Good Luck Paul

Paul
As an employee, why not bring to the attention of the site safety man, Do proactive safety initiatives(PSI'S) which is like a workplace inspection but in more depth, and list all the concerns, its obviuos that the site safety advisor is not doing his job,

thank you guys for your input , it is valued i assure you ,

not sure where it will lead as having been told today there is possibly only 4 weeks work ( agency work im afraid ) agencies running construction !!!
ive seen it all !

i am going to see the h&s director next week as i have been assured he will be making a site visit , this way i can convince him directly why he needs another chap to help him ( me ) .

i will let let you guys know what king of response i receive .

thanks again

Paul - The role you are looking for will appear. Don't give up.

Hi

Remind him of his responsibilities and don't forget that a "Picture Paints a Thousand Words" good luck. If you have no joy Leeds/Sheffield HSE are very freindly guys that will help protect the vulnerable....

Ade

A concerning thread if there ever was one! Should one laugh or cry?

Isn't there something in legislation to protect persons who challenge matters on health and safety? If I could afford the time I might quickly refresh my memory on;

1. Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977
2. Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996
3. HSAWA 74

I might then look for the reg that offers such protection and probably find that this only applies to staff (but I might be surprised to find that the wording and interpretation may apply to a professional -probably not!).

I'd still take record of absolutely everything, photos, minutes and the likes -as there's no harm in doing so. Oh, and of the conversations like that above. I may even then have some defense of sorts should the HSE come knocking. At tribunal I might be able to challenge the claim that no work exists and they had to let me go.

I may even host consultation/committees with the staff (as per regs above) and seek their opinion on matters. Show them the photos -a pic speaks a thousand words. I might explain good practice vs bad practice. In doing so I might be using the staff as a tool to promote change. At this point I'd have already emptied my desk drawers, knowing that I was playing a high risk strategy and expecting my imminent departure.

Throughout, I'd know that I was working in an environment that I'd have to get out of and would be exhausting most of my efforts in finding a new post. I'd also know that I was on a hiding for nothing and that everything I could do (see above) was very unlikely to work in my favour.

Respect and sympathies.

just a update .

just had the phone call of the agency ,ive been put of hire .
i kid you not .
apparently a lack of work , but we all know even the agency guy said its because i questioned the fact about working within 600mm of live traffic !

22 years in the game & this is what its come down to .

this beggars belief . but truth be known i was never going to last really was i ?

despair over .

joe

Joe,

Sorry to hear you are out of work becuse you care.

There is nothing to stop you raising this with HSE now -is there?
The contractor & the site agent need sorting out

Who is the client?
they need advising the contactor is not working to contract

Go with the name & shame to the HSE.
If you have photos then send them also.

Good Luck with the job search

Joe

I have followed this thread for a while, and I am sorry to hear of your problems both on site with H&S issues and subsequently with the agency/work.

While I don't necessarily disagree with the 'name and shame' route, can I suggest that if you chose this course of action that you do so proportionately and be a little 'cunning' about it? If not I suspect that if you chose the 'nasty' route suggested that the only likely result will be to brand yourself as a 'trouble maker' and find yourself 'blacklisted'. That may not be 'right' but I suggest that that may be the reality.

Have you considered Public Concern at Work as well

Joe,

Sadley I have missed this thread early on, sorry to hear about your situation and i hope you have found something better.

I had a situation last year where i left my role as a Health and Safety Advisor and was stuck for working as a cherry picker driver for an agency whilst i continued to look for another Safety role.

One evening i came into work and did the pre checks on the machine i was going to be using, i noticed the hydrolic fluid was low as there had bee a slight leak, I told the site agent at the machine needed inspected before i would use it as i felt this was unsafe. Now being in a town centre shopping high street 3 weeks before Christmas, one could only assume the the site agent would use his brains and stop the job, instead he sat their and questioned my compitance as i was just a "Machine Operator/labourer" I then explained to my previous job role and qualfications to back me up (NEBOSH etc), He then said to me fine if you wont do it tonight i'll send somebody else up and get the machine fixed tomorrow. So another chap jumped on the machine and was up in the air for 10 minutes, then all of a sudden the hydrolic pump just burst sending oil everywhere, lucky enough the operative got down with no hassle, it did however shut down that section of the high street down whilst we cleared up.

The next day the agency phoned me telling me i was no longer required on the site as they didnt need a machine operator, so popped along that evening anyway and found a new bloke on the job.

Just shows what Safety means to some people