Adrian Newell's newest comments

Mike and Patrick are right. I am a SHEQ Manager but have also seen a job advert for a SHESQ Manager recently which I could also claim being (S is for Security).

As one of the middle class (if that is what I am?) who voted them in there should be some balance. It is very easy to become partisan on emotive topics such as this. Even Labour accept that there needed to be cuts and tax rises - their argument is only too much too soon but ultimately would be the same or there abouts. The equalisation of the old age tax allowance is a Lib Dem idea from a couple of years ago. Personally I do not care how much people earn at the top end but some do. The bigger picture is surely whether the overall affect is for the good of the country (arguable I know). As a country we are sliding down the tables for GDP and are gradually being over taken by countries such as Brazil but should stop at about 10th. Forums such as these should be about good old fashioned argument with each side pitching their views. If companies do not invest in this country or worse leave then we will have a very big problem indeed regardless of which morons are in power.
To throw something in regarding dismisal; it can be said that having a more relaxed approach to hire and fire is better. This has recently been put forward as to why the USA is starting to recover. It is alright having all this legislation but it sometimes comes at a price. It is up to us to decide whether it is acceptable or not.
Regarding Scotland I am neutral on this but I believe it is the Shetlands who are not keen on the idea and talk about not going with them - so what do they know?

I wonder also if this would mean we would have lower charges like in say Holland compared to the rip off hidden ones in the UK.

Unfortunately there is an argument that becuase of this difficulty in firing people employers are reluctant to take on more staff in the first place. And this is perhaps the reason why the US is starting to benefit from its lighter approach to hire and fire.
Having been made redundant in the 80's before all this consultation process came in I have some experieance. There were close on to 140 chopped; we were told on the Thursday and basically gone on the Friday and I actually in some ways prefer this way rather than being part of a long drawn out process but that is me.

Remember what CE stands for - "Check Everything"

I cannot speak for Ryan Air but my daughter works for BA and their planes have them and the cabin crew are trained. Therefore I am not sure if all planes are supposed to have them or not.

Gareth,

not true I am affraid. My daughter works for BA as a flight attendant out of Heathrow and her basic is 11.7K ( I have just spoken to her) and this can not go higher than 15K. It is slightly less at Gatwick. Basically the rest is made up of the allowances for each flight they make. The longer the flight the larger it is. The length of service also plays a part in these. So there are flight attendants who have been there say 20 years who are earning £3000 a month due to the length of employment and the long haul flights that they do. She also did add that the 28K probably refers to Cabin Managers.

The cost is £17.50 for the test and £25 for the card but which card? CSCS have a number of different ones e.g. management, visitor or operative. With regard to operatives for a Skilled Card they normally need an NVQ in their respective trade. Unfortunately not all trades have an NVQ. In the data cabling sector that I am in there is not one so at the moment there is an "Industry Accreditation" where the employer can rubber stamp their employees competence against a set criteria. This window closes in January but still no NVQ! You can buy the up to date test questions in book form to help revision (I have seen it in a Post office) and some of the questions are a bit of a no brainer. More and more of our customers are insisting on a CSCS card but it certainly does not prove competence in H & S.

This type of scenario is not new. At my last place of employment we had two bead blast units and any bead blast that ended up on the floor was picked up using a vacuum cleaner. If a broom was used it just moved it around in a cloud and increased the air content dramatically.
Air purification units would only be needed if the airbourne dust was found to be above limits (see above comment) after measurements and monitoring had been carried out.

I agree with Martin and Julian the impact should be minimal as long as you can show that a robust system was in place i.e. risk assessments, method statements, safe systems of work etc. then there should be no problem. The interesting thing is its treatment as H & S legislation but it might be better to describe it as simple criminal law legislation. At a recent talk by a lawyer mention was made of obtaining "privilege" over any company reports etc. regarding an incident. I am not sure how this would work with the HSE requesting information where perhaps withholding it would not look good within the pretext that you are guilty until proved otherwise! Views would be appreciated.