2nd March 2010, 12:22 PM
Less an an Orwellian nightmare, more of a farce at time! I've been on sites where there is a startling over the top attitude to the paraphernalia of h and s while all around glaring examples of h and s transgressions are occurring. I think that's what is most irritating about it all, I don't believe there's any intent to erode ones civil liberties however. Strikes me there are far too many overwrought and exhausted people working on big city construction sites, and that issue is not being dealt with firmly. Send home the exhausted and overwrought, they are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Lessen working hours, lessen workloads, and employ more to cover them. And if the reason why they're exhausted is because they've been pepping themselves up to defer their state of knackeredness then that's their problem - they'll lose their day's pay, that's sufficient disincentive. As for the prescribed medication problem of false positives, I'm slightly puzzled by the solution to being asked for alternatives to those medications, why would they be any different chemically....where do people think drugs, illegal or not, derive from, and why would you think that the active chemical would not be traced by a lab test if it were an "alternative"? I'm interested to know more about the types of lab test undertaken, what government body oversees and vets this process, is it a government body that does the testing, and should it be, would that be an Orwellian nightmare, or is contracted-out lab work less of a one, even if you might not be sure of their accountability and the test result reliability? Also, should it be a "zero tolerance" or "three strikes" or should it be "on your bike" or "I'll let you off this time"? Incidentally, safety glasses are great for your eyes but intensely irritating once you're sweating away and can't see a damned thing - bit of an h and s paradox that one.