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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Hello Frank,
As the Responsible Person it is your duty to ensure that any electrical equipment brought into your club it compiant with current Regulations.
To this end a Risk Assessment should be done concerning such equipment. I would feel that the conclusion would be "That you must have a documented system to ensure compliance". Thus you need proof that the equipment is electrically safe, namely it has been PAT Tested within a reasonable period. You can set this period.
However, if the person bringing the equipment in has hired the equipment it must have been tested within three months of the date on site and after the previous hire.
Proof is either the stickers or better still the testers result sheet.
I recently oversaw a major event and stopped the sound engineers installing the equipment untli it was tested. It was hired equipment and bereft of any PAT history. 102 items were tested and 18 were found to be unsafe to use and had to be replaced.
The onus is on you to ensure that you have taken adequate measures to ensure safety. Remember several persons using amplifiers and audio equipment die each year due to faulty equipment.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
There is no doubt the Council and its staff were discriminating in a blatant fashion.
However, one thing that has been missed. She was a Registrar for many years and married many persons of the opposite sex and of various religeons or non religeon at all without problems.
The Law changed and she was now faced with a civil ceremony for persons of the same sex or persons who had changed sex; a fact contrary to her religeon. This problem would also be faced by members of other Religious beliefs, especially those of the Muslim faith, had they been Registrars befoe the Law changed.
It also means that her Terms of Employment had changed but her Terms of Contract remained the same.
The Council had two choices:
a. To allow her to continue as before and be excluded from same sex ceromonies.
b. To allow her to retire on full pension.
The ruling on this case does not extend to Registrars appointed after the Law changed to allow same sex and sex change persons to have a civil ceremony. Thus if those of a faith that opposes same sex relationships wish to become a Registrar then they most officiate at all types of marriage ceremony and civil partnership.
In addition the Appeal Courts decision will make that decision a Case Law and thus be binding on all ETs in the future.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
What compensation for a soldier loosing two legs and one arm. A soldier burnt over 70% of his body and facing continuing surgery for the rest of his life. The total for both these men is under £0.5M
Such awards are obscene, especially as the ratio claimed is 100 times her annual salary. A figure she would never have come close to achieving. If she worked for 40 years on a salary of £33,5000 then she would make the £13.4M figure, but is she on that level of salary now?
Discrimination and victimisation are serious crimes but should not gather such excessive compensation. Perhaps the money should be fixed as a full pension and a half paid as a lump sum into a trust fund that ends when she dies.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Are hurt feelings worth more than brain injury and loss of two legs and one arm?
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
If you have the company details or contact telephone number then you can make a confidential report on the VAT irregularities by using the links below.
From the HMRC website https://www.taxevasionhotline.co.uk/
"HM Revenue & Customs Tax Evasion Hotline
HMRC is committed to targeting tax evasion. We know some people don't pay their fair share of tax, which is unfair for the rest of us. Now you can help us do something about it.
The Tax Evasion hotline deals with income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, VAT and National Insurance.
The Hotline can take your call on 0800 788 887 (Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 4pm), or you can submit a report here.
No information - however trivial it may seem -is too small. It could be the key to stopping fraudulent or criminal activity.
Make a report online now."
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Like Jennifer, I am not a lawyer, however, I do write Driving Policies for my clients. As the Lessor is the NHS they have a duty to ensure that the car is insured, MOTd and serviced to the manufacturer's specification.
They can do this by passing some duties to the user, however, they must specify which duties have been passed to the user.
I also believe that even if they do pass the duties to the user they have a duty to ensure that the user completes their allocated tasks. I presume that they NHS paid for the servicing, MOT and insurance thus they should have a system for monitoring the legal requirements for the car. The NHS should also have monitored the driver's licence to ensure that the driver was permitted to drive and if they had points on their licence then this should have been passed to the insurers.
If they, the NHS, failed to ensure that the servicing and the other legally required aspects were undertaken then the NHS is at fault.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
One aspect that has not been mentioned is that it may be considered "driving whilst not in proper control of the vehicle" if a driver lights a cigar, cigarette or pipe. This is especially so if there is an accident and the driver was smoking.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Happy New Year.
