Healthy Safety Whis...
 

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[Closed] Healthy Safety Whisteblowing

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Leaving current job because of appalling operating standards and respect for COSHH/ RIDDOR, Scottish Waste Regulations etc let alone wet floor signs, soap at sinks etc... Tried and failed to make a difference.

Anyway, who's responsible for formal complaints against organisations who flout H & S law so fervently, almost as a cultural disregard?


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:09 pm
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http://www.hse.gov.uk/


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:12 pm
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Unless they are even worse than you say there should be a HSE/RIDDOR poster in a staff area this will give the needed numbers


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:14 pm
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Good luck. HSE have never been so short of inspectors. You'll need to make it count when you complain if you know what I mean.


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:15 pm
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That's how bad hustler. The whole place looks like a "Spot The Hazard" HSE test.

More important is submitting a case without being "the disgruntled employee" as there's no written evidence they've ignored me.


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:20 pm
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If they are breaking waste regulations regarding correct disposal of hazardous materials etc. I would expect the local authority environmental department would be more effective.

Also, if they have no accidents and are just "sloppy" the HSE wouldn't "punish" them in anyway. Might pop round for a chat. Depends on how bad it is I suppose.


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 4:22 pm
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With the new intervention charging scheme the hse will he more than happy to come and raise some revenue as each day is approx £ 1200.00 for their time, plus charges for letters, let alone improvement notices, prohibitions and fines.


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 5:15 pm
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With the new intervention charging scheme the hse will he more than happy to come

Yes that's true but the number of inspectors is ridiculously low. So as I said make your complaint count.
I've been running sites for 15 years now and had only one visit due to a knob head neighbour trying every trick in the book to get us shut down!


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 5:25 pm
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Safety
https://extranet.hse.gov.uk/lfserver/external/concern1

If you are in a union then it is worth making sure that they are fully aware of the situation.

Environment


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 5:26 pm
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Are they recruiting


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 5:42 pm
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SEPA, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 5:45 pm
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Hi
I work in Health and Safety enforcement and it's not a simple answer.
First question is what is the main activity of the site? Depending on the answer it could be the Local Authority or it could be HSE.
What has been said about HSE is true and they have selection criteria so if your complaint or accident doesn't fit it won't get investigated-end of!!!
If it's Local Authority you might have more luck. At the LA I work for we investigate ,to different degrees admittedly , all complaints and always get back to the complainant if details are given.
We do have selection criteria for accidents however but that's a different scenario!
The other problem is what you think is bad and what we do may we'll be completely different-it's all down to risk-real risk not perceived
The problem is the government and it's business friendly policies have resulted in huge cuts for LAs and HSE and something has to give.
We have to prioritise and if we are dealing with some serious issues and you have some that are ultimately fairly trivial (but important to you) we may not be able to do much for you.
We currently have 2,500 workplaces in our Borough and 3 full time inspectors who also deal with Food Safety, Licensing, Public Health and numerous other sundry issues as well as Health and Safety.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Steve


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 6:09 pm
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Not sure how much interest the HSE will take in wet floor signs & soap at sinks, I'd like to think they're addressing higher level risk. Sepa for general waste but LA for air pollution, you can check on sepa's site to see if they have necessary exemptions, if they are putting coshh through waste water then business stream, trade eflluent authorisation will be required.


 
Posted : 23/07/2014 9:15 pm
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So today we sent a lad to A & E cause he slipped on wet mopped non signaged steps. This after Mondays female staff member concussion and my massive bruise yesterday.

The response to "where's the accident book?" was "dunno, its usually there" and "where's the first aid kit?" Was "Dunno, sure I ordered one".

Last day tomorrow, been completely ignored up to this point. Only a matter of time before there's a seriously serious accident.

"Riddor what? What you banging on about".... Meh.

The wet floor is a result of a faulty fridge compressor of which repair is of slow progress.


 
Posted : 24/07/2014 6:56 pm
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RIDDOR is for the serious accident stuff: broken bones etc, and a few days/weeks unable to work.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/specified-injuries.htm

There should be an accident book to record all accidents/injuries in.
For making a claim against the company / company's insurers it is useful to have witnesses, otherwise it is your word against theirs.


 
Posted : 24/07/2014 7:35 pm
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Worth giving HSE a call. When I was living in Wales I spent a few months working in a timber yard which ended up almost shut down by HSE after an employee had a run-in with a circular saw. He refused to go anywhere near it until safety was improved so the boss told him to get lost. HSE turned up the next day


 
Posted : 24/07/2014 7:53 pm
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Where there's blame there's a claim!


 
Posted : 24/07/2014 7:55 pm
 br
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[i]Anyway, who's responsible for formal complaints against organisations who flout H & S law so fervently, almost as a cultural disregard? [/i]

You, really.


 
Posted : 24/07/2014 7:58 pm

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