Posted By Luke. If you are an employed Safety Advisor... Serious answers please AND more importantly.. REALISTIC answers... (quitting a job in this market isn't realistic) Oh and please read carefully as there are some green shoots coming through the weeds, but they are not strong enough! As the safety advisor: You are usually given 1 days notice to prepare risk assessments before work commences, when you question it, you are told that "its how it is, the client only just let us know we won the contract"... (yes, totally against CDM regs for allowing sufficient time) It has come to your attention that works are going on without your knowledge and there are insufficient risk assessments or no paperwork on site! Basically, major breaches of the CDM regs... amongst others regulations.. Now, the company isn't ignorant to H&S they actually do well on some things like training the guys on site and doing various management courses, they like to start safety initiatives but not see them through and on other very important parts it becomes very apparent that this is led by time scales/ money etc... Have brought most of the items to powers that be attention and done this in writing but they then told me to never send anything like that again, always discuss verbally (wonder why!!) I'm not a quitter and never have been, i know H&S is an uphill battle but this is becoming ridiculous! I know i can't change the world but i want to do everything possible to make the company safer... but in the same breath its all becoming such a battle its hard to work-out where to start again and get systems going from scratch! There is around 45 years of questionable safety standards to undo and re-educate. The MD is safety aware. Thanks for reading!

Posted By Coshh Assessor I agree with discussing it face to face, this can make it more like constructive communication and less like a complaint. The problems are more likely to be resolved if they are discussed properly and each party comes to understand the other's point of view - nobody likes to receive a lecture. But keep a written record for yourself. Oh and carry on praising them for what they do right - it will put them in a more receptive frame of mind.

Posted By holmezy Luke welcome to our world! We are all in the same boat, and because its a big boat with a lot of us aboard, there are very few of us that get the chance to stand on the bridge! Those are the lucky ones who are able to advise and navigate and therefore help to steer the boat on the most favourable course for all, to get to the ultimate destination. Most of the others are well below decks and have little opportunity to influence which direction the boat sails in, although we all know where it should be going! Sounds like your ship has a Captain that is a bit stubborn and likes to plot his own course. Maybe one day when the Captain has hit a few rocks, then he'll take a bit more notice of what the collective voices of the lower decks and listen a bit more! Don't stop advising and don't stop writing messages to the Captain, and whatever you do, don't jump ship unless there is a better vessel alongside, otherwise you may be treading water for a long time! Holmezy

Posted By Swis I'll have to disagree with the above. In the last two jobs I have always given the right about of time and resources to do a task. May be it's the industry you are in.

Posted By Luke. Right, i've decided that as a starting point i will use Apendix 4 of the CDM regs which sets out standards to be achieved and draw up a chart that demonstrates where we are vs what the standard is, highlight the good and also area of improvement inc estimated costs (if any) to reach the standard. This will provide the 'problem' & the solution, i can then proceed to sit down with the boss and run through it. I think it will also demonstrate to the HSE that i have recognised where the issues are and the steps i am trying to take to rectify them - therefore covering my back in the process.... how does that sound!

Posted By justgossip No problems with the proposed plan. i am in the same boat, job drops in out the blue, CDM regs as applied by the PC are a tad ify. Work force has manby years history of not applying safety. MD has figured it out that he is in the firing line, hence my arrival. Rome was not built in a day. I have been chipping away for A YEAR. things are a lot better but we have some way to go. Some times I win and sometimes the job wins. I have a signed risk assessment that covers the situation of the company re action to a job with one days notice. I have my generic RA's trained out on site which helps to reduce risk . The one thing I do, e.g. garry we have a job starting to morrow. When this happens I take the following action. next day, me the lap top and printer go to the site. I add up the situation, brief all, then cobble to gether an RA and method statement to compliment the generic. I sometimes wonder as we do jobs, Does the CDM Coordinator tell the client, You need a plan which allows people to work safely, which includes a few hours / days preperation. PC's write safety plans and all the ones I have met in housing construction are not worth the paper they are written on because it never gets off the paper and out to the work force. If you a signed bit of paper, boots, hat, yellow vest, CSCS. then all is well in an imperfect world I deliver imperfect solutions. Has anyone in housing construction received an induction that did not start with something like, " right you all know the score, this will only take a few mins" 5 mins later all the paper work is signed. 10 mins later i you asked a question of the lads they would not have a clue. happy days. Garry