Posted By Jonathan Breeze Because bucolic 60+ year olds who wear tweed don't do chilled! Unless we're talking Tanqueray & tonic that is... :)

Posted By Jonathan Breeze I particularly enjoyed the irony of the thread title though, all in capitals as if shouted because of frustration.

Posted By David Thomas like other regulars I also combine H&S with another job - Facilities Management. there are many days when I wonder if it is all worthwhile, when restricting parking due to contractor access, blocking a corridor due to contractors working overhead, stopping contractors from using a fire door to get their equipment in for the night shift. They just dont understand it is for their own safety we do things. but in the end it must be all worthwhile, no fatalities (well not recently anyway), no bruises, no broken limbs, just the odd paper cut cos someone tried to shuffle too fast. H&S and the restrictions it puts on us and others is ensuring everyone goes home at night, there are no widows/orphans. It isnt too many years since that was a regular occurance, now people die of non-work related illness or old age. Maybe not a bad thing.

Posted By Peter Longworth just as a matter of interest, what is the mortality or morbidity rate amongst TV presenters

Posted By David A Jones Interesting point from Aidan. I for one quite happily tell people I work in health and safety - and then having taken the usual round of jokes, explain their view is misinformed and that the job is both beneficial to society as a whole, is interesting, and does not need to be categorised as nit-picking. However, my experience of SOME of the advice that SOME of our colleagues provide is OTT and is not and should not be defended. in other words we sometimes (as a profession) make a rod for our own backs. We must act as professionals and be able to justify are advice, otherwise we will continue to get these jibes at our chosen career.

Posted By Nigel Hammond Havn't you been in the situation when you tell someone what you do for a living and they say "wow that sounds really interesting" (Not with any notible sarcastic tone). I feel really awkward when people do that. Are they taking the p*ss? are they just being polite? or do they really think H&S is interesting. If people are dismissive about H&S it annoys me. If they are complimentary, I feel awkward! Maybe deep down, I sense that H&S is not that interesting to normal people and that I only enjoy my job because it saves lives and fascinates me in a geeky kind of way.

Posted By mark d. smith Enjoyed this one.... Many times in public gatherings (i.e. the pub, b-b-ques, parties & quiet nights in, the wife accuses my of being "Mr Safety".......) But as i've explained to her time & time again, if it was'nt for me performing a HAZOP study on the washing machine castors, she would'nt get half the use out of it that she originally planned. Just because were the only family in the street that carries out fire evacuations on a monthly basis does'nt mean were weird in any way..... And just because I wear steel toe caps, shin protectors, hearing protection, goggles, hi-visibility vest, sun screen & non-existant vibration proof gloves, even though i've contracted out the mowing of the lawn to a third party utalising a permit to work system does not mean i'm goin over the top. Just can't understand her, women ehh! Regards, Mr Safety

Posted By Raymond Rapp My philosophy is quite simple and is borne from experience - those that complain the most about h&s are the first to come 'knocking' when it suits their purpose. Anyway, I have been a train driver on for the the Underground for the last twenty years, now that is a stigma! Ray

Posted By el nino I've met a lot of health and safety people and a lot of them are boring and deserve a good slap, which is odd because health and safety is an interesting subject. It may all be about profile. Health and safety should be seen as a business control tool, something which makes money for the business ( or saves money if you are a local authority ). Safety folk need to grasp this. We also need to be seen to be saying "yes" more than "no". It is easy to stop a job because it is unsafe but the skill comes in being able to make sure any job can be done as safely as possible.

Posted By Lord Lucan Interesting discussion this... I must admit personally, I find things really heavy going at times and in my first few years I was one who didn't fly it from the flagpole that I was in the H&S industry. But in recent times I sense, albeit slow, a slight wind of change. Something that made my day this week was meeting someone that I trained in basic H&S about 3 years ago, constrcution worker onto site. He asked me for some advice, he's now going for NEBOSH cert and wants a future in H&S - enjoyed my training so much he decided.... well it made me feel good anyway... Must hold on to these crumbs, keeps you going you know.

Posted By Merv Newman All of this week a major client has "inflicted" me on 9 suppliers (2 per day) to do a brief safety management audit. Their lives or their jobs don't actually depend on the results and one or two even thought of resisting the audits but all complied. Results so far have been very variable : small companies, 30 to 50 employees, some belong to larger companies, some have good results (0 LTI for two years) some are bad ("don't know how many, but quite a few") One has OHSAS 18001, another has a full time EHS person (no qualifications) EVERY one of the senior managers I have talked to had a very good knowledge of what they SHOULD be doing and, I think that, within the limits of their budgets and knowledge, they are trying to improve the safety of their workers. And they know it can be done (example is our client who has cut his LTI rate by 80% over 3 years) So, I get very good feedback from the people I work with, they feel (there may be some awful liars among them) that elf & safety is a "good thing" and they are trying to do better. And I freely admit on social occasions that I am a safety consultant. Hey I'm proud of it ! I may not be a great, handsome guy (am I still on the right thread) I just admit to being a hunk with a high IQ. Hilary, sylvia, Zoe, (both of you), I think of you as beautiful, with extremely high IQs who show lots of patience with us children. Merv

Posted By Mark Talbot The people who think like Clarkson are the people who have never worked with an experienced H&S professional. None of my friends dare hint at me being a geek ... we all play with steel swords of a weekend [when not travelling to F1 races] - and I do the training, so I know where to hit to get the best "Ouch!" I am pleased to say that I have never stopped a job longer than it takes to put it right ... it is our purpose to keep people working - that's the whole point. I am a working class bloke that thinks safety is a worker's absolute right.... unless danger money is specifically negotiated and separately paid. Negative stereotypes never stops a person going to a lawyer, estate agent, librarian, when they need to ... All said and done though, it would be a lot easier not to have to break the barriers down each time, eh?