Protection of the stupid. (Workplace Health And Safety)

[Fatboy_41]

Firstly, some background...

I'm an electrician. I have been in construction for just on 10 years now. Everything from domestic housing to townhouse estates to industrial warehouses. I've been around and seen a lot of different ways of doing things. Recently, as in the past 3 to 4 years, it seems that workplace health and safety is getting outrageous. Don't get me wrong, I am all for completing a job safely and going home with all limbs attached, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

The most recent example in the job I am going to tomorrow. It's a nice simple extraction booth. 2 fans, a few lights and a control panel. 3 hours, max. I have already spent 6 hours on site without picking up a tool, with another 8 tomorrow to actually do the job. The safety induction for this site was 4 hours long. For the most part, that was fine. Due to the overall size of this project, I can understand needed a through and in depth induction covering everything from general safety to the environmental procedures. However, I can not appreciate being treating like a child with no common sense.

One of the example "incidents" that this site has had was a guy who finished work for the day, went to run across a highway to meet his ride and got cleaned up by a car. Tragic, sure. But I've known how to cross a road since I was about 6 years old. I don't need to sit in a classroom full on working age adults and be told to look left and right. It's even more annoying when these safety measures are clearly designed by someone who has never picked up a tool in their life. Ladders is another big one. As in, WE CANNOT USE THEM. This made me absolutely laugh with the introduction of platform ladders. (A ladder where the top step is a solid platform with a guard rail) I was told I had to use 6 foot platform ladders when doing townhouses. That all well and good, until you realise that the guard rail on a 6 footer would have been through the ceiling.

TLR - Workplace Health And Safety is getting out of control and its because of stupid people who should never have been given a screwdriver in the first place.

So, what industry are you in and what I sane regulations are you forced to put up with?

 

[Abomination]

Wish other people commented on this as we have the same thing in New Zealand at times where you spend more time on the safety than the actual work itself.

Retracting covers on saw blades, safety catches on ladders, harnesses, high-vis vests and helmets are great for safety. Essentially requiring wheelchair access to a building site is not.

It is essentially the protection of the stupid.

 

[Angie7F]

I dunno, everyday electric appliance warnings make me wonder what idiot will use a hair dryer for uses other than drying their hair.
But I agree, spending hours on basic safety stuff is stupid and can take out precious work time from many business owners.
Why cant they have a form where you can just skip the safety classes but what ever accident wil be your own responsibility?

 

[Esotera]

When I was working as a software tester we had to watch a 2 hour video and complete a quiz about how to correctly view a screen and use a keyboard. I can see why they'd want to do a bit of health & safety for electrics/construction but having it in an office setting is just ridiculous.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'd admit that WHS gets really annoying at times, but then there are people that really, really need to be told.

By comparison, public campaigns to educate people about the dangers of smoking or HIV/AIDS. Everyone knows already. But stop hammering the message home for a moment, and plenty of people will act surprised by them.

 

[Vivi22]

Honestly, I'd bet that a lot of workplace safety is less about protecting the stupid and more about protecting the employer from being sued.

 

[DataSnake]

Honestly, I'd bet that a lot of workplace safety is less about protecting the stupid and more about protecting the employer from being sued.

It's partly that, and partly to stop employers from telling workers "take these risks to your own safety in order to save us a few bucks or we'll find someone who will," which is a very credible threat since the marginal cost to a company of losing one employee is much smaller than the cost to a worker of losing one job. Sure, the regulations can go a bit overboard, but without such protections, things would be much worse. See, for instance, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire]. Heck, even in the example given with the ladders, the intent was rather clearly to stop cheapskate bosses insisting workers make do with normal ladders in situations where they did need platforms.

 

[Bertylicious]

This H&S stuff is in direct response to employers getting sued. What you're seeing, these 'crazy rules', are merely the tip of a vast, vampiric, tumour which is corroding business and poisoning western economies.

Much as it winds me up, however, there is another side to it. Fifty or so years ago fatalities were an uncommon but occaisonal part of business life. Nowadays they are once in a career (I mean for the HR practioner, obviously suffering a fatal accident yourself is a once in a career experience for anyone) and hopefully, God willing, less frequent than that. I think there is a balance to be struck between virtuous accident claims and business well-being but I think we are presently out of kilter.

 

[Bertylicious]

Honestly, I'd bet that a lot of workplace safety is less about protecting the stupid and more about protecting the employer from being sued.

It's partly that, and partly to stop employers from telling workers "take these risks to your own safety in order to save us a few bucks or we'll find someone who will," which is a very credible threat since the marginal cost to a company of losing one employee is much smaller than the cost to a worker of losing one job. Sure, the regulations can go a bit overboard, but without such protections, things would be much worse. See, for instance, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire]. Heck, even in the example given with the ladders, the intent was rather clearly to stop cheapskate bosses insisting workers make do with normal ladders in situations where they did need platforms.

That is kind of the thing that justifies the claims; if it can cost a company circa £50,000 if a minimum wage worker suffers an injury like a broken writst then it means it is not viable for organisations to cut corners and for a worker who is permanently damaged/impaired then it can be even more expensive. And that's a good thing.

