Had to start a new thread here with regard to what Galaxsea said within the H&S thread.
One of the main reasons we tend not complain is the fragility of our employment. Being on temporary contract allows us little wiggle room when it comes to complaining or raising issues such as H&S.
I have seen it so many times when a person is deemed a trouble maker or complainer or general boat rocker they seetheir contract not renewed, simple as that no legal worries just goodbye.
I remember one classic incident at heathrow T5 when one senior Manager came on sight asking for all the names of people who had joined Prospect and the guy who was encouraging us to join never worked for said company again. It is a real fear amongst itinerant workers such as ourselves that within this fragile career of ours we strive to suceed as much as we can and we know that should we complain we mark our card and getting on in archaeology is hard enough without doing it with marked cards. :face-confused:
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Remember you don't necessarily have to complain to your employer. If you think that you are being asked to work in unsafe conditions, you can report it to the HSE. I think a good prosecution or two would do the profession a lot of good.
1man1desk
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HSE Infoline 0845 345 0055
Go on - put your boss in the dock
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I agree.
I'm guessing here that you work for yourselves alot of the time.
Thats where forums and the like come in.
I'm always available to advise as and when required so please question away.
As I said earlier, there are alot of places to go for information.
I've just done a precurement excercise for my employer on PPE.
If you want good, cheap PPE supplies let me know.
I can put you on to a few uk companies who supply good quality equipment that can be ordered over the phone.
I guessed after the previous posting that the status of your employment may be the key to how much you are listened too.
Archaeolologists are seen as a necessary evil that just gets in the way of an architects dream. (They should be the truely hated party!)
Galaxsea - Proud to be the illegitimate son of Troll.
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Too true, if we complain we would be out of a job and struggling to get another. "Put your boss in the dock" (see previous quote)and if we just look back at some previous threads we will find the references thread says it all, these people talk to each other, if you are seen as a troublemaker, you are out and you will really struggle to get another job. I know that we should'nt take risks or put up with poor conditions but the whole industry is so insular that if you upset one company you run the risk of finding yourself unemployed and unemployable!
I'm sure there must be some middle ground somewhere, but where??
deep
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Mr Hosty has previously offered to arbitrate when and if the need arises. I'm sure that he would keep anonymity if asked. Also, if you're unit is an IFA Registered Archaeological Organisation they will have peer checks from other units and H&S will be something they check for. Lodge a complaint with the IFA. They might not do anything - but they sure won't if you don't tell 'em.
Another point - if your unit is part of a local council/museum service etc your managers have bosses! A quick word might scare em into action?
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Its all very well being clever about it but if there's only three of you on site when the whistle gets blown its not going to be too hard to track down who did the blowing is it. I suspect that some of you are forgetting that the buk of us in commercial archaeology don't work for large companies or universities, we work for small firms generally with a handful of employees only. If you do blow any whistle they'll soon know who did it and its bye bye time!!
deep
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My apologies, have just responded on the other thread without readin this one first. Havin a crap day. Was havin a close look at my colleagues new safety boots and bendin the sole to see if they had the new plate in...managed to t*at self in chops with said boot. Should be a warning on safety boots...don`t give to Troll in the mornings cos his muppet switch is still firmly on...gonk.
Anyhoo, some old heroes of mine decided that a certain prime minister was not at all nice and went on strike. Despite her (oops-gave the game away) sending in the Queen`s brown- shirts, they stood their ground. The moral of this story is simple-the miners stood their ground in the face of some savage opposition. All we have to put up with are a few clearly intellectually and sexually challenged unit managers who put profit before safety. Stand up, stay up and expose these morons as widely and as loudly as possible. Also, expose their clients publically too. Ask a responsible journalist (like the Digger) to publish a list of morons NOT to work for and "encourage" archaeologists to boycott them. Or, get hurt and thank them for it...
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Well, it looks like we've all got a choice. If H&S practice is bad on site, you can risk your life and carry on quietly, or you can risk your job and complain. I know which is more important to me.
Bear in mind that units often find it hard to recruit sufficient experienced diggers. If you are good at your job but make a valid complaint about a safety matter, your unit would be mad to get rid of you unless you are a serial winger about trivial issues as well.
There's plenty of good practice around and you might be surprised about where to find it. Nowadays I work for a consultancy, and they are mad about H&S, as are most of the major construction companies. They have to be, because it is a key pre-qualification for tender criterion, so if they have bad accident stats they don't get any new work. An important part of my job is enforcing H&S rules on the archaeological contractors.
1man1desk
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1man1 desk,
yes, they would be mad to get rid of you. This doesn't mean it won't happen. Assuming sanity is not always a given. The whole point is that managers are willing to replace the experienced with the inexperienced, generally at the expense of training, professional development, site continuity, etc. The health and safety aspect being discussed is only one aspect of a bigger issue: job security.
