How safe is your workplace?

[trustme]

Site Safe is owned by the major construction companies. Nice little earner, you can't go on their sites until you have lined their back pocket with $250. Reminds me of the back handers given to Ray Bianchi to get on the labourers union riggers register.

[AllanB]

More mental and emotional H&S at my work.

[awa355]

At my work we get bi-annual refreshers in 1st aid, fire fighting, suicide awareness, hostage taking, de-escalation tactics, working with other cultures etc.
and man, you can tell the facilitators who have done the job and those who are simply para-phrasing the text book.

Re fire fighting, I must've watched the Bradford stadium burn down 20 times.Still a terrible sight. Have to admit the Fire safety videos showing how fast a house can go up really hits home how little time you have to get out.

[trustme]

The long and the short of it is simple, my workplace is as safe as myself and my fellow workers make it. The weakest link in the chain comes to mind...

Pretty much sums it up for me. We work as teams , we look out for each other. We have had very few serious lost time injuries in my 35 years in the industry. Safety has undoubtedly improved, PPE is accepted where as it used to be resisted , industry & the private sector has lifted it's game. The public sector has become a nightmare , councils , universities etc totally bogged down in BS. We recently flagged one job,the hoops were too onerous , we could not be bothered . The client is not thrilled because the replacement contractor is dearer than us & a lot slower. They understand it was not worth the hassle for us to be turned inside out trying to comply with stupid demands from dickheads.

[Tazz]

At my work we get bi-annual refreshers in 1st aid, fire fighting, suicide awareness, hostage taking, de-escalation tactics, working with other cultures etc.
and man, you can tell the facilitators who have done the job and those who are simply para-phrasing the text book.

Re fire fighting, I must've watched the Bradford stadium burn down 20 times.Still a terrible sight. Have to admit the Fire safety videos showing how fast a house can go up really hits home how little time you have to get out.

And cars! Unreal eh. Fire extinguishered up to the eyeballs at home and work but a waste of time if you're off the pace pulling em out.

[Voltaire]

Pretty much sums it up for me. We work as teams , we look out for each other. We have had very few serious lost time injuries in my 35 years in the industry. Safety has undoubtedly improved, PPE is accepted where as it used to be resisted , industry & the private sector has lifted it's game. The public sector has become a nightmare , councils , universities etc totally bogged down in BS. We recently flagged one job,the hoops were too onerous , we could not be bothered . The client is not thrilled because the replacement contractor is dearer than us & a lot slower. They understand it was not worth the hassle for us to be turned inside out trying to comply with stupid demands from dickheads.

Your right about it adding costs. $650 to disconnect a heater from an AC unit that's 3 metres high..... needs two guys,$70 an hour for a ladder holder
To repair it requires a scaffold..... I'm not saying its a bad thing, but pretty hard to explain to the client. " oh $3000 for the new heater in the meeting room"

[trustme]

$3000 buys a lot of cardies .

[R650R]

I work with a very safe bunch and we do everything possible to keep everything under control. Nobody is afraid to say stop work if conditions change and what we do is at the top end of caution required.

BUT

The issue is we do this and the NZ Safety rep for the main contractor will look at a safety plan following the latest workplace safety preferred method to access an area by machinery and refuse the method claiming a ladder is safer because of a risk that machinery hydraulic failure will leave us stranded 5metres up. I am sure I see a ladder as being the least desired method of notifiable height access possible on Workplace NZ standards. Big conflict of interests going on.

I agree with you that the situation described sounds wrong, like as if they think it will be cheaper for you to use ladder etc or quieter. Doesn't sound like a plausible reason to exclude machinery. Should ask them if they would ever have a crane on site for a job then....

[R650R]

Your right about it adding costs. $650 to disconnect a heater from an AC unit that's 3 metres high..... needs two guys,$70 an hour for a ladder holder
To repair it requires a scaffold..... I'm not saying its a bad thing, but pretty hard to explain to the client. " oh $3000 for the new heater in the meeting room"

Even at home I wont go higher on a ladder by myself if the height is further than what I want to fall from, eg feet above 2m say.... Most AC units would have fair bit of weight even the small ones.
Just tell em how expensive it will be to have their workplace closed for a whole day or more while an accident is investigated. The other things is no matter how good or competent you are, if your using something a lot sooner or later you will have a slip up by the law of averages, and that one moment is when having the right procedures in place matters.
Bit like truck drivers having to wear seatbelts, we go millions of km's without serious accident but when that moment comes that you need it, well it better be on...

[R650R]

And cars! Unreal eh. Fire extinguishered up to the eyeballs at home and work but a waste of time if you're off the pace pulling em out.

Had a driveshaft knuckle joint catch fire once, by the time I got it out from under all the other crap in side locker the fire burnt itself out lol

[caspernz]

And cars! Unreal eh. Fire extinguishered up to the eyeballs at home and work but a waste of time if you're off the pace pulling em out.

Here's a funny one for you then. I've been hauling fuel for a little while, sometime back we were having issues with fire extinguishers coming loose and sometimes falling off. Cue a redesigned extinguisher holder. This one had 3 clips/straps/thingemeebobs that needed releasing before you could even get the bugger off the truck/trailer. This new design didn't enter service

[Smifffy]

I work with a very safe bunch and we do everything possible to keep everything under control. Nobody is afraid to say stop work if conditions change and what we do is at the top end of caution required.

BUT

The issue is we do this and the NZ Safety rep for the main contractor will look at a safety plan following the latest workplace safety preferred method to access an area by machinery and refuse the method claiming a ladder is safer because of a risk that machinery hydraulic failure will leave us stranded 5metres up. I am sure I see a ladder as being the least desired method of notifiable height access possible on Workplace NZ standards. Big conflict of interests going on.

Actually, it doesn't matter if you are stuck up there for a bit, in the event of hydraulic failure, as long as there is a rescue plan (go get the ladder now), and you are not at risk of falling or being suspended.

[Voltaire]

Even at home I wont go higher on a ladder by myself if the height is further than what I want to fall from, eg feet above 2m say.... Most AC units would have fair bit of weight even the small ones.
Just tell em how expensive it will be to have their workplace closed for a whole day or more while an accident is investigated. The other things is no matter how good or competent you are, if your using something a lot sooner or later you will have a slip up by the law of averages, and that one moment is when having the right procedures in place matters.
Bit like truck drivers having to wear seatbelts, we go millions of km's without serious accident but when that moment comes that you need it, well it better be on...

Must make riding a motorcycle interesting

[Woodman]

So much of it seems to be an exercise in arse covering with improved safety being a by product.

Never a truer word spoken

[mossy1200]

Actually, it doesn't matter if you are stuck up there for a bit, in the event of hydraulic failure, as long as there is a rescue plan (go get the ladder now), and you are not at risk of falling or being suspended.

Exactly when there is a guy at the bottom and every one has got radios plus a scissor lift onsite and an emergency recovery system on the boom. Now all you need do is convince the suit that only leaves the ground in a plane you have the correct plan.

We were asked if we wanted a team building exercise involving both companies.
Go Carts is out because it involves racing.
Quad biking is out because it involves vehicles.
Paint ball is out because its firearm related.

What they came up with was visiting a rescue helicopter and looking at it from a distance and donating our own money towards the cause. Nice idea but didn't seem to take off.

We decided to do our own team bonding exercise. Involved getting very drunk and a strip show.