Posted By J Knight
Hi Folks,
Actually this stuff suggests a few things to me. One is, that condemn it as we will, this is almost impossible to prevent. What these lumpheads are engaged in is play, and people will play whenever they feel it is appropriate. We play, by and large, in a socially acceptable mode, I for example cycle, I know other contributors play various sports, some of you drive as a form of play and so on. It really is a quite deep human drive, so deep that people will do it even when its not appropriate, even when they put other people at risk. So they've had their training, so they may even have been given some behavioural safety stuff to do, and they behave appropriately while they feel they are being watched, but the minute they get too bored and the pressure's off, out come the cigarette lighters and the 'fun' starts.
I remember as a teenager sliding down piles of rubbish covered with old plasterboard, having playfights with hoses and so on, teenagers and young people, and people in general, haven't changed that much in the last thirty years.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not condoning this at all, and I am very clear about the role of horseplay at work (it hasn't got one). But indignation won't stop it, and I suspect that we have very few tools in our H&S and behavioural armoury which will,
John