Rank: Super forum user 
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As members of IOSH, if we see someone working unsafe, or putting themselves and/or others at risk, do we not have a moral duty to report it to the person or company, in the first instance or should we just walk on by?
Or am i reading point 14 incorrectly?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Moral duty is a personal thing and nothing to do with IOSH thank god.
Do what you feel is right franc
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Rank: Guest
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Sometime ago during the age when the HSE had a telecommunications system that one could use to speak to a human being I reported seeing a couple of guys dismantling roofs of a row of garages No protection evident, and just dropping sheets onto the pathway.
No one turned up to investigate and I was never called back.
I carried out my moral duty but if in the same or similar position I would have to say I would think twice.
Rich
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Frank, you don't give us much to go on. Clearly if the situation you describe is at your workplace and is within the responsibility of your job, then you have very clear duty, moral, legal, contractual or otherwise to either intervene or report depending on the circumstances.
If on the other hand the situation you describe is outside of your workplace and/or work responsibilities then the situation is less clear and for the most part I would suggest a matter of personal choice/conscience, depending o the circumstances, the level of risk and the people involved; for example if members of the public were being placed at risk then arguably you might feel there is a greater duty upon you to act. I think you have to strike a sensible balance between doing what is 'right' and being able to have a life outside of health and safety - that is not intended to be flippant.
Like other Codes of Conduct, the IOSH COC does include elements that are in part based on both ethical and moral duties, and in that respect there is something on an 'overlap'.
In saying all that, I don't think that CP 14 is really intended to cover the situation you describe.
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Rank: Super forum user
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canopener wrote:Frank, you don't give us much to go on.
I think you have to strike a sensible balance between doing what is 'right' and being able to have a life outside of health and safety - that is not intended to be flippant.
Like other Codes of Conduct, the IOSH COC does include elements that are in part based on both ethical and moral duties, and in that respect there is something on an 'overlap'.
In saying all that, I don't think that CP 14 is really intended to cover the situation you describe.
Thanks very much for your response and in no way would i consider it flippant. My question was based more on outside of my workplace and is probably due to the fact i fell 15 feet in 2004 and actually 'died' twice in an air ambulance on the way to hospital and ended up not walking for 9 months in that year. After receiving a total hip and thigh replacement and not being able to continue my chosen profession, i went back to college and Uni taking H&S courses. My experience has made me try and explain to people the 'what if' scenario, and the implications that may follow. The vast majority seem to appreciate it. I consider myself to be lucky to have any sort of life, never mind a life outside of H&S and that is probably the reason my conscience kicked in with the non harness wearing person in a boom type MEWP on a different thread. Thanks for your thoughts on CP 14. I can see both sides ie the overlap and whether it's intended for H&S professionals in general.
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Rank: Forum user
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Nowt to do with 'eye osh' regulations, its about each of us as a person.
Even if I wasn't in this industry, I'd still point it out if someone was doing something in an unsafe manner.
I was unlucky enough to witness a death on a construction site when I was 17, this poor soul fell off a scaffold built in a lift shaft and hit every support pole on the way down.
The screaming stopped after about 4 floors I think.
Turns out he had removed a handrail, forgot about it, stepped back and....................
Now I couldn't have influenced this chaps decision even if I saw him do it, but it left its mark on me and I've pointed out unsafe acts ever since, the abuse you get is like water off a ducks back now.
I use the poem 'I Could Have Saved a Life That Day' a lot in any presentations I do, I don't want to tell myself 'But I Chose to Look the Other Way'
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Rank: Super forum user
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ctd167 wrote:Nowt to do with 'eye osh' regulations, its about each of us as a person.
Even if I wasn't in this industry, I'd still point it out if someone was doing something in an unsafe manner.
I was unlucky enough to witness a death on a construction site when I was 17, this poor soul fell off a scaffold built in a lift shaft and hit every support pole on the way down.
The screaming stopped after about 4 floors I think.
Turns out he had removed a handrail, forgot about it, stepped back and....................
Now I couldn't have influenced this chaps decision even if I saw him do it, but it left its mark on me and I've pointed out unsafe acts ever since, the abuse you get is like water off a ducks back now.
I use the poem 'I Could Have Saved a Life That Day' a lot in any presentations I do, I don't want to tell myself 'But I Chose to Look the Other Way' Never thought of it that way. I witnessed a steel erector fall 120 ft to his death on Drax Power Station in 1991 due to wearing a harness and not being clipped on. Maybe that's the reason my personal choice kicks in if i see someone taking a risk at height or committing an unsafe act on the ground. Keep up the good work.
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