The madnes of health and safety

Lenny Rider · Jan 15, 2016

Ended up with a fair bit of food from a funeral buffet this morning and phoned Worthing Churches Homeless Project to see if they could use it.

Thankfully they could because it had been on a plate for less than 4 hours, anything more and due to health and safety it has to go in a bin.

Possibly the same sort of bin a homeless person goes looking for food in.

It really makes you wonder, who makes these rules and how much edible food we throw away as a nation?

Paul Reids Sock · Jan 15, 2016

Lenny Rider said:
Ended up with a fair bit of food from a funeral buffet this morning and phoned Worthing Churches Homeless Project to see if they could use it.

Thankfully they could because it had been on a plate for less than 3 hours, anything more and due to health and safety it has to go in a bin.

Possibly the same sort of bin a homeless person goes looking for food in.

It really makes you wonder, who makes these rules and how much edible food we throw away as a nation?

In my old job i used to get the alerts from the Health and Safety Executive running through the latest issues flagged to them. It was quite insightful to see that most of the 'Health and Safety' claims that we see from people have been determined by the companies themselves rather than the HSE.

Exile · Jan 15, 2016

Lenny Rider said:
Ended up with a fair bit of food from a funeral buffet this morning and phoned Worthing Churches Homeless Project to see if they could use it.

Thankfully they could because it had been on a plate for less than 4 hours, anything more and due to health and safety it has to go in a bin.

Possibly the same sort of bin a homeless person goes looking for food in.

It really makes you wonder, who makes these rules and how much edible food we throw away as a nation?

First, very well done, for going to the effort to make sure it got put to good use.

This really ISN'T 'Health and Safety gone mad' though, is it? I'm not an expert to define how long food can safely bit left sitting about, and still be considered 100% safe, but it stands to reason that there must be a defined time.

Now if they said that you and your team were not permitted to go near holes in the ground - THAT would be H&S gone mad...

wellquickwoody · Jan 15, 2016

Generally speaking, Health and Safety rules really are not too stupid, it is the person who implements their use that has lost the plot.

The Antikythera Mechanism · Jan 15, 2016

I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, H&S legislation is generated from Brussels.

melias shoes · Jan 15, 2016

Lenny Rider said:
Ended up with a fair bit of food from a funeral buffet this morning and phoned Worthing Churches Homeless Project to see if they could use it.

Thankfully they could because it had been on a plate for less than 4 hours, anything more and due to health and safety it has to go in a bin.

Possibly the same sort of bin a homeless person goes looking for food in.

It really makes you wonder, who makes these rules and how much edible food we throw away as a nation?

You don't know the half of it. You should try working on a building site. It's a wonder anything gets built.

melias shoes · Jan 15, 2016

wellquickwoody said:
Generally speaking, Health and Safety rules really are not too stupid, it is the person who implements their use that has lost the plot.

How right you are.

Man of Harveys · Jan 15, 2016

The Antikythera Mechanism said:
I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, H&S legislation is generated from Brussels.

I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, Brussels scare-mongering myths are generated by the Tories and their friends who own newspapers.

Stat Brother · Jan 15, 2016

melias shoes said:
You don't know the half of it. You should try working on a building site. It's a wonder anything gets built.

I guess the families of the 35 workers killed last year may well view H & S differently:-

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction/

Bold Seagull · Jan 15, 2016

melias shoes said:
You don't know the half of it. You should try working on a building site. It's a wonder anything gets built.

It's a wonder there are enough construction workers still alive!

Peteinblack · Jan 15, 2016

Man of Harveys said:
I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, Brussels scare-mongering myths are generated by the Tories and their friends who own newspapers.

severnside gull · Jan 15, 2016

I attended a talk the other evening at a hospital. Drinks during the tea break were self service via an instant hot water tap. Couldn't use the same tap to swill out the cup afterwards though because "health & safety" deemed it too dangerous. :shrug:

The Antikythera Mechanism · Jan 15, 2016

Man of Harveys said:
I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, Brussels scare-mongering myths are generated by the Tories and their friends who own newspapers.

Have read of this Tory press release then

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=148

Herr Tubthumper · Jan 15, 2016

This reminds me of a Stewert Lee sketch

vegster · Jan 15, 2016

Some H&S rules and regs seem quite daft yet many others save lives,try to think of all the construction,highway and rail workers who have been saved by the introduction of new rules, their lives were viewed as being almost expendable not so many years back. As for food regs, I'd be a bit put off by eating a sandwich that had been lying around in the open air at room temperature for 4-5 hours.

melias shoes · Jan 15, 2016

Stat Brother said:
I guess the families of the 35 workers killed last year may well view H & S differently:-

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction/

It's the silly petty rules that i meant not the obvious dangers. Things like being made to wear long trousers when it's blazing sunshine 80 plus degrees. Made to wear your hard hat when the only thing that is going to hit you is bird s h i t. Again in 30c. Last year we asked the H&S representative if we could wear shorts when it was 37c . She refused whilst walking around in the shortest skirt imaginable. Shorter than shorts would be. I don't even think it's legislation just the company policy.
Like I said the obvious dangers are are usually common sense.
The H&S reps usually only pick up the silly details like PPE making sure we're wearing Hi viz etc. There have been many times when real dangers are apparent and are ignored by them.

Javeaseagull · Jan 15, 2016

It isn't Health and Safety that covers this, it is Health and Hygiene. Food left in ambient temperatures between 6c and 62c for more than 4 hours will encourage things like salmonella to multiply at an incredible rate. Best not fed to anyone really.

Lincoln Imp · Jan 15, 2016

The Antikythera Mechanism said:
I think you'll find that the vast majority, if not all, H&S legislation is generated from Brussels.

You're not related to the bloke on Question Time who said that the volume of migrants arriving in the UK from Africa and the Middle East was the fault of Brussels are you?

Hendrax · Jan 15, 2016

From my own experiences, a lack of concentration and common sense is what causes injury in construction. Some of the stuff they makes us do is beyond belief.

The Antikythera Mechanism · Jan 15, 2016

Lincoln Imp said:
You're not related to the bloke on Question Time who said that the volume of migrants arriving in the UK from Africa and the Middle East was the fault of Brussels are you?

No, I'm someone who recently was Group Commercial & HSQE Director, for 17 years,for a £20m turnover company in the UK construction sector with 200 directly employed operatives. I was constantly liaising with the HSE to improve safety in the specialist sector we worked in. It was their officers who told me of their frustration with legislation imposed by the EU, that could not be debated or discussed. But carry on, I'm sure you know better.

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