What a load of nonsense.

[Bungle73]

Do you really believe large International Companies are going to implement safety requirements and procedures simply for the sake of it ? :roll:

Yes.

It's well known that health & safety rules are out of control these days; and this is a prime example.

 

[Old Timer]

Maybe DuPont would be better concentrating on the more hazardous aspects of their business, rather than implementing a policy on holding handrails which seems way beyond what is 'reasonably practicable' to ensure the safety of its employees and visitors.

Obviously you have simply googled and posted what you found without actually reading what it said ?

Your point being twofold I take it ? One that there is no problem with falling down stairs, and second that Companies are wrong to try to reduce the risk of high occurrence accidents ?

May I ask what you do for a living ? What Insutry you work in ?

 

[Bungle73]

Maybe your friend should have just been a bit more careful? We don't need a rule for every single aspect of life.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Speaking as a pedant, what really gets my goat is when the announcement goes "we are now approaching <wherever>". Technically we have been approaching it ever since the train set off so the "now" is superfluous, which makes the whole announcement pointless!

 

[Nym]

But even more as a pedant, if you always have been approaching that station, you are still, now, approaching it

 

[Bungle73]

Speaking as a pedant, what really gets my goat is when the announcement goes "we are now approaching <wherever>". Technically we have been approaching it ever since the train set off so the "now" is superfluous, which makes the whole announcement pointless!

Not really. If you're "approaching" something, you're coming near it.

 

[Old Timer]

Maybe your friend should have just been a bit more careful? We don't need a rule for every single aspect of life.

The phrase "Better to be silent and be thought a fool rather than to speak out and remove all doubt" are wise words my friend that you may wish to contemplate.

Incidentally which Industry did you say you worked in ?

 

[sonorguy]

Pax, as far as I know, is airline industry slang and has probably crept into use in the rail industry. Obviously it's just short for passengers.

The other one I know of is SLF - Self Loading Freight :roll:

Not slang so much as it was the SITA designation for air passengers as used on Telex etc.

 

[Schnellzug]

Better to stay quiet and let people think you're an idiot, than open your mouth* and put it beyond doubt.

DuPont ARE a mega corporation. One of the biggest.

We had a trip accident on the stairs at work last year. Without going into details, the result involved several weeks off work and surgery to repair the damage.

Ah, insults now, just because someone doesn't fall over themselves with gratitude for those who want to protect us from everything. :roll:
yes, i know that there is a giant company called Dupont, but I didn't know it was that one, did I. in any case, if you want "Better to stay quiet and let people think you're an idiot, than open your mouth* and put it beyond doubt.", what about Safety rules that insist that you hold the handrail when going down stairs or you'll be locked out of the building for 24 hours. If that isn't the most hilariously idiotic thing you've heard in a very very long time, you really ought to get your idiocy sensors recalibrated. And I'm sorry, i'm not going to let sneering put me off from saying what i think about things.

 

[Old Timer]

Well the Health & Safety Executive considered it a serious enough issue to undertake a study into it. You would be wise to read it.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/hsl_pdf/2005/hsl0510.pdf

I also attach this little gem.

Claiming compensation after a fall on a stairway

Here at Camps Solicitors our work accident solicitors can help you to claim compensation if you have suffered a fall at work. It might be that the stairway was not fitted with handrails for you to hold, a liquid was spilled on the steps or the steps themselves were poorly constructed. Whatever the reason for your accident, provided it was not your fault then you could be entitled to make a work compensation claim

 

[Schnellzug]

nvmind

 

[jopsuk]

health and safety records are something that investors consider, as poor H&S performance is often an indication of underlying problems at the company that later manifest as quality and ultimately financial performance problems.

 

[Schnellzug]

it's evidence that companies have little short of contempt for their employees, thinking that they (literally) can't be trusted to know how to walk down stairs. Just how idiotic do they think that their employees are?

 

[jopsuk]

Only slightly less idiotic than you are. These measures are genuinely put in place because of accident records. They're effective, and cause little (if any) disruption.

