3rd August 2010, 09:02 PM
there's only so much point in doing an archaeology-specific card if you then have to work under the frankly silly 'safety' regimes promoted by principal contractors...
Surely what's actually needed is for an (archaeology) industry-wide approach to the big contractors via the HSE to point out that actually, the dangers of archaeology CAN be the same as those of any other construction site, but that by and large, the conditions are actually different and require task and site-specific risk assessment with the emphasis on specific.
But it's not all bad, I can remember the early 90's (or even 2001 for one particularly *traditional* unit), and I for one appreciate having first aid kits on site, bogs that aren't buckets that need emptying into the spoil heap at tea time, mess and washing facilities on site, shoring in 3m deep trenches and not having to threaten the PO with physical violence to get necessary PPE provided. Even if I do have to wear the bloomin' stuff while standing in a field separated from the road by 400 metres of woodland, 3 miles from the nearest machine.
Surely what's actually needed is for an (archaeology) industry-wide approach to the big contractors via the HSE to point out that actually, the dangers of archaeology CAN be the same as those of any other construction site, but that by and large, the conditions are actually different and require task and site-specific risk assessment with the emphasis on specific.
But it's not all bad, I can remember the early 90's (or even 2001 for one particularly *traditional* unit), and I for one appreciate having first aid kits on site, bogs that aren't buckets that need emptying into the spoil heap at tea time, mess and washing facilities on site, shoring in 3m deep trenches and not having to threaten the PO with physical violence to get necessary PPE provided. Even if I do have to wear the bloomin' stuff while standing in a field separated from the road by 400 metres of woodland, 3 miles from the nearest machine.