Archaeology....... Job or Vocation?



Another day another WSI?

Intersting topic has come up on another forum...

is it 'proper' to excavate burials that are not under threat?

should they be reburied as soon as possible?



Another day another WSI?

Sorry to start a new theme, on an old subject. I wanted to clarify a few points that have been mentioned in different strands in the last week or so. My experience regarding this subject is as a former IPMS (Prospect) safety rep and as Secretary to the Museum of London trade union branch between 1990 and 1995.


CAN I BE SACKED FOR RAISING H&S ISSUES?

Concern has been expressed that standing up for your H&S rights could lead to dismissal or some other form of retaliatory action by an employer. To clarify the employment law, any form of retaliatory action by an employer over H&S is either an unfair dismissal or if used as 'punishment', could be construed as grounds for constructive dismissal.

In either case the good news for archaeologists is that this is one of the few areas where you can put a case to a tribunal without having been employed for a qualifying period of 1 year. In simple terms if you make a fuss over H&S, even if you have only been employed for one day, and you suffer discrimination as a result, then you have a case against that employer.


GET ORGANISED

If your workplace recognises a trade union then you should have a union safety rep. If you don't then volunteer to become one. Your employer is obliged to consult you and allow you time off to carry out H&S duties, including H&S training. They should also recognise a Safety Committee for negotiation purposes and a means where H&S issues can be raised and resolved. Most good employers will have this as an 'instant access' system to avoid pressing complaints being lost in a 'committee' process.

Even if your workplace doesn't have a trade union, your employer is obliged to consult on H&S. The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regs 1996 provide for employers to consult employees and/or employees representatives on H&S matters even where there is no trade union. That is [u]every</u> employer, even archaeological firms. Do not be fobbed off by an employer who tells you otherwise. If you don't have a rep (or appear to have a rep) make yourself one. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against H&S reps (trade union or otherwise). In the words of Radio 4's greatest ever philosopher 'You have nothing to lose but your chains'.


THE LESSON

Here be the lesson. Allowing an employer to frighten you into dodgy work practices for fear of retaliation is the thin end of a pretty ****ty stick. There is not much in the way of protection for workers rights in the UK Blair project, but one of the few areas, is protection for staff who raise and follow through H&S issues.

If you choose to ignore these matters when beginning your career, because you are worried about a backlash, you may find that your future career becomes extremely precarious anyway. A healthy whistle-blower is preferable to a sick and ailing careerist!!


FUTURE ACTION

At a recent Diggers Forum meeting in Cambridge the question of H&S was raised. One suggestion was that perhaps the Diggers Forum could produce a short 'Know your H&S Rights' leaflet that could be available as an internet download. I will see if there is anything that I can do about drafting such a leaflet in consultation with Prospect colleagues at MoLAS and elsewhere. I am guessing that our Host would be OK about such a download being available through BAJR.

I would also like to see the IFA be a bit more explicit with their requirements for Registered Archaeological Organistions (RAOs) regarding H&S. I think that the IFA could legitimately ask to see that an operative H&S liasion committee is in place (supported by minutes of consultative meetings going back at least 12 months), before approving RAOs.

I have only just had chance to catch up with the message board antics after a few weeks away.... Keep going it is all very interesting.

One thread that stirred me to respond was that linked with the 'shocked + dissapointed'.

I used to post regularly on the message board, before I was banned! I was given no notice, no second chance and no opening to back up what I had queried. I was not even informed that my ISP was blocked.

The post which got me banned was an Anon one questioning the employment practices with a named company, and how they had a higher level member of the IFA on their staff and ignored IFA pay guidelines. In the post I 'questioned' if this was true and asked for anybody who had more information to respond.... Diggers were being give a very raw deal!

The results were
- My ISP was blocked (another person with the same ISP was told by BAJR that BAJR 'knew' who it was and they would unlock it for them as it was not their post).
- The staff at the named company were warned about who they spoke to in the pub.
- The staff at said company were told about a malicious thread and then informed that it had been removed by the managers mate (BAJR).