I mean, we don't want people retiring from work all crippled and ruined. We want people to enjoy thier lives otherwise what the hell are we doing?

 

[Fatboy_41]

Heck, even in the example given with the ladders, the intent was rather clearly to stop cheapskate bosses insisting workers make do with normal ladders in situations where they did need platforms.

Oh, absolutely. But that's a perfect example. Ban a perfectly good apparatus across the board purely because there are SOME instances when it's not the best item for the job.

 

[gewuerzgurke]

NO CAPES!
Seriously though, I don't work in a sector were this would be relevant, so I can't say for sure. But from the stories I've heard from friends ,in Germany the way you work is mostly considered either common sense or the responsibility of the place where you learn to do you're job.

 

[spartan231490]

You're surprised? Have you read warning labels lately? They're literally getting so stupid that if you can read the warnings, you don't need to be warned. This is just an extension of that. It comes from our sue-happy country, which is just an extension of the elimination of personal responsibility that is being inflicted on us and our children.

 

[Saelune]

People are stupid...sadly stupid enough where we kinda do need these overly done saftey things. Im all for Darwinism though, but its when the stupid people get the non stupid people hurt/killed that I worry... (like most drunk driving accidents)

 

[lacktheknack]

We have to periodically complete a course on "how to use knives", "how to lift heavy boxes", and "how to read WHMIS labels".

I'm a cashier.

I don't do any of those things.

On the bright side, I get paid for doing the the courses!

 

[Lieju]

Why cant they have a form where you can just skip the safety classes but what ever accident wil be your own responsibility?

And have the employer pressure the employees to sign it? because that would happen, especially in the low-paying jobs.

 

[Zipa]

Yeah my company made me sit an induction and introduction to health and safety last year. The kicker is I have only fucking worked there for the last (then ) 8 years.

That and the how to sit and a desk course, that was facepalming stupid.

 

[Veylon]

My teacher just a couple days ago was telling us all the safety measures that have been tried (without success) to keep people from sticking their hands in metal-crushing giant presses. Apparently, no matter how out much trouble a company or the government goes to encourage - even enforce - there's some idiot who will suicidally circumvent their measures.

 

[Genericjim101]

I am in catering. When asked by a trainee how to effectively peel a swede I said to use a knife and a peeler, I got to hear the most god awful noise as they put it in the electric rumbler peeler XD. As for actual safety it's really just dealing with banal things during someone's induction period, like not labelling things properly.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Firstly, some background...

I'm an electrician. I have been in construction for just on 10 years now. Everything from domestic housing to townhouse estates to industrial warehouses. I've been around and seen a lot of different ways of doing things. Recently, as in the past 3 to 4 years, it seems that workplace health and safety is getting outrageous. Don't get me wrong, I am all for completing a job safely and going home with all limbs attached, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.

The most recent example in the job I am going to tomorrow. It's a nice simple extraction booth. 2 fans, a few lights and a control panel. 3 hours, max. I have already spent 6 hours on site without picking up a tool, with another 8 tomorrow to actually do the job. The safety induction for this site was 4 hours long. For the most part, that was fine. Due to the overall size of this project, I can understand needed a through and in depth induction covering everything from general safety to the environmental procedures. However, I can not appreciate being treating like a child with no common sense.

One of the example "incidents" that this site has had was a guy who finished work for the day, went to run across a highway to meet his ride and got cleaned up by a car. Tragic, sure. But I've known how to cross a road since I was about 6 years old. I don't need to sit in a classroom full on working age adults and be told to look left and right. It's even more annoying when these safety measures are clearly designed by someone who has never picked up a tool in their life. Ladders is another big one. As in, WE CANNOT USE THEM. This made me absolutely laugh with the introduction of platform ladders. (A ladder where the top step is a solid platform with a guard rail) I was told I had to use 6 foot platform ladders when doing townhouses. That all well and good, until you realise that the guard rail on a 6 footer would have been through the ceiling.

TLR - Workplace Health And Safety is getting out of control and its because of stupid people who should never have been given a screwdriver in the first place.

So, what industry are you in and what I sane regulations are you forced to put up with?

It sucks, but it's just to prevent lawsuits. As we used to say in the Army: "CYA" (cover your ass).

You must remember, we live in a world where a woman can put a cup of very hot coffee between her legs, spill it on herself, and then sue the place that gave her the coffee...and WIN.

By basically covering every conceivable stupid thing that someone could do to injure themselves, a company can prevent themselves from getting sued in the first place. The thing about these lawsuits is they cost companies a fortune even if the case gets thrown out or the company wins, and it's bad publicity either way, so they have an incentive to cover themselves from every possible angle.

Not work related, but it sort of reminded me of this story I read this morning. A woman puts her 2 year old son on a 4-ft railing directly over a pack of wild, vicious dogs. The kid (being 2) acts unpredictably, the mother lets go and the kid falls in and gets killed, and it is (of course) the zoo's fault.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/parents-sue-pittsburgh-zoo-in-boys-mauling-death-688841/