Posted By Barrie (Badger) Etter The situation: MD's father is allowed on site to help with some manufacturing 2 days a week - supervisor level I believe and confirmed as a non-employee. Nice chap must be approaching 70 (a guess) but still has his facualties - of what I've seen and heard. The down side: He seems to disregard some safety requirements or safe guards that I try to put in place. Or worse override them. My Predicament: I've only been with the company a year approx. (still the new boy - just) and the company is paying for part of my NVQ Dip course. All suggestions for a win-win outcome appreciated. Tearing my hair out - Badger

Posted By Tony abc jprhdnMurphy A great subject and a very interesting quandery, one that many Safety guys will come across at some point. Most of us have at some point wondered about the duty to manage/oversee/supervise others involved in a work activity so much so that there are still instances of blame culture attached to accidents. The big companies often use this as a stick to beat you with..."if you have an accident on my site I will throw you off" type attitude. The best advice is to show genuine concern for the safety of another individual, and record any conversation, training or advice that you give. At the end of the day you do not own his behaviour even though you feel part responsible. Incidentally if he kills himself as part of an unsafe practice it wont impact on your studies, although it may be a massive learning curve for all concerned.

Posted By Pete48 Barrie, how about a cup of tea together and a chat along the lines of "interesting how different generations do things, where did he learn his trade, bet you have seen some things etc". Not only will you learn a bit about a chap who sounds very interesting but also give yourself the chance to introduce the "current thinking". Then hopefully you will be able to appeal to him to support the approach that is needed and to also open the debate about the impact of the bosses Dad being allowed to do things that employees are not. If he has grandchildren they are a much more powerful lever than children if you want to use the personal approach, e.g if you have some staff who have grandchildren and might be hurt if they follow his example. Never any guarantee of success in these things but one thing for sure, quoting the law and practice at him is unlikely to do anything for your reputation with him or to change his approach. Us oldies have a sort of in-built, "I've survived this long so..." response to such quotations. Or even the oldest one of all, "rules are for the guidance of wise men and the control of fools.. and I ain't no fool". Good luck