Grrrr [Edited on 18/9/09 by Liam]
Fook me this is just mad........ No wonder the country is so fooked.
BBC NEWS
Ladder danger brings clock change
A church clock which has been wound manually since 1793 may have to be replaced at a cost of £5,500 - because climbing an 8ft ladder is
"dangerous".
The clock in the tower at St Michael's Church in Helston, Cornwall, is wound by a warden who climbs up the ladder.
But the church has been told by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that the job could be too dangerous.
The Diocese of Truro said organisations had started pledging money for an automatic clock winder.
The clock is currently wound up manually three times a week.
“ If an insurance company... decides to warn churches that they can't going shinning up ladders any longer, the HSE will be very quick to step in
”
Jeremy Dowling Diocese of Truro
But the role faces coming to an end because of advice the Truro Diocesan Guild of Ringers has received from the (HSE) about unsupported ladders.
Although the HSE said it was just advice and it was down to local authorities to enforce heath and safety in churches, diocese spokesman Jeremy
Dowling said the advice meant churches had to reconsider their position.
He said: "All the HSE stuff that comes out is headed 'guidance notes'.
"But if you send guidance notes to an insurance company, and that company reads these things and decides to warn churches that they can't go
shinning up ladders any longer, the HSE will be very quick to step in and prosecute corporate bodies if they haven't taken care of their
employees or their volunteers.
"From the that point of view, once a warning has been issued, the church can hardly ignore it."
Mr Dowling said it would cost between £4,000 and £5,500 to install such an automatic clock winder.
He said that local companies and councils had contacted St Michael's directly and had so far pledged £650 towards it.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/cornwall/8262653.stm
Published: 2009/09/18 16:16:06 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Yes, it is mad.
From what I see in the BBC article...
Looks to me like the HSE have effectively said "oh that might be a bit dangerous" and now the diocese is blowing it out of all proportion
and apparently getting news coverage for it.
I see nothing in that article saying that they can't do it, nothing saying their insurance company has warned them not to do it.
All there is, is an advisory from the HSE, and someone getting excited over nothing.
FFS these stupid over rections to HSE guidance are getting country cripplingly ridiculous. The HSE themselves are not actually a bunch of pedantic
nannying spoilsports, and working at height regulations are clear as daylight. Spend a few hundred quid on a mini mobile scaffold tower so the job
can be done safely and carry on, you dumbasses. And stop whinging Grrrr
[Edited on 18/9/09 by Liam]
I am a roofing surveyor and we get warnings all the time over safety, the rule of thumb is safe and reasonably practical to use a ladder. Ladders are safe if you know how to use one.
Insurance companies rule the world. Why do you think the States has no medical coverage for half the population or whatever it is? And Health and Safety (Workers Compensation Board et al) are run like private insurance companies: ie. get as much as you can from the hapless employers and give as little back as you can.
"about unsupported ladders" is the important bit. If you go up a ladder that has no means of support then the HSE are going to take a dim
view.
Its not a big deal to either have someone support it or put in a safter ladder.
Another case of low brow journalisim. Its quite sad that the BBC have stooped to this level these days.
The HSE now have a "Myth of the Month" page on their website, pointing out the difference between what the press have said, and what the HSE
really said...
LINKY
Do the media think we are that dumb to believe this sort of bullshite. At one time the BBC and ITV news could be trusted sadly, they are now too
wallowing in the gutter with the newspapers with hidden agenda and biased reporting.
Cheers
Bob
quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Do the media think we are that dumb to believe this sort of bullshite.
People aren't necessarily dumb, but a significant number are too lazy to think for themselves. This leads to two things.
Firstly newspapers printing nonsense with an agenda, and people just believing it (see also EU rules ban bent banana's headlines from the
Mail)
Secondly companies getting a leaflet from the HSE says something like 'don't use unsupported ladders' and a numpty at the other end
reading "you're not allowed to use ladders".
We had a similar thing crop up at work several years ago. A H and S review thought that the blow-down valves mounted on the back of our boilers were
dnagerous. They recommended moving the boilers or the boilerhouse wall!! These 8 boilers had been there since the sixties and used the exhaust gasses
from the powerstation engines to make steam to heat the whole site. They are 30' tall and 15' across. Not easy to move. The MOD, who own the
site, employed a consultancy agency to come and find the cheapest way to do the job. The solution, according to them, was to remove the boilers and
replace them with gas fired boilers. This meant a massive overhaul of the entire boiler house and controls. It meant running a high pressure gas
supply from the gas main six mile away, and it meant losing the waste heat recovery. When I got involved, the project had already cost just shy of
£750,000 pounds for the paperwork and no proper work had actually started.
I just extended the handles on the blow-down valves. It cost about £20 for each valve......
I wonder if the church could get a key with an 8' handle to wind the clock???...
quote:
Originally posted by Staple balls
Looks to me like the HSE have effectively said "oh that might be a bit dangerous" and now the diocese is blowing it out of all proportion and apparently getting news coverage for it.