Posted By J Knight Mark, You're not the first person to express similar sentiments, and I have to say I heartily agree. There is no shame in asking for help, after all, one of the tests of competence is knowing your own limitations; I know mine, and if I need help I ask for it. Most responses on this forum are polite and helpful (sometimes they're humorous, but I don't see any harm in that provided its good natured), and to be honest I don't see many negative posts nowadays, but people still do evidently, and there is no place for it really, John

Posted By Tommy Cooper I believe ALL messages posted on the forum should be screened by a MODERATOR prior to posting. That was people will not have to filter through the insults, repeated messages and poor content. I am sure users of the forum would not mind waiting perhaps half an hour for a response to be posted if it means that the posts are all relevant. What do others think???

Posted By Michael Battman Tommy, Although I have never been a moderator, I suspect that it would not be practical to preview every post. Who is going to sit up at 3:00am to monitor members who post overnight. As has been said before, we are a professional organisation, who should be more than capable of regulating ourselves. Those who fail to meet the required standards are easily dealt with through normal channels.

Posted By AJM I would like to start by fully agreeing with everything you say Mark. I have been in and around safety for about 10 years 6 of those being hardcore. It really gets me down with the flippant responses some people give because and I include people with 25 years in the field. In my opinion anyone in safety who says or thinks they know everything is delusional they make think they do but I don't believe it is possible. It isn't just about knowing the answers its about where to find them. One of my places is here. I often think I know an answer and i may often be right but it is nice to use this forum as a sounding board for stuff. We all can work in company's where we can get blinded by negativity to safety or questioning what you say. It is comforting to come here from time to time, post a question and get support. That to me is the real benefit to this forum for me. "We are amongst friends and people who know what we go through day to day, We must never forget that we are a breed apart like a goalkeeper in a football team only other goalkeepers know what they go through". I was a goalkeeper too by the way, and they say you have to be mad to be a goalkeeper,maybe you have to be mad to be in safety lol Alan

Posted By Descarte "Example: Last week IOSH V IIRSM. One Response was Oh! not this one again!" I can fully understand this post and many others like it when people ask questions, often quite easy which have been asked 20 times before and sometimes are on the same page. I think the "search forums" link should be in fontsize=16 color=red /bold

Posted By ITK Tommy, I have had two "this message cannot be diplayed at this time" by trying to help people finding a job (advertising apparently), so therefore by your logic I would be banned if I did it again? ITK

Posted By Tommy Cooper Good point guys, I have just had one removed also for simply copying a section of text from the regulations and posting it in the forum to answer a user's question. Is it just me or is that a stupid rule???

Posted By J Knight Hi Tabs, I agree; I wasn't criticising the moderators by the way; I fully understand why they took the action they did in the posts I had removed. There are AUGs, and we sign up to them when we post, and the speed and responsiveness of this forum is invaluable, John

Posted By Mark D'Rozario The purpose of the post was to encourage and support those who want to ask questions but who may feel somewhat intimidated. I am aware that the lack of professionalism has been raised previously and I'm sure the more it is 'attacked', the more likely we can create an environment where one can ask something without fear of ridicule. The emphasis should be on what is positive and constructive, regardless of the simplicity of the question. Thanks for your comments Mark

Posted By Rob T I think we should just let the moderators get on with the job they have been doing quite adequately. Speaking as someone who has had posts removed on occasion I find that most of their decisions in hindsight have been correct. I do find it rather amusing though that people seem to get out of their prams more for a perceived insult rather than for technically incorrect advice. I would prefer to see more posts removed for giving barking mad advice than from humorous put downs. If the worst you've ever been called is a "plonker" (or similar) you've done pretty well so far! What has happened to MarkSMark - he at least had a sense of humour.