 

[ChrisCooper]

Perhaps an alternative is to say that you've had an accident that was your fault (either because you should have known that you were doing wrong, or you'd been advised it was wrong) and therefore you will not get any sick pay and there will not be a job waiting for you when you return. The government also refuses to fund treatment for illness or injury that are considered preventable by yourselves, but there is no nanny state.

 

[Nym]

And disprove negligence on the side of the employer and therefore 99% of stupid claims

 

[Schnellzug]

Only slightly less idiotic than you are. These measures are genuinely put in place because of accident records. They're effective, and cause little (if any) disruption.

ok, that's enough of the silly insults please. So why do you consider that my opinion is idiotic? because I consider that rules that insist that you must hold the handrail, or you'll face Disciplinary action, are absurd? And (this was never answered) how the heck do they enforce it?? do they watch the stairs on CCTV all the time? do they encourage fellow employees to grass on you if you do not hold the handrail? I'm sorry, but no amount of being called idiotic will change my opinion that this is one of the silliest manifestations of Health & Safety I have yet seen, or will deter me from saying so.

 

[jopsuk]

In most cases there's little need for active enforcement of that sort of rule. You can never know when you might meet your line manager or more senior management whilst moving around at work. In a properly professional workplace adherence to such rules pretty much just happens- anyone that's persistent in flouting such rules quickly becomes known, and even if no direct disciplinary action or reporting takes place, being known to be unsafe will become a stigma.

 

[Old Timer]

ok, that's enough of the silly insults please. So why do you consider that my opinion is idiotic? because I consider that rules that insist that you must hold the handrail, or you'll face Disciplinary action, are absurd? And (this was never answered) how the heck do they enforce it?? do they watch the stairs on CCTV all the time? do they encourage fellow employees to grass on you if you do not hold the handrail? I'm sorry, but no amount of being called idiotic will change my opinion that this is one of the silliest manifestations of Health & Safety I have yet seen, or will deter me from saying so.

In order to answer that question it would be helpful to know what you do and what sort of Industry you work in.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Not really. If you're "approaching" something, you're coming near it.

I beg to differ, If you're approaching something you're coming nearer to it, so technically if you set off 200 miles away and going in the direction of whatever it is you're heading towards, you would still be approaching it even if you were 199 miles away.


I don't get out much.

 

[Eagle]

I beg to differ, If you're approaching something you're coming nearer to it, so technically if you set off 200 miles away and going in the direction of whatever it is you're heading towards, you would still be approaching it even if you were 199 miles away.


I don't get out much.

You're both right, due to the ambiguity of the English language.

Wiktionary entry

 

[Bungle73]

delete

 

[ChrisCooper]

One thing it's very important to remember is that in a workplace environment, someone who is a danger to themselves is likely a danger to others too. Not only could an accident they have injure someone else (afterall a person falling could fall on another person, knock something onto another person) but if they are breaking rules put in place for their own safety they will often have a lax attitude to the safety of others. It's also a slippery slope once you start picking and choosing which rules to follow. Another thing to take into account, no-one wants to be responsible for injuring or worse killing one of their colleges, maybe even friends, yet it can and does happen when rules are broken. It's especially true in transport and heavy industry when people are in control of equipment that can seriously injure or kill without a second though.
From personal experiance, staff tend to be reluctant to report their collegues to management, but for things like safety issues they will usually be delt with before they have to.

 

[Bungle73]

The phrase "Better to be silent and be thought a fool rather than to speak out and remove all doubt" are wise words my friend that you may wish to contemplate.

Incidentally which Industry did you say you worked in ?

The wrong one obviously. I should start a business coming up with daft H&S rules. I could make a packet!

