Given that as H&S practitioners we have a legal duty to provide fit-for-purpose advice and, as far as I know courts have handed down penalties on consultants who have failed in their duty could the advice 'we' give here lead to criminal charges being brought against us?

I ask this because I have seen some very dodgy electrical advice given out here on times. I dare say some of you in different fields have seen the same. The people who listen to us have no real way of knowing if any of us really know what we are talking about. It's the chance you take when taking advice from, for the most part, anonymous people I guess. For my part, I'm more than happy for people to see my real name so that I can be held to book via linkedin etc. and my qualifications can be viewed (for better or worse)

Yes, I too haven seen stupendously poor advice and the inability to comprehend properly the issues at hand on here, sometimes frankly dangerous advice too, though fortunately that is less frequent. There are many other who just want advice, but then whinge if they don't like or understand it, criticise, and in so doing mis-inform others.

More than the legal situation here - hiding behind a false name seems to let people shirk responsibility - it is what happens and particularly what goes wrong when they get back to work that should be of greatest concern.

But then, are they only there to advise?

And as far as providing a link, I have to say how much that amuses me. Of course, sometimes it is well-intentioned and can be helpful but ask a question and there will be 2 or 3 who will look up the answer on Google for you, often within minutes.

What's that all about? Do it yourself; let them do it themselves! Then you can judge at least whether you have the right answer, or a balance of answers, and from authoritative sources. It's part of the learning process, learning also how to search for information, to sift and sort information, and to analyse critically the information that you have found.

Then again, you could go back to the workplace and say it must be OK, WibGnT66 said so. And if WibGnT66 got it wrong .....

“..could the advice 'we' give here lead to criminal charges being brought against us?”

In short, I think that this is highly unlikely. First things first this is a PUBLIC DISCUSSION forum. Although people do ask for ‘advice’ and some give ‘advice’ I would suggest that this is not the primary purpose of the forum.

I don’t disagree that some of the advice, as well intentioned as it might (or might not) be, is ‘poor’ or at least not always ‘robust’. Some of the ‘blame’ though rests with the original post/poster. Countless times questions are posed with the flimsiest of details with the expectation of a reasoned response. Posts are often about where liability rests. Similarly it never ceases to amaze me how easily people are able to determine where the liability rests on the basis of very little information (where courts would be stumped to arrive at any reasoned judgement) Of course many questions are not related to liability but the above does serve to illustrate how some people manage to jump in both feet first. Similarly I never cease to be amazed at the number of responses that provide ‘advice’, often a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without providing some reasoning or justification. On the other hand, and to add some balance, I believe that there is some good advice here and that there are a number of aspects to our work, and for that matter the law, where there aren’t any black or white answers, but many shades of grey (don’t even think about going there!) where there will be a number of differing views and opinions, based on the information provided. This seems to me, to be entirely normal.

In the highly unlikely event that a poster on here were to face criminal charges for any advice that they had given on these forums, then somewhere along the line the person who used the (and we must assume incorrect) advice in the first place would have to deny liability on the basis that they took advice from the forum; and from some essentially unknown person and unknown quantity i.e. it is unlikely that they would have any idea as to the ‘competency’ of the person who has given the advice. For the main part it is the employers’ responsibility to ensure that they are getting competent assistance. I think they and ‘you’ would be very hard pressed to defend yourselves on the basis that you had taken advice from this forum (see above). I wouldn’t want to defend myself in court by saying ‘Not my fault m’lord, some bloke on the internet called ‘yoda’ told me what I needed do” Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, sorry, as wise as the little green fella might be, I can’t see any court wearing that one. Nor do I see them chasing after yoda either.

As an aside, some people do use pseudonyms rather than their real names for a number of reasons. This forum along with many others allows for this, and in fairness any requirement for people to provide their real name is almost certainly doomed to fail. Just because people use a pseudonym doesn’t mean that they necessarily have some sort of sinister or nefarious reason for doing so. I certainly think it doubtful that the majority are doing so to avoid the possibility of being potentially liable for any ‘advice’ offered or to shirk responsibility.

In summary anyone asking for and taking advice from this forum would be wise to try and establish the the accuracy of that advice; that is your responsibility. In particular don’t take the advice at face value in the belief that you can pass the buck onto a poster on this forum; I would very much doubt you can.

Speaking for myself, I dont use the forum as a place to ask for advice (weird as that sounds!)

I,m just one of those people that needs to fully understand things for myself as opposed to asking someone for their opinions / views / advice;....and if / when I cant suss the issue out, then i,ll speak to an expert in that particular field to guide me to enlightenment.

Only when I have satisfied myself would I dream of passing on the advice. :-)

FWIW,
I never search Google for any advice I give on here, it is either ingrained in my brain, from y personal competence, or is referenced from BS's or other official or quasi legal documents.
Else there would be no point in my posting it!

Thanks chaps.

I use a pseudonym for a couple of reasons:
1. never met anyone with my combination of names - google my name and find references to me from a hobby I used to indiulge in (hasten to add nothing sinister about hobby or reference)
2. I might be asking for advice about about changing jobs / something to do with current job etc .. which might not go done too well with current employer
3. I always post during work times (much better network access than at home)

Just so that nobody looking at this forum misunderstands or places undue reliance on anything they read, it seems appropriate to repeat yet again a plea for the forum to display a clear disclaimer of the sort which it used to display.

Some other website forums and media publications include disclaimers. For example, the property pages of my local newspaper often include a section in which a local lawyer responds to questions from readers about legal problems involving property, wills, etc. It always concludes with a disclaimer advising readers that the responses are for general interest/information and therefore no reliance should be placed on them with regard to similar or other scenarios. No doubt the disclaimer serves to protect both the newspaper publisher and the lawyer (who also benefits through good publicity for himself and his company).

That seems a bit unfair.

There are times to stand up and be counted but I wouldn't necesarily say that a forum is one of them. If people choose to use a pseudonym that's their choice (for thier own reasons) and nothing underhand or suspicious about it in my book. Live and let live.

Irwin43241 wrote:
Pseudonym wrote:
I use a pseudonym for a couple of reasons:
1. never met anyone with my combination of names - google my name and find references to me from a hobby I used to indiulge in (hasten to add nothing sinister about hobby or reference)
2. I might be asking for advice about about changing jobs / something to do with current job etc .. which might not go done too well with current employer
3. I always post during work times (much better network access than at home)

Hide away if you want to. That's your choice. There are times when you have to stand up and be counted. "Tip toe through the tulips".............................

So Mr Irwin43241 - what does it say on your driving licence / passport?
I am standing up to be counted (at work where it matters) see my other post about about Group H&S!!

Well good for you Mr/Mrs/Ms Irwin - still pretty anonymous though

I dont have to take your advice - well meaning or not. I asked for advice - you do not know the situation currently with Group H&S, and no, I'm not going to elaborate.

Some of the above posts have been helpful -- others not so helpful

Your opinion is just that, an opinion and a fairly worthless one in my opinion.

I'll do what I think fit and proper, I dont really care what you do, as you seem to be a rude and presumptious person, fullof your own self importance - well that could be an opinion anyway

This topic has been returned to the forums. If you decide to contribute to the topic please try to stay on subject.

The OP asked "could the advice 'we' give here lead to criminal charges being brought against us?"

thank you

IOSH Moderating Team

Cheers all. Thanks Ray