oh&s gone to far, page-21

I'm all for health and safety. Note I left out the word occupational. Safety needs to be observed at home, work and in public. Everyone owes it to themselves, their families and everyone around them to behave in a safe manner and to look out for the safety of others. We all want to end the day in the same manner we started it.

However. I worked in the steel industry for 24 years. I tend to agree with bruceyg in many aspects. I've seen productivity stifled with excess layers of 'safety.' Usually it's a knee jerk reaction to an incident caused by an employee who wasn't using common sense or taking a short cut. I assure anyone that incidences like the grinder do exist and they are not the result of a Union play, more from an over zealous OHS policy.

I've seen dual lane 9.6m wide driveways closed with 'scissor' gates, trucks flagged on each corner, stand alone platform ladders to access the truck, platforms along the truck to transverse the length and a harness because the truckie is off the ground. How's that for productivity? I forgot to mention a pre operational crane and equipment check at the start of every shift (3 shifts). Management soon learnt to be careful for what they wished for. How many chain links in 2 lengths of 2.4m chains? Anyone want to check wear for elongation and gouges 3 times a day, and multply that by several sets of equipment over 20 bays. And don't forget the poor truck (on tonnage, time is money), trying to exit in one way traffic but meets the cottoned wooled truck being unloaded.

That is a small snap shot of how Zero Harm turned into Zero Work.

I'm all for safety. You don't work with Profiles, Plasmas, Bandsaws processing 6mm rod right through to 10t slabs or 18m welded beams dressed in shorts. Or using 16t magnet lifting cranes whilst standing by your load.

Safety has a strong presence. And I respect some of the implementations where for the best and at great expense for the company. But I do have to agree that some of 'safety' goes off on a tangent.

Has anyone noticed that helmets out doors are now more common? Blanketed across the work site rather than to be used if there is overhead work being performed or you're in the swing radius of an excator, for example. It's unfortunate that a few inept workers ruin it for the majority who can use and remove PPE according to the task being performed.

And I'm offering $100 to the first person who can prove they installed handrails and used a harness when they climbed the roof to clean the gutters. And of course no one here mows the lawn in shorts and thongs. Seriously, I wear longs, hard hat with ear protection and safety glasses.

I respect safety needs Acts to make it compulsory. I also respect that some laws within the Acts should've remained guidelines.

It's a complex issue but I agree that a set of laws handballed to the workers or bosses isn't going to stop injuries or death. I don't see it as a blame game.