excess tubing off a new handrail about 15 feet up with people working underneath and sure enough he nearly gubs 1 lass with a foot long length of stainless tubing he's dropped! The line leader just ignores this and everyone carries on as normal. I'm only temping it at this poorly paid job, but some sort of a wage is better than no wage so I didn't want to drop myself in it by demanding that health and safety be brought in to examine his poor work ethics, BUT, do any of you know the letter of the law in HaS matters? Would his work be deemed to be unsafe and therefore illegal, and should the area be coned off by law? Just tell your boss that you would like to report a near miss. They should have a file for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brow Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 They cant sack you for pointing out an obviously danger on the floor. If they do sack you then it only took you a week to find that job, plenty more temp jobs out there. Did the girl who nearly got hit not say anything? On a side note it sounds like you work here! You?ll be the one on the pink then eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRL1969 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Any work i've ever done in dairies has been very safety conscious i.e. never working at heights unless the area below was barriered off to stop the hard of thinking walking underneath and being hit by something falling (It happens).Now today in my new job in a bottling plant, an engineer turns up and starts hacksawing excess tubing off a new handrail about 15 feet up with people working underneath and sure enough he nearly gubs 1 lass with a foot long length of stainless tubing he's dropped! The line leader just ignores this and everyone carries on as normal. I'm only temping it at this poorly paid job, but some sort of a wage is better than no wage so I didn't want to drop myself in it by demanding that health and safety be brought in to examine his poor work ethics, BUT, do any of you know the letter of the law in HaS matters? Would his work be deemed to be unsafe and therefore illegal, and should the area be coned off by law? Not an expert but he was 100% in the wrong and the incident, technically, should be reported to the management and recorded as a near miss. The job he was doing must be covered by a risk assesment and method statement. I bet it says in the RA that the area would be barriered off. If the management dont take action you can report them yourself to HSE. If you feel strongly enough about it, that is. Me, i`d have just launched the tube back at the t!t who dropped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N User Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 stand underneath and wait to be hit. http://www.claimsdirect.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I'm no expert but I believe there should have been a risk assessment carried out and a method statement prepared in advance detailing how he was to carry out the job. I'd also imagine there should also be some sort of reporting system for near misses (not just accidents). It does seem a bit strange that the line leader ignored it - maybe I'm just lucky that my work seems fairly switched on about this stuff. If something like that happened at my work, we'd have investigations and inquiries for days (if not weeks) afterwards. Maybe an informal chat with the line leaders needed - maybe he just didn't notice it :confused: (or possibly he was still suffering the effects of having been hit on the head by something being dropped from height before you started working there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 They cant sack you for pointing out an obviously danger on the floor. If they do sack you then it only took you a week to find that job, plenty more temp jobs out there. Did the girl who nearly got hit not say anything? On a side note it sounds like you work here! You?ll be the one on the pink then eh? 2nd from the left, middle row. I'm waving! This is just like those pic's from Tynie when someone says "I'm in that photo". Any other Kickbackers present? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trotter Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Done quite a bit of study on H&S at uni (Chemical Engineering sorta demands it!!) Anyhoo, check out the following: Working at Height Regs The bit at the bottom talks specifically about ***** getting dropped and how it should be prevented if practical. At the very least he shouldve given you a shout to let you know positively that he was working above you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedp6873 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 2nd from the left, middle row. I'm waving! This is just like those pic's from Tynie when someone says "I'm in that photo". Any other Kickbackers present? sure there are a few other fellow KB'ers from westies in there;);):p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vulture Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 The guy doing the sawing should have definetly had a RA and the area should have been barriered off. If you feel that the company are not doing enough phone up 08453009923. More details on this site: http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/report.htm#phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Palmer Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 If you have a designated H&S officer/rep then inform them, if you think they won't do anything in response, phone the above number(Happy.....). If you have someone(H&S person) that you think will do a good job then inform them and phone the above number. I would place all the concerns you yourself have and also ask if others have concerns and put those in writing to the designated staff member(if present) or to the manager/chief dude. Do not make it sound accusatory, just make the chief aware of the concerns present. And still phone the above number and duplicate anything in writing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggo Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Any work i've ever done in dairies has been very safety conscious i.e. never working at heights unless the area below was barriered off to stop the hard of thinking walking underneath and being hit by something falling (It happens).Now today in my new job in a bottling plant, an engineer turns up and starts hacksawing excess tubing off a new handrail about 15 feet up with people working underneath and sure enough he nearly gubs 1 lass with a foot long length of stainless tubing he's dropped! The line leader just ignores this and everyone carries on as normal. I'm only temping it at this poorly paid job, but some sort of a wage is better than no wage so I didn't want to drop myself in it by demanding that health and safety be brought in to examine his poor work ethics, BUT, do any of you know the letter of the law in HaS matters? Would his work be deemed to be unsafe and therefore illegal, and should the area be coned off by law? Health and Safety at work Sept 1974 act....You should have it barriered off. Harnesses to be worn if replacing handrail. Even if it was the other guy doing the job,you are equally responsible for any incident that happens. Get it sorted,they cant get rid of you for reporting any safety issues,if they did your on a winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Health and Safety at work Sept 1974 act....You should have it barriered off.Harnesses to be worn if replacing handrail. Even if it was the other guy doing the job,you are equally responsible for any incident that happens. Get it sorted,they cant get rid of you for reporting any safety issues,if they did your on a winner! Does this Act supercede 'Good Old Common Sense'? Tcchh! (a Richard Littlejohn moment there. I apologise) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysthereinspirit Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 2nd from the left, middle row. I'm waving! This is just like those pic's from Tynie when someone says "I'm in that photo". Any other Kickbackers present? Who's the hottie next to you? Yowzzzaa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Lyon Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Surely the company would prefer to avoid a claim for compensation and the attendant bad publicity that any accident might lead to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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