Having been a minor contributor to this forum and reading posts almost on a daily basis for the last few years I find it somewhat disconcerting that the majority of Health and Safety Practitioners are loath to help when it comes to providing useful checklists, RAMS etc which could be easily made site specific by the person making the request. The usual answer a poster gets is you must do your own stuff – there are exceptions. I once passed on to a colleague who I did not know (somewhere in the north of England) a full set of RAMS for maintaining buildings. (His computer system had crashed and he had lost everything and his company were due an imminent inspection). It was no skin off my nose to help a fellow practitioner. Why do most of you jealously guard your stuff as if it was copy write? Rich

Rich I often pass on documents to colleagues using this form, but I also appreciate the reasons for those who do not wish to do so. I will draw the line at certain requests, for instance, where I believe the person is just being downright lazy or missing an opportunity to learn something from doing an assessment. Ray

a) For some of us it is! b) I have provided stuff in the past and people have replied pointing out spelling mistakes and how they would do it better (honestly!) Gotta love these forums and some of the people on it. A few ruin it for the many :( sad times! However - in theory I agree and always try and help fellow practicianers where possible, In my opinion we are all here to make the world safer. However - as Terry Prachett once said - Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day.... Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life :)

teh-boy Point taken about copy write. Give a man food aid and he feeds for a week. Give a man the seeds to grow food and he eats forever. Rich

Rich I agree that we should help each other, and I have supplied templates to people in the past. The issue I have with some of the request I read is that they may be two general such as - can you send me a risk assessment for a confined space or a rescue plan for work at height. I don't mind supplying advice to people I know who I realise will personalise this information to their situation but I would be slightly worried if I did not know the person that a work at height rescue plan that I had developed may be totally inappropriate for their situation if they just tried to implement it as it stood.

Thats my attitude too. In the days of the old forum, I gave someone a Manual Handling training PPT I had written. I later saw it on e-bay complete with my copyright stamp!

I don’t. Jealously guard stuff that is. I am generally more than happy to share, and have done so on a number of occasions and I often see people coming forward on this forum offering to share. In my experience most SPs will and do share. I take Brains point which is that you shouldn’t assume that the same wheel fits all circumstances. There is always the risk though that the wheel that you have passed on will be taken totally at face value as being fit for the purpose of the person receiving, that it complies with ‘the law’ or guidance etc or to the circumstances of the ‘receiver’. It might not be and might not do. I have little doubt that some of the less experienced among us might just take the wheel and run with it. The other key issue for me is whether the person who did the original work was competent to do so, is it accurate, has it considered all of the relevant factors etc. So, while you might ask for some help (as also do) to prevent reinventing the wheel from scratch I suggest you don’t assume that it is entirely what you need, or that it is ‘correct’ and that you should use it as something of a starting point, to develop, modify and if necessary improve rather than simply bolting it into place. I’m sure it happens! I also take Rays point. I also despair at times with some of the questions asked, or requests made when a simple Google or a simple search of the HSE website would elicit the answer or information sought. If the poster has time and ability to post the question, then …………….. This was the case with a recent thread; the answer was found in (literally) a few seconds via the miracle of Google. Provided the link and subsequently further ‘direction’. Any thanks? Zip!

Yup - you'd get nothing from me mate :) @walker - How much did it sell for? I think I've got some stuff, Stuff sent me - posting to ebay....... NOW :) As I said a few people ruin it for everyone!

teh-boy Are you serious - SPs selling other peoples stuff on ebay? Victor Meldrew would say "I don't believe it" haven't heard from Victor lately - he must have taken an early Xmas holiday - good for him if I'm right. Rich

Just to try and keep this topic in perspective, there are other channels by which OS&H practitioners do swap information and help each other. For example in North West England most advisers who work with schools are members of SAFLEA (Safety Advisers for Local Education Authorities) which is a sub-section of the Public Services Section (PSS) of the IOSH Manchester & North West Districts Branch. Because of geographical and other constraints it's not always easy for SAFLEA members to get to meetings held every 2 months or so. However, thanks to information technology nowadays, we can all keep in touch via e-mails. This includes pleas for help from time to time with guidance and policy documents about different subjects. I've shared some of the material I've devised for my employer and have also benefited from other people's material. One advantage of this system is that we tend to know or know of each other, so we're not giving material to unknown people. Also, it's good professional courtesy to acknowledge other people's work (whether used in full or in part) and help. I've heard of cases where OS&H people have seen their own material reproduced word for word in documents produced by other organisations and with no hint of any acknowledgement to themselves or at least their own organisations. Okay, there are probably few wholly original documents in OS&H: Most of us who compose documents tend to use other people's ideas and bits from other existing documents. Some of the guidance documents I've composed over the years have been based on HSE material - in which case I've mentioned this briefly at the start of such documents, and quoted the HSE documents as sources of further information at the end. If readers know that the documents are based on advice from HSE as the main UK enforcing authority, this surely helps give them a reasonable degree of validity.

Hey Rich I regually pass on info where I can, even went for an interview to be told my risk assmt method was still in used years later after passing it on ... and no I didn't get the job =O{ Badger.

It would be nice to have an area on the IOSH website to post things for others to share and comment on. I guess it could also log those who just drop by and help themselves all the time without making a contribution?

Yes - but better because it would be IOSH!

Interesting debate - I have shared and been passed to me over the years plenty of templates and examples of compliance documents - none of us do anything that is much different anyhow - in essence with RAMS and such its all on the Internet anyhow. Ray Rapp shared with me only last week and 18001 checklist I have sent checklist on L8 out to a few posters this week - I have no issue with this. Where I do have an issue and I wont share, with anyone I don't know and trust, are the smart tools you develop from your management systems and processes where your graft has developed successful management tools in managing risk and ensuring compliance. I sit on industry forums and I will share these tools with like minded folk but I have too have been victim of my good nature and I have seen my processes copied one by a large insurance company and another one an accident investigations by a UK major port and importer. You want to help people but some will just take - that’s a fact.

quote=rich777] Why do most of you jealously guard your stuff as if it was copy write? Rich

I hope you submitted an invoice!