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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
I totally agree with Martin. There are far too many companies and especially training companies and local authorities using the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide legislation to scare people - even if you already are doing everything right. The late Donald Dewar was right when he said that existing legislation (HASAW) allows for the prosecution of individuals grossly negligent but what we do need is to end the weasly 'plea bargaining' by sharp lawyers that goes on to reduce the charges to little more than a slap on the wrist.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Once again, I feel I have to note to you that the Regulatory Reform Order only applies to England and Wales and not 'across the UK'. Here in Scotland we are subject to the Sctoland FIRE Act.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
My wife started a job with a reputable employer on a temporary contract 10 yrs ago. Originally it was for a 9 month trial but obviously things progressed and the staff were awarded further contracts. Now she is coming to the end of this employment we find that comparable staff in other offices within the same organisation have a pension scheme but not those who started with my wife, despite all being on the same pay band - which means to me my wife misses out on an occupational pension and the emplyers have been getting away without contributing to one for my wife for 10 yrs whilst still paying her the same as those enrolled on a pension scheme - somehow that just doesn't seem fair! Employers have got to be forced to provide staff with options for an occupational pension whether in house - or contracted out!!!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Until the government, HSE and IOSH agree on a legal defnition of 'competence' and what'competent advice' means then we will continue to get an estimated 25% of unqualified H&S people setting themselves up as 'consultants' - and many employers appear unable or unwilling to recognise the fact as well!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Being one of those attending that meeting and hearing Lord McKenzie, one of the main issues currently unresolved is the question of competence and competent advice. Until the governmnet and HSE give a firm guidance on what constitutes competence we will continue to see many unqualified or partly qualified people setting themselves up as consultants and advising unwary companies. This has to be stopped!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
To a certain extent I would agree with Graham reply to me but most of our kettles are cordless and never get unplugged and if they do show signs of wearing we would replace it as a kettle costs less than £20 and the cost of dragging PAT testers around the country inspecting our appliances are a damned sight more than that. The most imprtant aspect os managing portable electrical equipment is inspection by the user as and when they use it and replacing anything that shows signs of wearing.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Be careful of guidance from companies that also PAT test as it is obviously in their interest to get you to have testing. The authority as far I'm concerned is HSE's freely downloadable guidance indg236.
One of the first things you will note that it says ""The law requires it to be maintained. It does not require an elaborate and frequent system of electrical testing."
Further into the booklet you will note some combined testing and inspection tables. If you look carefully HSE stress they are 'initial' recommendations and from my point of view after several cycles of testing and very few failures I have moved our people onto a longer test regime based on the risk level of the equipment and the results of almost no failures. I still insist that operators regularly inspect portable equipment and we do have a rigorous replacement scheme for defects - but what we don't have are annual gravy trains for external contractors unneccesarily testing everything in sight and charging us a lot of money for doing so.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
I see a few additional items which will impact on the environmental performance of a company, but can anyone advise whether the general wording of those duties have a wider and additional impact on the Health and Safety duties?
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
So what is the real crux of ACFO's proposal? We have devolved governments making their own decisions in certain areas of the working life, but that obviously doesn't suit ACFO who probably wants central control of devolved governmnets so as to control the legislation in each country - and presumably with the Little England mentality the rest of GB consistently suffers from.
If you doubt that just look at the mess the Corporate Killing Bill got into after hi jacking the Culpable Homicide Bill back from Edinburgh to London and watering down what were much more specifc regulations on directors than what at the last moment scraped in at Westminster.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Can Workplace Law give us their opinion on what, if anything, will or should change with regard to H&S Law as a result of this judgement. My feeling was if the claim was upheld we would almost have to re-write everything but even if was rejected there would still be some implications for our existing legislation.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Employer appears to be trying to refrain from accepting the requirements of the DSE Regs because of a fear that all opticians will just put down 'for VDU use'. Not so. My eyesight has deteriorated recently because of the close screen work I am required to do but my optician believes that at my age my eyesight will deteriorate and I will probably need the glasses for normal reading as well so ticked two boxes (VDU and normal reading)- and on that basis my HR Dept argues that I have to pay.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
It's amazing how employers don't have any interest in how you get to work or the cost to yourselves - until they see a benfit in getting you to work from home - downsizing office space, hot-desking, even closing offices all together.
