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#1 Posted : 30 January 2001 14:30:00(UTC)
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Posted By Ron Young I read with interest the recent TUC poll of safety reps 'Focus on Health and Safety' which stated that the top three concerns amongst them were stress, Back strain & RSI's). All of these conditions are pertinent to an office based environment. Will there now be a concensus of opinion that there is no such thing as a low risk environment, the main thing being how well the risk is managed?
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#2 Posted : 30 January 2001 16:34:00(UTC)
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Posted By Frank Neville Johnson Ron Unless those using the term 'Low Risk' are prepared to define what they mean in terms whether the risk is reasonable in the circumstances of the case, then I think it can mean almost anything you like. We have a system of defining statutory fire precautions in the fire service as Low, Medium and High but unless the building achieves the minimum requirements for the 'Low Risk' categortisation even 'Low Risk' is unacceptable. Regards Frank
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#3 Posted : 02 February 2001 12:19:00(UTC)
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Posted By Stuart Nagle Ron. I disagree. Back strain, stress and RSI could be suffered as a result of working in a warehouse just as easily as an office environment !! Also, as an exception, how would you define a lower risk when working in a high risk envorinment? would this low risk then equate with a low risk in another working environment? how are you propsing to quantify that all low risks are the same? it appears they are not !! Stuart Nagle
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#4 Posted : 02 February 2001 13:47:00(UTC)
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Posted By Ron Young Hi Stuart, I agree with you and by you comment, you appear to agree with me. By my posting I was attempting to state that contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a low risk environment. After working in the manufacturing sector for several years, I moved to a mainly office based environment and have never been busier dealing with same problems mentioned in the TUC report and I was surprised at the enormity of the task in attempting to put WORKABLE & ACCEPTABLE systems in place. It is not as easy as people think. In response to your question on low risk in a high risk environment, I would define this as a well controlled and managed system of work which reduces a high risk situation to a lower acceptable risk e.g. a large circular saw in a sawmill that is enclosed and fenced off to prevent access to the exposed dangerous parts and also reduces noise to reasonable levels.
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