Too much health and safety in top ten office annoyances

Phill Thuforse asked about ladder casualty stats.

If you get this Phill and if you still need to find the stats, check this link - http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/rhsfall.pdf.

For anyone else, this is a good resource.

PS is there a way to PC other members?

The mugs are still available:

http://www.workplacelaw.net/bookshop/handbooks/id/493

Steve,
I got two of the mugs last year from this web site £5 each. I'm not sure if they still do them. If not, I may be open to offers :)

Thankyou Peter, and you are exactly right when you say that Joe Public cant usually see the difference.
Take the infamous conker incident, A well-meaning, but 'knee-jerkist' headmaster got it really wrong, and the media blamed the HSE, before they knew anything about it.
If he was a new head, and was concerned hat it could happen again, then he should have followed a process:
*Possibly stop conker playing for that day.
*Review the incident
*Do a risk assessment, and include the historical likelihood that the accident could happen again (I believe this was the first time in 120 years), which would show that the risk is very minimal
*publish the review
*let kids play conkers

http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/september.htm

And one thing that was forgotten is Insurance, sometimes Insurers make up their own wild H&S rules.

On this subject, sometime ago I found a graph showing the number of casualties and deaths involving ladders, but cant seem to find it now, any ideas?

Where can I get one of those mugs ?

People would certainly find less H&S in the workplace to be more of an annoyance as there would be more accidents, near misses, occupational ill health.... The list could go on.

The problem isn't that H&S in itself is intrusive, it's that the way in which H&S is managed and implemented in some organisations is clumsy and ill informed. The rules that are set in order to prevent accidents from occuring need to be well considered and relative to the perceived risks.

Not being able to use ladders, children wearing goggles when they play conkers, a well known supermarket banning a street entertainer from making balloon animals just in case a balloon bursts and someone gets a piece in the eye. There are no regulations that specifically rule out these activities, correct and sensible risk assessment will ensure that the risks are identified and safeguarded against. The problem is with the people who incorrectly assess the risks and then put daft rules in place.

Employees in general don't see the difference between H&S law/regulation and Safety practitioners (a minority), who go overboard with their preventative measures. All they see is a few daft rules every so often and that gives rise to derision. The way to move "Too much health and safety in the workplace" down the list is to get the balance in our job right and to educate our personnel so that H&S and common sense become intrinsic in our work place cultures.

Here ends the rant of a frustrated H&S advisor.

What is "poor toilet etiquette"? This is intriguing...

Welcome folks and for sure you make a very good point where more than 1 out of three identify and rate "grumpy & moody" or bullying & harrassing or angry & irrasible or just 'p' poor communication or interpersonal skills as top of the list.

In fact, the whole list is more about the stressors and the debilitating affects on the workers wellbeing and/or performance that have become common even genericly associated with working in any UK office / workplace today.

Culture, culture, culture, is now far from "pro-social" and perhaps, as i for one have said before, it's about time we the people start issuing 'ASBO's' to organisations be they in the public or private sectors .......

I fact, i think i shall make that a project over the next few weeks and if anyone has suggestions for additions to the question set please feel free to post ?

Why the emphasis on H&S? OK, it's in the top ten but ranked alongside not turning up for meetings and toilet etiquette!! Comparatively it's also far less of an annoyance than grumpy colleagues and slow computers.

Interesting to read that, at a time when work-related stress is increasingly being recognised as a major health and safety concern, people cite H&S as a stress factor.

So, chicken or egg?

Why did you focus on health and safety in your strapline when it comes in at number 6, with the same percentage as poor toilet etiquette?

Perhaps poor equipment or the general unhappiness in the office would be a better angle.