Posted By Ron Young I'm sorry, I must be having a sense of humour failure but this thread is the biggest load of chutney that I've seen on this site for ages and it does nothing for us as safety practitioners. At a time when we're fighting to be taken seriously as a profession and when we face ridicule in the press on an almost daily basis, I fail to see why this childish thread has been allowed for so long by the moderators. Is it because some of our more "respected" members have contributed? Before I send this thread to Jeremy C for comment, get it off, please

Posted By Richard Chalkley Ron, We all take H&S very seriously but it really helps to let of some steam occasionally. If it offends you to use this forum for this now and again I'll return to the Restaurant at the end of the Universe with my friend Zaphod for another Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. Wibble, Wibble, Dent, Arthur Dent.

Posted By MichaelM Ron Why are you responding to a thread you think is so obviously beneath you? In answer to your question I am on this planet as a visitor but you would need a babelfish to understand the full name of my homeworld. By the way, if this thread hasn't been closed down yet it is may be because they realise we are having a bit of harmless blowing off of steam to allow us to do our jobs which are difficult at the best of times and it is amusing to most. Anyway on a serious note, lets keep those caught up in the blasts in London in our minds.

Posted By Martin Harney If ever a thread on a discussion forum illustrated the fact that we are a diverse lot then this is it! One man’s meat is another man’s poison and all that……. Not everyone finds Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy hilariously funny, I’m informed that some people find Basil Fawlty merely cringeworthy and others actually have been known to laugh at the Chuckle Brothers!?! Personally speaking, I’ve found that having a laugh is the best form of stress relief I’ve come across in many years working in H&S [and it is refreshing to know that other Health and Safety practitioners do have a sense of humour!] Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a separate area on the forum purely for letting off steam and indulging in a bit of stress relief. How about an Indolent Procrastination section? Then anyone who never felt the inclination to contribute to any topic other than one of a health and safety nature could happily avoid visiting………………………

Posted By Gilly Margrave Are you tired? Are you bored? Then why not get a life. Impress friends and wow relatives with your life. Remember a life is not just for Christmas, you may also use it at other gatherings throughout your social calendar. Additional accessories are available, including the personality, with charm, whit and magnetism options. Remember, a life is not available in any shops, please just check any shop assistant for confirmation of this fact. (with thanks to wibblemeister John Cheesman)

Posted By Heather Collins No Merv of course he didn't mean YOU - you weren't contributing, you were merely starting. WE were contributing. I wasn't too keen with the way "respected" was in inverted thingys though - what is that saying? I haven't written any special poetry yet, but I'm going to pop off and read something about chaos theory so I can say something intelligent about it later. Heather

Posted By Brett Day PS: Have shown this to some non safety collegues as 'evidence' that we are not all a bunch of humourless Whatsits. Had them going for a good half hour !

Posted By Nick TM Patience Some very important issues have been aired here, although not necessarily directly related to Merv's original post! I am relieved that fellow H&S professionals actually have a sense of humour. However back to the point of the original post, the Conkers Risk assessment potential having no intermediate values, this I believe is due to the general public's (and to an extent) H&S professional's PERCEPTION of risk. Much has been written about this in other places but there are many factors which influence this (hence it may seem chaotic). Any system which includes the behaviour of complex animals (including humans) is difficult to model. Some of these factors are: Dread (fear of the risk or its consequences) Media representation Feeling of control (I'm driving the car -I'm in control) Old (Understood?) Risk vs New (unquantified?) risk Value systems/beliefs How "easy" is the risk to deal with? Voluntary vs Compulsory exposure to the risk (Mis)Understanding of statistics Credibility of the experts Time passed since previous event Numbers of people likely to be affected in a single episode. And many others How do the general public deal with all of the above? I feel that they don't - it is much easier for them to percieve risks as either: a) Not a risk or b) It is a risk - what is the company/council/HSE/government doing 'bout it. Previous prescriptive legislation also helped to reinforce this type of view - one example being the now repealed "two metre rule" i.e. under two metres do nothing (or next to nothing) over two metres fit guardrails, issue harnesses etc. Modern "goal-setting" legislation tries to get around this by the use of risk assessment to decide what to do. However this presupposes that the person undertaking the risk assessment is actually able to really quantify the risk. The next action needed is the COMMUNICATION of that assessment and the protective measures in a understandable and meaningful way.

Posted By Heather Collins Lorraine Your prejudice is showing. Dismissing all sci-fi fans as "anoraks" makes you as bad as those who dismiss all safety professionals as humourless jobsworths. Glass houses, stones. BTW I don't think I've owned an anorak since I was about eleven. Heather

Posted By Mike Craven The only comments I've been able to really agree with on this thread are those from Ron and Lorraine. The thread has now attracted the best part of 60 responses and some might claim that it has generated a lot of debate and shown that the H&S community has a sense of humour. On the other hand, one might point out that a handful of respondents have posted several contributions which are actually far less amusing than the contributors think they are. I apologise for saying this but, as I read through the thread, I can't help but picture a group of high-brow intellectuals, giggling into their anoraks, as they try to think of the next amazingly witty thing to post. Ok, Yes. - most of this thread has gone right over my head!! - which is probably why I haven't laughed at any of it. Some time ago, someone suggested that we need a separate forum where people can look at issues in a more light-hearted way. Does anyone know whether/how such a facility may be set-up. I think we need it in order that us real "anoraks" can get back to discussing proper H&s issues!!! Mike

Posted By Gilly Margrave Perhaps one solution would be to come to a gentlebeings agreement that all light hearted threads should include the word "wibble" in the heading so that our more stone-faced colleagues would know not to open threads which may upset their sensibilities. On the other hand perhaps non-wibble threads should also indicate their wibble-free nature. If non-wibble threads inadvertently contain words or topics which could lead to wibblery the wibblers could agree to start a new thread indicating that it is a wibble cross-reference to a wibble free zone. Sorry to be (almost) sensible on a Friday - I intend to rectify the situation immediately by ingesting some exotic compounds of ethanol. By the way it's far too hot to wear my anorak today so I shall immediately purchase a base-ball cap with a suggestive slogan which I will wear backwards thereby keeping the sun off my neck whilst maintaining me wibblecred. Gilly

Posted By chrys r martin Hi Mikey wibble, Does the term "cray wibble" refer / link to the earlier posting by Heather Collins "wibble - wibble (cray)fish, banana ? Apologies to the more serious members for being so flippant!