I am not against BAJR, in fact I am an avid fan of the whole website. It is just worth letting people know that not all posts and information is filtered with the mesh. Posts of a far more inflammatory (and legally dubious) nature have been allowed to rest undisturbed since.

Right you orrible lot, I`m off to the near east again fer a bit of flintage and, a spot of diggage on a sanctuary to Aphrodite.Of course, upon my return to this fantastic Isle, you will all have been so loud that there is actually a safe, professional career to be had in archaeology....well, a bit.....
Please be nice to each other and keep the momentum.I`ve never seen a bajr visited by such a widely diverse subscriber base-harness and move in one direction! I promise to get a sun tan for you all and, will pretend to hate every minute of my lunch breaks spent up to my nipples in the Med.WOOOOHAHAHAHAHA........[8D][8D][8D]:face-stir: P.S- A number of "professional" units should look out for falling blue ice with sweetcorn and tomatoe skins in it around 1530 on monday (you know who you are)!
please continue aggravating till we find solutions to our problems and eat more duram wheat cos it`s good for you. Saw a poster advertising gifford's circus today...wet my pants. And yes, they are.[:o)]

It may not be the first (Archaeonews made it a month before us) but the is the first European Archaeology News podcast... with Yours truely as the newscaster.

I have collaborated with Stonepages to provide people with this weekly news.

http://news.stonepages.com/ go there and either listen online, download to your rss feed.... or ipod... but let us know wht you think...

no laughing now!!



Another day another WSI?

Had to start a new thread here with regard to what Galaxsea said within the H&S thread.

One of the main reasons we tend not complain is the fragility of our employment. Being on temporary contract allows us little wiggle room when it comes to complaining or raising issues such as H&S.

I have seen it so many times when a person is deemed a trouble maker or complainer or general boat rocker they seetheir contract not renewed, simple as that no legal worries just goodbye.

I remember one classic incident at heathrow T5 when one senior Manager came on sight asking for all the names of people who had joined Prospect and the guy who was encouraging us to join never worked for said company again. It is a real fear amongst itinerant workers such as ourselves that within this fragile career of ours we strive to suceed as much as we can and we know that should we complain we mark our card and getting on in archaeology is hard enough without doing it with marked cards. :face-confused:

My boss issued all of us on site with a copy of the first issue of Forum Dispatch today. Now that`s a coup in it`s own right! We luurve our boss:face-stir:
I don`t intend to dissect the newsletter here, just raise a few points that I hope will be received in the spirit in which they are offered. As an opener, I congratulate Chris, Jez and Paul and admire their endeavours on our behalf. I also re-assert their emphasis on universal involvement and urge all to contribute. Now then peeps, I have ranted about the selective hearing and transparent lack of action of the IFA for years and I hope in this case, that the Diggers Forum will be listened to and their recommendations acted upon. The Diggers Forum asks that we offer our opinions. Having tried repeatedly in the past to do just that, I`m faced with a bit of a dilemma (crap spellin) in that, I turned to BAJR simply because the IFA are clearly uncomfortable with critiscism from the rank and file. To respond to the Forums request, I would have to copy every word that I have ever written on BAJR and simply send them all to Chris et al. I suspect many other BAJR subscribers would do likewise.It occurs to me that it would be far simpler if the IFA were to listen to what is offered on this (BAJR) forum and further, interact with our threads on here. It is the deafening wall of IFA silence that perpetuates the "them and us" mentality responible for the pitiful levels of IFA membership in the first place. I am not saying that we should disreguard the efforts of the Diggers Forum-quite the opposite. For Chris, Jez and Paul, I would, with the hugest amount of respect and admiration offer this: please ask the IFA to communicate with us on the BAJR forum. I for one will (when back from doing sexy archaeology in the near east!) write something for Chris et al and I urge you all to do likewise but, in the spirit of reciprocity, I would love the opportunity to discuss issues with the IFA grown-ups on here too. Another point that occurred to me whilst reading the Newsletter is this: the guys were outlining some papers given at the recent IFA conference when they said, and I quote