However meritous this initiative appears to be, it should come with a health warning; all workplaces should be risk assessed and significant risks controlled and recorded - that includes homes - BEFORE any work is done in them!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
I know that my company being covered by Civil Service rules means that we have the opportunity to retire at 60 - although there is mounting pressure to move that on to 65. In H&S terms, though, do we really want our staff going out onto construction sites with their pen tablets, GPS etc at this age - or even older. And something for us to think about, do we then need to consider dementia as part of the risks when we send older surveyors out. If this does become an issue, then what do we do with the staff who no longer can do the Fieldwork? We certainly do not have indoor jobs for them to do as we are already cutting staff to the minimum. I also expect that any attempt to remove them through poor performance would attract diability and discrimination charges. Any thoughts out there?
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Having attended the conference in Edinburgh on the equivalent Culpable Homicide which has a far wider ranging scope and far more imaginative penalties I would say that those influencing the English legislation should look at the Scottish proposals and see how much of those could be brought into coherence - otherwise we will have two really different pieces of legislation. The Scottish legislation applying to anyone working in Scotland and any person working for a Scottish company will cause a lot of confusion as to which law applies where and to whom.
My main concern still is that if the enforcing authorities do not have the resource then we will end up with a lot of lesser charges which politically and socially will not be acceptable
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Just what signal is this sending out to unscrupulous employers putting profit and shareholders way ahead of safety of customers and staff? This is shirking the responsibility to find where the controlling mind in this resides and punish them and continues to undermine any attempt to have a realistic Corporate Manslaughter on the statutes.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
I don't wish to roll this on but I did state our staff use pen computers (full size tablet PCs) not PDAs, mobile phones or any of these other boys toys. A Tablet PC is like having a laptop with the screen facing outwards and an active pen neters data and screen commands.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Is there any legislation which proscribes the minimum size of lettering on portable pen computers which my staff use (if so, what is the legislation and what is the guidance)? Some of the software we are currently using requires a certain screen resolution setting or it crashes but this in turn means that some of the icons and lettering appear to be difficult to read by some.
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
If anyone wishes to research the wider aspects of global rf/electromagnetic signals, have a look at www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/haarpFactSheet.html
or type in HAARP into your web browswer. A book entitled "Angels don't play this Haarp" has an interesting section on how low power emissions (thousanths of times less than that which powers a 60w lightbulb) could affect the brain and cause shifts of mood etc... all very interesting if this is a subject which gives you concern!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
Having been to a seminar where a Senior Fire Officer was talking, there is some feeling that we should take all our fire extinguishers out of the offices. If there is a fire, get out, stay out and call the professionals. That also applies where companies bend over backwards to look as though they are complying by having lots of nice shiny extinguishers but don't give their staff any training at all on how to safely use them; they are about as useful as a pair of concrete wellies in a swamp!
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Julian Davis
Member - 25 posts
I can't answer your question direct because no-one can predict what this government will do even if they promise they will. What I will say is that it is about time the whole 1974 Bill got a facelift. If you consider the industrial climate in 1974 at the time of the Robens Commission; it was a time when we had strong trade unions to stand against the abuses of rogue emplyers. Since then we have had the Thatcher neutering of the unions and with a fairly robust CBI and the Small Business Lobby obviously having a great deal of influence on No 10 there is little progress being made. The Government's own Revitalising targets are being missed, the HSE are under resourced and being diverted from enforcement to hitting targets that pay so when the Queens Speech talks about the likelihood of a new Safety Bill - I just wouldn't hold my breath!
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