6th July 2010, 05:09 PM
Dinosaur Wrote:Might sound a bit right wing, but what's really needed is some system to screen out the muppets at the start - however many courses you send them on and however many cards you give them some people are just never going to be safe near machinery, I've done a few jobs where my main supervisorial role has been marvelling that I've still had the same number of workforce at the end of the day all with the original number of limbs attached......
OK I will bite.........I guess I am in a very small minority who find it deeply offensive that any archaeologist would describe his or her colleagues as 'muppets' but that in a sense is by the by.....
Part of the management responsibility under Health and Safety legislation (particularly in construction related professions ) is to ensure that staff in safety-critical positions are fit for working in that position. That fitness covers a great range of possibilities and can include the provision that the staff concerned are both physically and mentally fit to undertake any given task. Mentally fit meaning they possess both the understanding and the ability to concentrate for the period of time when their safety might at risk. If anyone in a management position allows someone who lacks the physical or mental fitness to work in a safety-critical area they could be committing an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
So rather than blame it on the 'muppets', the responsibility here is singularly and absolutely in the realm of the Dinosaurs.......
(I am tempted to say 'spot the muppet', but I couldn't sink that low...)
A link to the HSE and the relevant regulations: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healt...orkers.htm
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...