"...there were not many papers (sic) given of specific interest or relevance to those less senior members of the profession". In my view, this class issue of "senior/junior" thing is irrelevant and counter-productive and, lays at the heart of many of the problems with IFA membership in the 21st Century. I am of the opinion that a field archaeologist is a specialist in that field.Not senior or junior within the profession but, a specialism within it. A digger is a large yellow noisy beast that belches smoke, a safety hazard and over-used by lazy archaeologists- Das Uber-trowel if you like! If I felt a bit bitchy, I would argue that on site, many "senior" members of the profession would be "junior" field archaeologists as it is clearly not their 9 to 5 specialism. But hey, I`m not feeling bitchy (today). In fact, I`m gettin soft in me old age and desperate to nurture an open and transparent dialogue between all of the specialisms in today`s evolving profession. So, (don`t belive I`m saying this) I call a truce/ceasefire and I promise not to hammer the IFA in any way. I genuinely have high hopes for the efforts of the Diggers Forum and hold out an olive branch to the IFA. So, Mr Hinton et al, if you`re listening (Chris-please ask him to read this) I publicly apologise for my offensive mouth in the past and invite you to take part in our dialogue. I would love to see an almost universal membership of the IFA, a professional Institute that we can all take part in. Day one guys, lets embrace the opportunity that Chris et al have opened up for us.We all deserve it.

This thread is dedicated to examples of outragous Health and Safety issues in archaeology (professional/academic).No names or places please-just the low-down. To get you started...
a consultancy I worked for wanted me to remove an MOD waste heap from the surface of a scheduled ancient monument.Chemical analyses were carried out around the heap...heavy metals a gogo. I noticed they had`nt taken any samples from the heap itself...this carried out, their RA stipulated breathing gear/specialist removal and chemical showers...I got a dust mask. MOD refused to pay for removal. A university I worked for last year...British Army base...18 aircraft bombs in one week...told us they were all "dummies". We spent weeks in front of diggers picking up ordnance. I walked off site only to be asked back and promised that things would be done properly...developer picked up ordnance and carried it through our team in the trenches before putting it on his desk.I demanded a near-miss form and was refused.I left. Colleagues of mine identified asbestos on site last week...they got dust masks and were told to carry on as it would be removed by a specialist...they spent weeks working next to it....over to you...} Oh yeah, on an urban site recently, developer dug a 10 metre deep chasm behind us in readiness for the building of an underground car-park.This was about half a footy pitch square. We had to push our tool-laden barrows along a three foot wide "path" next to the edge in blizzard and ice conditions.When I took this up with the grown ups, we got a plastic wobbly orange fence instead of a secure-built barrier...nowhere near good enough guys...wakey wakey, its bad enough that archaeologists are the lowest paid graduates and put up with conditions akin to the industrial revolution. Don`t make me write an obituary for a dead British archaeologist, it will get very ugly, very quickly. Not a threat but a promise. Just for once, I would invite the IFA/ALGAO/PROSPECT to contribute to or, at the very least, read the contributions on this thread. I will be asking you for your comments either by letter or, via the press.

David I think that it is worth looking at how this services is working or not working and how it could be improved.

Looking at CVs on line today it strikes me that people are putting their CV on here and forgetting about them. (David could we have a search by recently added facility).

Has anybody every actually got a job from somebody looking at their CV?

This ought to be a very useful resource for both employers and people looking for jobs. What I am finding is that most CVs are a few months or even over a year old. Similarly key infomation is missing from the CVs such as:

where the person is based or if they are willing to re-locate.
If they drive and have a car
are they looking for a part time/full time post or a temporary post
notice period
are they willing to work away from home

For example A long CV with a summary is better it saves me an email or a phone call.

As a bye the bye there is somebody claiming 60 years and another 75 years experience.

What does everybody think?

Before I get bombarded with emails I am not looking to employ anybody at present. I am checking what the levels of people looking for jobs with certain skills are.

Peter