Diggers' Forum Survey on CPD and Training provision in UK Commercial Archaeology

[Wax]

I do indeed make sure people know I was asthmatic but it is very easy to forget if it is no longer a regular part of your life. Anyone can suddenly have an asthma attack and your first attack can be your last (it may kill you or you never have another one) so its worth all first aiders knowing the symptoms. Asthma can kill very quickly indeed dont mess around trying to work out if it is asthma or not call 999.

Oh and try and give up the fags I have seen far too many firends and family go with smoking induced lung cancer (five at the last count) It will kill you, just a bit slower and a lot more painfully than asthma.

[Jack]

There are specific site risks that could affect pregnant staff more than non-pregnant staff. The first and most obvious is one the risk of zoonotic agents that might threaten the health of the embryo. Where it is known that there is a risk of contact, there should be a specific risk assessment above and beyond the generic 'don't eat the cowshit' warning. Secondly there are certain heavy metal that whilst risky to everyone, are particularly dangerous where trans-placental exposure might be a possible outcome. Thirdly I guess is just the requirement that all of the necessary sanitary and hygiene requirement should be in place and all that implies...

Fascinating, thanks for the info. Though I would point out don't zoonotic agents threaten the health of other people too.
I agree though that such risks are often not taken seriously enough.

The heavy metal issue is most interesting to me.....do you know which heavy metals and where they are likely to be?

The third point i agree should always be in place.

Dino (grin) I was listening...but good point. It is key that all staff make their supervisors/managers of any potential life threatening health problems.
It is important that we all have a legal obligation to look after our own safety and the safety of others at work too......the onus is not all on the employer.

What also interests me is a debate I have been having with myself since this thread started......haven't posted yet as I can sense it will be controversial to even mention it, but I am going to in order to get, hopefully, a range of opinions........

When is someone who is pregnant physically unable to work on an archaeological site, and what should happen when they can't?

[kevin wooldridge]

When is someone who is pregnant physically unable to work on an archaeological site, and what should happen when they can't?

http://www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/index.htm?...ss-mothers

[Jack]

Cool, cheers.

Also found this

[h=2]Health and safety for pregnant employees[/h] When the employee tells their employer they’re pregnant, the employer should assess the risks to the woman and her baby.
Risks could be caused by:

• heavy lifting or carrying
  
• standing or sitting for long periods without adequate breaks
  
• exposure to toxic substances
  
• long working hours
  

Where there are risks, the employer should take reasonable steps to remove them - eg, by offering the employee different work or changing their hours.
If the employer can’t remove any risks (eg by offering suitable alternative work) they should suspend the employee on full pay.

at

https://www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights

So does this mean on a dig where there is little to but hard digging, should a pregnant worker be given paper to shuffle.................or should they be sent to the office to do work there..?

[Oxbeast]

So does this mean on a dig where there is little to but hard digging, should a pregnant worker be given paper to shuffle.................or should they be sent to the office to do work there..?

Depends how pregnant they are and what they feel that they are able to do. Just treat people reasonably, basically. My wife had to tell her employers that she was pregnant before she really wanted to as she was coming up for her regular rotation of landfill surveys, including the toxic waste dump. They handle all the heavy metals, paints and stuff, asbestos, abandoned nuclear submarines, etc, etc. One of the bosses did that one.

[Dinosaur]

Should this be an area to be added to the skills passport? - does that have a 'health and safety' section? (and stuff like environmental awareness in the workplace, site beaurocracy [timesheets and the like] etc and even basics like tidyness on site/in the cabins etc etc)

Thought I'd stick that on here since the thread was looking lonely and neglected