Can anybody tell me what the most up to date scaum H&S manual is? There is the 1997 version, but I heard rumours that it had been updated.

Just kiddin.

" There`s nothing particularly noble about wanting to be a site assistant forever, it just shows a regrettable lack of ambition on your part..."
Discuss...

maybe this is again covering old ground but what would you do in an ideal world.

Our lovely fairy-godmother has just granted our wish [8D], the power to make the ifa what we want. Make it representative, a force for change, a real organisation. she'll wave the wand once it's decided what you want and how it should work. so what would you like to see the ifa doing?[?]

http://www.bajr.org/BAJRCalendar/detail....&iType=944

Enough already. Some time ago, I suggested that we should record the absurd behaviour of individuals/units/developers and present them to the IFA. I would dearly love to hear your horror stories and, document them. Whoever you are, from the Gods down, please take time out to write to me. I will prepare a document outlining the "current state of archaeology" but will ommit individual/unit/organisation names-for now. If the IFA are to continue to churn out patronising responses to genuine concerns from the professionals in the workforce-I intend to force-feed them some insight.In effect, showing them a mirror should prompt them to take their responsibilities seriously.If this fails to illicit a response from them, Tessa Jowell will have a copy.If that also fails, the press will get one. Discuss....... please send your horror stories to sicleggett@fsmail.net

Just wonderin`... Would`nt it be good to see a curator ask to inspect all of a site`s records and drawings during a visit? Equally, would be an idea to communicate with the archaeologists in the trenches too. There are times you know when we lowly diggers have to work under some rather questionable management. Some openly incompetent, some simply mad as a balloon. A loon. Barking. Embarrassingly challenged. And yet, County Mounties have the awful habit of wandering on site, having tea with the grown-ups, do the obligatory site-tour (with hands clasped firmly behind back) and then p*** off to the happy eater. C`mon you guys, you would`nt have to re-write some of those loons reports for them if you pulled em` up regular! Equally, there are lots of diggers out there battling against commercial constraints and that`s bad enough without having to babysit a muppet for a manager. The IFA are not policing standards. Instead, they send us people that are Missing Intrinsic Field Ability (MIFA).

In the early to mid-90s in the IFA magazine and at various conferences, the issue of value was debated. The IFA then took someone on to generate value in the eyes of the public by raising it`s profile in the media. That was years ago and I for one, see no results from their quarter. Raising the public perception of the value of archaeology has to be key in any campaign to shake-up the profession. So, let`s have your opinions....How do we raise the percieved value of what we do?[?]

Disappointed has hit the nail right on the head and represents the feelings of today?s archaeologist.

I have heard a lot of talk here over the last week much of it trustafarian "we have to do this rather than work for the man, have you seen my anti capitalism t-shirt, archaeology?s a way of life I love swampy" talk, which quite honestly never does us any favours on site. Certainly when the site engineers and architects etc see a bunch of pierced hippies with dreadlocks swanning around on site its a wonder why archaeology is in the state its in.

Yet even with all this fanciful talk and polls and IFA chat behind the scenes archaeology isn?t going to change. In the last five years nothing significant has changed I even went to Ireland to sample archaeology over there but to no avail and wrote about my experiences with M Gowan and Co in the Digger some time ago "Irish Nightmare".

As long as you have a group of people with a passion for something you have another group willing to take advantage of that.

And you! You know who you are. your all the managers/directors of the Units out there from A to Z who hold the personal responsibility for the state of archaeology in this country.

It?s not the legislation the ppgs and government help or hindrance, we could work with that and attempt to make change. Its about the conditions, the awful conditions Units, and every one of them is guilty, make us work in, all the poor pay and exploitation that quite frankly would land you court in the real working world. Why do we not complain! To the Unit don?t make me laugh we?d never dig again, blacklisted! Its a very small world this archaeology business.

Promotion laughable! Too many ivory towers have been built and god forbid someone should come up the ladder and threaten the position of some manager lacking in confidence. That?s were the being ignored on site stems from. Its a fear, its a fear of being discovered as underneath all that pomposity their just the same just as scared and insecure as everybody else in this awful business. So you?re all to blame Diggers to Unit directors. We should all take a go look at ourselves and put up or shut up.

I think at the end of the day we are all like heroin addicts trying to chase that first hit but never reaching it no matter how hard we try? And that first hit is this:

Its that barmy summer dig we all did at Uni when the wine was flowing and the erb was smellin fine and we all attempted to set the world to rights.. We didn?t care if we were getting paid coz we were archaeologists man! doing it all not for the money but for the love of it.

We were a happy few with another party filled year of uni to look forward to. We were all camped away in our little haven where the concerns of the world could not touch us for the few weeks we had. Our only concern was the steady supply of booze and puff and if we could get off with someone. Its this collection of emotions we continue to chase after we enter the real world of contract archaeology and for a time we think its everything we wanted? but only for a time?

Consultant Archaeologists from engineering firms such as Babtie or WSP or Scott Wilson to name a few. Are they what you can traditionally call archaeologists or are they an altogether different enterty. I have absolutly no wish to slag off consultants but I am intregued at their overall role. They are curious animals as they have good pay, stability in employment, pension and a bonus and are like a feild archaeologists cousin twice removed. I have meet a couple and found their overall knowledge of feild archaeology lacking to say the least. Do they get these jobs straight from Uni or is it a case of knowing your ppg`s from your pan`s and reading the bluffers guide and applying... any comments [?]