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22nd February 2007, 12:28 PM
'As best practice, we positively encourage SCAUM members to make the Health and Safety Manual available to their staff, by downloading it onto their own internal systems.'
...so says the SCAUM secretary. So, who has seen the new 2007 H&S manual and updates on their unit's internal system or as printouts?
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22nd February 2007, 06:10 PM
why don't you add the other option - we already have an H and S manual which isn't SCAUM? There are alternatives, you know. But then that would not give you an excuse to beat up contractors would it by setting a loaded poll?
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22nd February 2007, 10:17 PM
If you have another H&S manual.. where is it? just let us know.. and that absolves you from contractor hell
the poll is reasonably fair (as polls go)
I know of few people that have ever seen it... and stil contest that as it should be made available to staff... then why not make it fully accesible to staff.. er.. via the website..?
I for one would be happy to pay the cheap rate to be a member of SCAUM withoutgetting the manual for 'free' which I then have to show to staff anyway... for... er... free... is it me?
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
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23rd February 2007, 12:07 AM
Our Health and Safety Manual is online (internally, only our staff can access it of course) and is issued to every new member of staff when hired. Each member must then read and sign to show they have read and understood. Haven't seen SCAUM's manual, but I doubt it can be any more onerous than ours! [xx(]
"don't panic!"
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23rd February 2007, 12:46 AM
We are free from contractor hell in our own world.
Pay us the fee (plus some more) we pay to consultants for producing and updating our own manual and you can have it. Available on every project for anyone to read at their leisure, alongside the risk assessment. Sits on the server, again free for anyone to read.
Frankly sticking the SCAUM manual there would be pointless, as it covers far less than ours. Hence my my gripe. Just trying to point out that not all management is evil though obviously we all aspire!
Anyway the manual is not the point, it is how you apply health and safety on a day to day basis that counts.
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23rd February 2007, 04:03 PM
VoR,
We have found that legislative and guidance changes have been so frequent that our own H&S manual was out of date really quickly. There was also a sense that many units, ours included, were reinventing wheels all over the shop. There was a decision to have the SCAUM manual as our standard because Hascom are very good at keeping us up to date with SCAUM re-writes and monthly updates. Deficiencies in the SCAUM manual are usually covered by generic risk assessments and exceptional circumstances presenting risk are dealt with by site-specific assessments.
You wrote: 'Anyway the manual is not the point, it is how you apply health and safety on a day to day basis that counts.'
Actually, it is the point of this and related threads. There is an industry standard that professes to be for all site staff, but they don't have access.
Do the consultants you pay provide monthly updates?
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23rd February 2007, 04:35 PM
Where HS arguably matters the most-in the field, staff almost universally complain of an insidious lack of risk assessments let alone HS manuals or policies.Tiz one thing seeing the aforementioned doc on internal systems-lets have them in site offices.Site staff usually have to depend upon the professionalism of their employers to provide not only a safe working environment but-relevent and well/researched and written risk assessments for on site inspection.All too often, assessments can be in the form of generic "tick the box" or un-informed/researched "off the shelf" crud. Perhaps a poll along the lines of "when was the last time field staff saw a professional standard risk assessment?" would be appropriate? Aching makes a serious point here- why isnt said document in every arch office across the country?:face-huh:
..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)
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23rd February 2007, 05:24 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by voice of reason
why don't you add the other option - we already have an H and S manual which isn't SCAUM? There are alternatives, you know. But then that would not give you an excuse to beat up contractors would it by setting a loaded poll?
I didn't add that as an option because I'm concerned with the SCAUM manual. Hence the title of the thread.
Beat up contractors? Err? I am a contractor myself. Perhaps I struck a nerve
. If I'm having a pop at anybody it is the unit managers for not acting on SCAUM advice, failing to take their responsibilities and SCAUM for being so damned secretive. Loaded? - I'm just trying to guage how many people are being allowed access to what I see as an important resource.
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23rd February 2007, 06:57 PM
Yes we do get updates and a whole heap more, including live phone advice as needed and a regular system of site inspections. Frankly we found that SCAUM was a dead loss waiting for updated manual to be issued, and HASCOM are much as any other consultant in their updates.
Troll - read my post - RAs and manual on site!