Posted By Paul Price I agree with you to an extent but, the advice does not have to be taken as Gospel and surely you would seek confirmation on any advice you take action on. After all its only advice.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze I suppose it depends how individuals use the forum really. I personally use it to bounce ideas off folk to see if I've got the right idea in interpreting guidance or tackling an issue. However, occasionally a posting may give pause for thought or lead to investigations in other areas. On the whole, it is the totality of the responses that counts rather than any one comment. I never consider it as definitive guidance, for that I need to go to ACOP's and case law etc. It's more like 'ask the audience' in Millionaire and I think perhaps users (especially the non-safety professionals who visit) need to be aware of that.

Posted By Phil H without wishing to sit on the fence I can see both sides to this discussion. It can be annoying sifting through tongue in cheek advice trying to get a sensible answer but I have found that there are members who do give useful info-even if it is threads to other web pages. I tend to use the technical service for specific details and help.

Posted By Frank Hallett Interesting point Anon - but there is definitely a serious element of "recipient [whoever they are] beware" involved! The complaint - for that is what it is - regarding the quality of some comments is valid; but who will provide a sufficiently robust definition of sensible against which to definitively measure any publicly offered comments? Readers of these Forums may believe that they are entitled to consider that the views expressed are based upon definable competence; but that isn't a given, nor is it a requirement to be able to post threads nor to respond on these Forums. Ultimately, it will be the scorn, derision and worse that such comments will publicly attract that will define whether the H,S,F&E community at large considers any particular comment to have been "sensible". As with others, I have occassionally provided a response that has been, for one reason or another, been challenged by others, [sometimes quite viciously] or met with those strange brands of humour that only ever consistantly prove that the printed form of humour generally fails to translate when read - I accept that as soon as I hit the "Post response" button that I have quite literally made myself a target and have no control over the subsequent responses. I do howver, always attempt to be accurate. The second paragraph of the initial post is intriguing and holds a hidden threat for someone - I beleive that you should contact that person directly and discuss your concerns, if it was me I would wish you to do that after all. Frank Hallett

Posted By Frank Hallett Part 2 - hit the "Post response" button too early dammit. The legal implications could be considerable for a known professional who is known to be at a given level of competence because they provide a ready trail as to their identity; and, the world out there is rightly entitled to expect a given degree of accurracy. For someone who is not known, or who is not readily identifiable, the penalties are different. Really regretting responding to this as I detest being so pedantic. Do we get to discuss the real issue of the alleged "duff advice" or not? Frank Hallett

Posted By Mike Draper This is a chat forum. It's informal. If you want genuine legal advice, as a member you pick up the phone and dial 0116 257 3199. The number is on your membership card.

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney I'm picking up where Frank left off; 'do we get to discuss duff advice or not'? What is duff advice? If the person who it is offered to has no idea if it is correct or not then they really ought not to be asking the question in the first place. Like others I often need an ISBN number or a pointer to an ACOP or a number from the HSG series, this information is always available from kind folks on the forum; if I get the incorrect information I start again, (mind you, usually someone points out the error anyway) With so many experts here on this forum how on earth could ‘duff’ advice be given? It will be picked up by a fellow poster only to pleased to point out 'the previous response may not have given the precise information required and I suggest you look at.......' I do not imagine for one minute any information freely given as a humble opinion would stand a lot of chance in court anyway, should that advice be incorrect and lead to a serious prosecutable offence I would be surprised if a jury thought it very professional that a person/s relied only on an H&S forum. I see the forum as a means to expand ones knowledge when & where appropriate, it therefore follows that I do not think anyone in a position of responsibility would rely on advice here, I imagine they are wishing to be informed where to look to get the definitive information. But then again...................................................... CFT

Posted By anon1234 Just for information, the 'duff' advice I was concerned about has been addressed. I would agree with the previous posts and state that as a 'professional' safety adviser I would not take just one answer on this forum as gospel but consider its merits - however some people may not do this especially if this advice has been posted by someone who (shall we say) has a certain reputation and consequent attached credibility. For the inexperience person the problem can be compounded when they have asked for assistance and only get 1 or 2 responses - this is why I must admit I do like to see postings that don't add anything new but merely agree with previous responses (obviously not to the extent that we end up with hundreds of postings saying 'I agree')

Posted By Robert K Lewis Let us be metaphysical for the moment - Is there any such thing as TRUTH, also known as absolute right or wrong. Thus can any advice be truly called duff when it promotes vigorous debate around the issues. I am aware that many answers are given that do not totally hit the mark, but this can often be due to a lack of adequate, detailed knowledge of the situation offered in the original posting. Is the respondent at fault for trying to prompt potential solutions? I doubt it. Professionals need to weigh up advice given and its source before making a decision and use of responses is thus the original poster's responsibility. Bob

Posted By Mark Mace I am fairly new to this subject of Health and Safety (only three years), however as i read these forums on a regular basis i have always believed that advice is only the posters opinion or personal experience in most cases, if a poster replies with a definitive answer i like to see reference to H&S law or acops etc, at this point i then go and read said item. However if there is no definitive answer i always contact a known profesional, if after this i still cannot get it straight then i would employ a consultant. I would like to see however the position of posters displayed in some form as it is possible for non professionals to post opinions that may or may not be completely acurate. There are one or two people (they no who they are) who i have noted to give good sensible advice on where to receive further information and understanding, please those of you who do post continue your inputs into the discussions as this is helping to shape us newbies into proper professionals. Regards to All.