I agree with both John Mead and Maxine Pride. I have such an ongoing situation at present.
What I will be doing after four requests for information and having used the H&S Committee is to email the person stating "That as they have failed to provide information they are now Legally Responsible for any events and could, in extremis, be sent to prison for upto two years or face an unlimited fine.". All previous emails and scanned notes will be attached to the email.
Used twice succeded twice.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
A nice interesting problem. The Landlord has to provide a rented area "fit for purpose". You must rent accommodation that is "fit for purpose"
Under Regulation 10 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 each employee needs 11 cubic metres of space. The height of which is normally considered as 2 metres.
I assume that the rented area has a cubic capacity of 121 cubic metres. This capacity does not include passages, cupboards and communal areas, it is the working area for each employee.
If the 121 cubic metres space is available the Landlord should, in theory, have limited the occupancy to five persons. However, you should have rented offices that have two toilets to meet Regulation 10 as you have more than five staff.
Has anyone considered micro bore toilet facilities? These can be used in very small spaces, converted cupboards, that do not have full size toilet waste pipes.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
There may be areas where the ID scheme does not apply but if the staff member works in an area where Photo ID is required then no exceptions can be made. To make an exception is discrimination against those who have to comply.
When persons require passports they mey not wear the veil and have to show their face in full but they do not need to show their hair.
I suggest that you use the Passport Office guidance for all photographs and when identity checks are made the person has to show the same amount of their face as on the photograph.
You can obtain the guidance paper from the Post Office by asking for a Passport Aplication pack. You may have to request permission to use the guidance form from the Home Office Identity and Passport Service if you wqish to use the form. However, I note there is no copyright mark on the form. You could use the photographs less those of children and some of the written detail. Probabley the best option is to state that photographs must comply with the passport requirements.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
I have been around longer than you Mike Densham, and I have had my hair cut by a person who had head covering. As an 11 year old I remember well the man who stood over 6 feet tall and cut my hair with a cutthrought razor, no scisors or comb. He was a Sikh and with his height, turban, beard and flashing razor he was a very impressive figure.
It did not matter that he wore a turban just that we the male members of the family received good haircuts.
As far as this case goes, women approach hairdressing differently from men, they wish to see examples of the styles the salon produces. But I remember what my wife says when she has to change salons, look at the hair of the staff if they look good choose the one with the worst hair as she will have done the hair of the others and is the best of the bunch!
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
I would like to add that where companies require staff to drive on business, even in their own car, the company should require the staff member to have a regular eye test, say every 2 years, and keep records to show that they attended.
This is because there is a vicarious liablilty in the event of an accident.
Any corrective appliances should be paid for by the employee as they would need them to drive for social, domestic and pleasure reasons.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
The H&S Policy should cover your statement of how you recognise your duties to your employees, those who enter your buildings and offices and those who may be affected by your business. The intranet display will only be available to your employees and therefore you are not meeting your full duty to display the H&S Policy to all those who have a right to view it.
The display does need to be in every office if the offices are in different buildings. However, it could be said that display in each office is required if the offices are in the same building but are on different floors.
In essence the Council is correct but may not be correct as far as "each goes if the offices are all connected in one location.office"
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
I agree, as a life long never been a smoker, such extra time off will rub us up the wrong way.
I have had to grin and bear smokey offices, now I no longer have to. We in Wales ahve had the ban for a month and are enjoying the smoke free places we can now go to.
How about time off for the over weight/underweight, alcohol user, those with phobias and anything anyone can think they need help with.
Also from what friends have told me they had to work hard to learn to smoke to become one of the boys/girls.
I do realise that nicotine is a dangerous drug and the more people who stop using it the better. However, is Nanny becoming over protective?
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
I live in Wales and wish to remind those who live in England thet we in Wlaes have our law coming into operation on 02 April.
Thus if you drive into Wales in a company vehicle you will need the authorised Welsh/English No smoking notice in your vehicle.
