15th July 2005, 11:49 AM
Trowelhead, this all sounds horribly familiar - either we've worked on some sites together, or such H&S nightmares are sadly too common! Incidentally, the comedy mattocks problem can usually be avoided by soaking the heads overnight (every night) in buckets of water to make the wood expand - if there's any water on site. Pete M is right - a lot of potential problems are solveable with some common sense.
I once worked on a windy open area site where an empty wheelbarrow blew into the pit I was digging and whacked me on the head. As the machines had gone by then, I'd dispensed with my hard hat, so that hurt. B) I've also been hit twice on site by JCB buckets during machining. These incidents were actually my fault for not paying proper attention and ignoring basic rules - it's not only the managers who need to be vigilant on sites. Remember that H&S is the responsibility of everyone on site - not just the bosses.
Obviously that doesn't excuse poor management however - heavy metals, radioactivity (!), asbestos etc. are unacceptable. Point out your concerns to your employers, and if they won't do anything, then shop the gits to the HSE. I posted some links on the Scaum H&S manual discussion a while ago which are useful. Basic health and safety isn't some form of luxury that's not affordable on the rubbishy budgets that archaeology usually gets, so check out what you're entitled to expect.
I once worked on a windy open area site where an empty wheelbarrow blew into the pit I was digging and whacked me on the head. As the machines had gone by then, I'd dispensed with my hard hat, so that hurt. B) I've also been hit twice on site by JCB buckets during machining. These incidents were actually my fault for not paying proper attention and ignoring basic rules - it's not only the managers who need to be vigilant on sites. Remember that H&S is the responsibility of everyone on site - not just the bosses.
Obviously that doesn't excuse poor management however - heavy metals, radioactivity (!), asbestos etc. are unacceptable. Point out your concerns to your employers, and if they won't do anything, then shop the gits to the HSE. I posted some links on the Scaum H&S manual discussion a while ago which are useful. Basic health and safety isn't some form of luxury that's not affordable on the rubbishy budgets that archaeology usually gets, so check out what you're entitled to expect.