Philip Jeffs's newest comments

We have ISO14001 and yes, you do need a waste carriers licence if you transport the WEEE to a disposal site.

Best option for bulbs is to have a 'coffin' container somewhere on your premises. Put the spent bulbs in there and get a company to pick them up when full and give you a proper waste transfer note. We use Recyclite. That is by far the easiest and reduces all the legal issues.

Great idea. Look forward to joining in when I can.

I'm 53 and would love to have the extra time to travel on my motorbike, and enjoy myself before I get too old.

BUT, as many of us these days have probably changed jobs several times in the last 20 or so years, and have therefore never built up a significant redundancy package with our current employer, we fear redundancy above all else.

Long gone are the days of working for the same employer for 40 years and redundancy meaning a comfortable time until retirement?

Eddie, providing hot soapy water for visitors at a reception desk proves tricky!

My view is something is better than nothing, and while not as good as hand washing, it does demonstrate a commitment to try and do the right thing.

What do you do Craig, limbo underneath the door?

Jane, probably best not to ask about men's washroom habits!!

We are UK call centres. The instructions, and swine flu advice are on our company Intranet, the staff have all been made aware of how to find that information, and why we are asking them to use the gel. The managers have all had separate advice on when to send someone home, or when to suggest they don't come into the office, as well as dealing with parents whose children are sent home due to school closures and there is no other supervision.

There is no lack of suitable awareness information and guidance.

On our risk assessments, including for pregnancy etc, we are adding in the additional information and providing links to government and NHS websites.

How about employers suing their staff for bringing a virus into the workplace?

So much nonsense being talked about this but with 24-hour news media these days they have to fill the time somehow I suppose?

Our are at all entrances to the buildings (staff or visitors) and at receptions. In addition they are in every toilet block.

Sorry if this has been done recently (couldn't see it) but is anyone else having difficulty getting staff, and in particular management, to use the stuff?

We have 400 employees over a number of sites, and all have been issued with hand gel and gentle 'please use...' signs, but usage is virtually nil.

With all the scare stories in the media I'd expected us to be ordering new stock regularly, but its in danger of being out of date! What are other people's experiences?

We have done this for over 12 months, however keeping stock levels up is proving difficult with reduced supplier stock (more people wanting it) and staff taking it home!

Thank the 24-hour news channels for encouraging this?

If anyone needs this service in Norfolk/Suffolk before the HSE decide to hit our area, please get in touch .....

We do this for all ofour UK offices and its very well received by staff.

We have a number of homeworkers in the UK, and they are each required to have a home visit by the H&S manager (me!) annually. I write a report for both H&S and insurance purposes, and the staff must let us know if anything changes between visits.

We now have a staff member who has moved to France with her husband, but continues to work for us as a homeworker due to the ease of digital communications. Can I please ask if our H&S responsibilities are the same as in the UK (she is on a UK-based employment contract)? I'm not sure if local French H&S rules would apply, or do we apply the same UK standards?

Thanks

Philip

Ignoring for a moment the aspect of data security, obtaining the employees authority would be vital as you will be sending out personal details that are within the data protection Act.

The biggest problem is the data security, and being 100% sure that only the intended recipient will read the email? Personally I wouldn't attempt it for that reason.

I would use this opprtunity to recommend Haven Power.

I signed a contract with them earlier this year for electricity at our 6 UK sites, and have been very pleased with the tariffs. Even more so as energy costs rise. Also they are nice people to deal with and eager to help with any issues.

Hope this helps someone.

The point is though Ken 9and you of course know this), you are one of thousands of people who worked in industries that regularly used asbestos before the full risks were known or regulated against. The products manufactured, and the building processes that used ACM, meant literally thousands and thousands of properties contained some form of asbestos. They still do.

So, to tackle the problem the government bought out regulations that, in essence, say that if you have a quick look round and don't see anything you (as an untrained person) think is asbestos, you can write up a 'zero register' and sit back and relax because the requirement for documentation under the regs is covered. That doesn't mean the premises is free of asbestos, merely that if (fat chance...) the enforcement authorities should ask to see the register you have one, and you don't have a management plan because (in your view) there is nothing to manage. Its all to be seen to be doing something rather than actually addressing the problem, and the commercial property solicitors and insurers will accept that register on face value and pas it on to the next tenant/owner who then picks up a lot of trouble.

Wait until the old railway and warehousing complexes are pulled down in east London for the development of the site for the 2012 olympics, and lets see what is reported as having been found....? Will it be a major problem (as P402 surveyors would expect) or will it be a case that someone reports no ACM found? Watch this space....

Oh, should have similarly signed off:

Phil Jeffs P402 Surveyor.

I agree with you Ken, there was so much hype over the 2004 and 2006 acts but in reality there is no enforcement at all. I rarely get any work unless someone feels pressured into it by their insurers or bank. In fact its amazing how many commercial property lawyers don't even ask for an asbestos register as part of the leasing/sale process!

In this particular case I'd be finding out who the contractors and suppliers to the Council were at that time, and if still trading asking them if any workers suffered the same issue. If there was so much Amosite dust in the air it cannot just have affected one person?

That said, the judgement was that it was'likely' to have been caused at work - who is going to accept without a legal fight? expect an appeal by the Council anytime soon!

Gives the regulators something to do I suppose.

I wish they would concentrate on enforcing some of what we already have, rather than looking to make more or consolidating. What's the point of regulations when no-one cares if they are adhered to?

... which makes it appear that you are trying to find a reason to include it within DP, rather than ask whether when the DPA was conceived it was intended to cover such a situation? Don't get blinkered to the extent that you feel the DP always has to apply.

I'm all for protecting the personal data of an individual, but whether I attend work through a particular door or not is hardly what the DPA was first written to protect against? Unfortunately we now seem intent on using it for every occasion and its become a burden rather than a benefit.