Posted By Martin R. Bessant Peter, If the originator's name below the heading is blue in colour then they can be contacted directly via e-mail. It is not acceptable practice to place requests for copies as a response to a thread, but for the individual to contact the originator directly and request a copy. Threads which breach this convention are likely to be locked and no further responses allowed. There is therefore no need for IOSH to provide a new website forum for the purpose of responses for copies. I hope this clarifies the position. Martin Bessant - Lead Moderator.

Posted By Jeff Manion I place information on this page and state if you mail me direct am willing to provide and information - I do not therefore palce the organisation name and therefore not critisized for providing wjat could be commerical information and providing some form of commercial advantage.

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney Arran makes the most decisive comment; as far as IOSH is concerned it would be a minefield for them to approve copyright and protected documents. It is also possible that in an anxious endeavour to please, a respondent may not even be aware of copyright and thus opens the can of worms saga. Peter does make a great point though, alas, something’s are not possible and I agree with IOSH on this one, we will all help out with documents where possible and within the scope of our knowledge, I myself have done this on many occasions, I have subsequently seen my created document completely bas***ised and worth nothing in an attempt to change it forever. Ah well that's my penny's worth anyway. Charles

Posted By Arran Linton - Smith Can I clarify my (private) thoughts on this matter? 1. If you have been paid (as an employee) to produce documents or data, the copyright for this material belongs to your employer. 2. Arguably you have a duty to protect your employer’s property; after all they would not expect you to give away their computers or company cars etc. 3. If these documents are placed on a public web-site, has the employer specifically authorised this and is the employer even aware that this has been undertaken? 4. Who is liable for the content and accuracy of these documents? I suspect that if a professional document exchange scheme was to be properly established, each document published would have to be authorised its author’s employer and it would have to be vetted by a panel before it is submitted for publication on the web-site and that may take many weeks before the process could be completed.