Also if you enter an enclosed space you will be prohibited from smoking.
The Welsh Law is slightly different from the English in that signs must be Bi-lingual and to specified sizes. The Welsh Assembly Government web site will give you details
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
There are several aspects;
She is a short hall pilot thus does she work several days a week or do limited flights per day? Which pilot covers her non-flying time?
She cannot gain the flying hours at the normal rate for promotion to Captain. If she is denied promotion in the normal period can she claim indirect discrimination?
As she can work part time, can the male pilots also do the same? If not sexual discrimination would be the result.
Does BA now have to increase the number of pilots to cover for those on part time or ask the full time pilots to work at the maximum number of hours a month? If they work at the maximum rate over extended periods; is this not a safety risk over as tiredness builds up.
Finally what do other airlines do?
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Hi Les,
I have been advising my clients that company owned vehicles are covered and should be signed as no smoking vehicles. If the driver carries other members of staff then the vehicle becomes a shared work space.
Private cars is a difficult area. I have advised that if the owner is driving on their own they can smoke. However, if they are carrying other staff members they cannot smoke.
Personally I consider smoking whilst driving as non-compatable actions as full control of the vehicle is not possible when one hand has a thumb and two fingers on the steering wheel and the other hand is off the steering wheel when changing gear or operating the handbrake.
I suggest you watch the Welsh experiences as we have the new laws in force from 02 April 2007. Also if your vehicles enter into Wales remember the smoking ban will apply to your vehicles, I wonder how many people will be caught out by this.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Diane,
There are several points here
1. She is not responsible for previous owners fines.
2. Has the change of ownership of the car been correctly notified by DVLA. Does she have in her possession the new ownership documents?
3. Has Miss A informed the clamping company and has she shown the new ownership details to them? Has the clamping company responded?
4. If she has the clamp cut off she is damaging property owened by a third party who may believe that they have a legal right to clamp the car. She would be liable for the damage.
Her best action is to arrange for a meeting with the clamping company where she can produce the vehicle ownership documents and demand the release of the car. She should have witnesses to the meeting
She should also check that the company is correctly registered with the SIA.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Happy New Year to all.
I welcome the no smoking rule. Often having had to bear the residual effects of smokers use of vehicles.
However, I am more happy that smoking will become less ferequent in vehicles and especially by the drivers. It is already illegal to light a cigarette or other smoking sources when driving yet how often do you see one and a half hands on the wheel due to smoking and as most persons are right handed half handed driving when gears are being changed, radios and CD players are being adjusted?
Policing will be by relation to accidents. If persons are smoking when an accident occurs then they can be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention or no being in proper control of the vehicle. Companies could also be prosecuted due to vicarious liability.
Havin g seen the result of a rear end shunt where a petrol can was burst and the woman driver was smoking I know it is sensible not to drive and smoke.
Also from the company's point of view resale vaule of smoker's vehicles is lower than non-smoker's vehicles.
I must declare bias, I never have been a smoker.
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Robert Hacon Williams
Member - 67 posts
Geof, Well stated. The retained are as well trained as the fulltime fire fighters. They serve in a similar way to the RNLI crews.
The Risk Reduction Plans that all Fire and Rescue Authorities have to produce are a Government money saving measure and rewsult in:
a. Fewer fulltime fire fighters.
b. More retained Fire fightier being required - often from those who have had to retire.
c. Varied responses so if persons are trapped the fire fighters will enter the building, no presons trapped they will fight the fire from outside or let the building burn out and then investigate the cause.
d. There are other aspects which I will not cover.
The requirement for businesses to have their own Fire Risk Assessment is a legal requirement and is paramount post an incident. It will be interesting to see what comes from this company's assessemnt.
As far as the assessments go it is not just a tick box exercise but a full plan. Many companies are being caught by the cheap ways of "achieving" the assessment. There are even some companies who are posing as F&R Authority representatives to gain work, often in a threatening manner.
Finally I hope all our thoughts are with the families of these two men and also with those who have been injured, especially at this time of year.
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