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The unhealthy way to safety
Page 66
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Health and safety jobsworths can be a real pain in the policy. But Brian Lee also despairs at those who won't take it seriously enough...
Since the dawn of time wars have been caused by religion, territorial expansion and family feuds. But I'm beginning to believe that future military conflicts might also be sparked by health and safety jobsworths.
Don't get me wrong;the safety and the health of my colleagues here at Allan Morris is paramount. We have very good health and safety policies-so good.in fact, that a major insurance company uses them as a benchmark. However, two recent incidents have got me thinking about the issue. On both occasions jobsworths refused to use their common sense and physical injury of a deliberate sort looked to be in the offing. What struck me about these two incidents is that a little common sense on the part of the health and safety person would have saved the blood pressure of several people. But Fm afraid that this sort of ill-considered meddling is a growing phenomenon throughout our nation.
Having said all that. I can get pretty worked up about health and safety myself. For example. I'm a fanatic on wheelnuts and the need to make sure they're tightened. Our policy is that the driver checks his wheelnuts daily.
We also have a tyre fitter who goes through the fleet at weekends and at each five-weekly service, The torques are checked and there's a calibrated torque wrench in the drivers' mess room for all to use.
Inevitably we had a driver who thought there were sufficient checks and balances in the system for him to forego the daily checks. Fortunately his negligence was spotted and it only cost £1200 -cheap compared with the potential consequences of a runaway wheel.As a result of this incident I called a Saturday pow-wow and laid down the law about wheelnuts.That's what I call a health and safety issue.
This week has been a strange one in that we've had series of minor accidents. We're prepared for this, of course.and to assist our brokers to argue the toss we have a kit in every cab containing camera, tape measure, pen and a form for all the details.
First Dennis had a knock. He grabbed his accident kit, took the photos and followed the procedure perfectly. No problems.
But then Bob rings up, having delivered a local utilities special trailer to light up the good people ofWarrington.explaining that he's clipped a bloke's privet hedge (with his vehicle, not a pair of shears).To Bob the damage is next to nothing; to the owner of the hedge it's so big it's visible from outer space.
Terry, back in the office, says: "It's OK Bob;the photographs will prove it one way or the other."
"What photographs?" asks Bob. -From your camera in the glove box." saysTerry. Bob has forgotten his accident kit. Jets of steam issue fromTerry's ears and Bob is dispatched hack the next day to obtain photographs, in the process of which he wakes the owner up at 6:30 in the morning.
Less than 12 hours later Howard rings up.A car clipped him while he was on a roundabout."Oh well,these things happen," saysTerry."Just give us the details."
"Her name is Sylvia," volunteers Howard.And her surname? "Didn't get it." OK... the address? "Didn't get it." Registration? -Didn't get that either."Make of car? -Don't remember."
"Why didn't you use your camera?" asks an exasperated Terry "Because it was empty," replies Howard.And why was it empty? "I'd taken some pictures of the children," he explains.