Health & Safety Gone Mad

[Tony]

It rather depends on whether you mean the largely perfectly sound H&S rules and reg's or the way that some people misinterpret and apply them badly.

[Tony]

Yeah it all sounds over the top, but laws are inplace to protect employees and others. its due to the failings of employers or persons in responsible positions that injure people.

 

I disagree. All accidents are caused by human error at some point, and usually by a combination of factors that usually culminates in an error by the person involved in the accident.

 

That isn't to remove any responsibility or liability from employers or responsible persons but the accepted starting point for safety is that responsibility for your safety lies with yourself, not somebody else.

[Brian Marcon]

i agree to a point but we have to recognise whilst we all have to take reasonable care of ourselves and others S7 HASAWA. the general duty lies in the eyes of the law quote S2 HASAWA "it SHALL(an absolute duty) be the duty of every employer to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health safety and welfare of his or her employees whilst at work. so this means that its the employer who fails in his/her duty. individuals may also fail through lack of supervision for example. the human failings are the lack of management controls. you may have heard about the term "it starts at the top"

[esme]

Mod Note

 

Threads merged, please use the search function to check for existing threads before starting new ones

[Maxxy]

This has been the case for ages. If you are using your car during work hours, your employer has every right to check you are insured and MOTd. They need to check that if you have or cause an accident while at work that your insurance covers it (which it won't if it doesn't include business use).

 

Travelling to and from work is not in their time though. There is no health and safety obligation for an employee to show and employer, vehicular related documentation just for travelling to and from work.

 

I would understand if your employer asked to see your documents if you were using your own vehicle for works purposes, as they need to show they are proactive in ensuring the health and safety of their employees.

[truman]

has health and safety gone bonkers? or has the rules and regulations actually worked in practice, considering that there has been a significant reduction of fatalities in 2009/2010. its got to be the way forward hasnt it?

 

I haven't looked but how many fatalities in the previous years were in construction..? A sector that has seen massive job cuts...not as many people working so fewer accidents?

[Brian Marcon]

well there is evidence that the construction sector has taken a big hit when it comes to the resession, and there are fewer fatalities so the evidence is somewhat distorted because of this. however these figures are well recieved. Agriculture has for the first time become the most dangerous occupation to be involved for years it has been a very close second. if i have my figures correct i think it was around 36 fatalities last year alone, now thats frightening because of the numbers have gone up from around 25.