One thing it's very important to remember is that in a workplace environment, someone who is a danger to themselves is likely a danger to others too. Not only could an accident they have injure someone else (afterall a person falling could fall on another person, knock something onto another person) but if they are breaking rules put in place for their own safety they will often have a lax attitude to the safety of others. It's also a slippery slope once you start picking and choosing which rules to follow. Another thing to take into account, no-one wants to be responsible for injuring or worse killing one of their colleges, maybe even friends, yet it can and does happen when rules are broken. It's especially true in transport and heavy industry when people are in control of equipment that can seriously injure or kill without a second though.
From personal experiance, staff tend to be reluctant to report their collegues to management, but for things like safety issues they will usually be delt with before they have to.

Why does every little thing need a rule? It doesn't.

 

[TUC]

What's wrong with 'customer'? It does at least suggest that the person sitting on the train is the most important element of the job. 'Passenger' is a passive term. It suggests little more than 'fright'.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

If passengers listened perhaps we'd not need so much. Many times I've heard passengers told to have their tickets ready for inspection on exiting BHM yet it goes unheeded :roll:

As people have pointed out on similar threads previously, there are that many pointless and overfussy announcements made on trains that people stop listening so that when an important announcement is made, people don't hear it either because they're either mentally switched off or have their MP3 player on.

If train companies cut out all the irrelevant crap about smoking, unattended luggage, CCTV, noticing anything suspicious, etc, etc, then people might actually start listening when a relevant announcement is made!

 

[SS4]

As people have pointed out on similar threads previously, there are that many pointless and overfussy announcements made on trains that people stop listening so that when an important announcement is made, people don't hear it either because they're either mentally switched off or have their MP3 player on.

If train companies cut out all the irrelevant crap about smoking, unattended luggage, CCTV, noticing anything suspicious, etc, etc, then people might actually start listening when a relevant announcement is made!

Yet the announcements to have your tickets ready for inspection comes up every time so if there are too many they should know which ones. It is a passenger's duty to listen to announcements, if you tune out when you know it's a non-smoking one than fine.

 

[Bungle73]

Yet the announcements to have your tickets ready for inspection comes up every time so if there are too many they should know which ones. It is a passenger's duty to listen to announcements, if you tune out when you know it's a non-smoking one than fine.

You don't always get that announcement before the guard comes round. Also, the problem with announcements is sometimes you can't understand what's being said. Only yesterday I was on a train in a station and an announcement was made; I don't have clue what was said because it was too quiet!

 

[PFX]

Potayto/potato. Does it really matter, in the grand scheme of things, if a passenger is called a passenger or a customer? This all goes down the line of personal responsibility. Some people seem unable to function without directions or are in fear of being held liable for their own foolish action? This is common at airports too.

In the not too distant past, there were no announcements on trains. If I wanted to get off at a certain stop, I paid attention to where we were and got off at the right place. I often noticed that there were clever devices called signs, on platforms that identified the station (if someone with a visual impairment was on the train, it was normally the case that someone cared enough to ask them where they wanted to get off or the person had asked the guard or a fellow passenger).

Similarly, when the guard was collecting tickets, you didn't need advance warning that this was about to happen as your ticket was in a convenient place anyway just in case the guard wanted to look at it. Some people now seem genuinely dumbfounded when asked for their ticket.

While TOCs have a responsibility for care and have to abide by a plethora of H&S legislation, is it too much to expect the modern traveller to be able to show any initiative or independant thought?

I'm off back to the grumpy room.

 

[whhistle]

Well the Health & Safety Executive considered it a serious enough issue to undertake a study into it. You would be wise to read it.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/hsl_pdf/2005/hsl0510.pdf
I also attach this little gem.

And that's the whole point why our country is in a mess.

If I come to a set stairs, I will make a quick judgement on whether it is safe for me to use them or not.

Even if their is a handrail, I wouldn't use it as I don't need to. If I slip and fall, it is because I cannot use stairs properly, otherwise I wouldn't fall. I realise there are some tolerances like a large hole in the stairs should be pointed out, but all this "if you've had an accident, it was never your fault, it's always someone else's" is all a load of rubbish.

If you slip on ice and fall over, you should have been watching where you were walking. You have nobody to blame and no, nobody should have told you. What, are you thick (or un-educated) and cannot look and figure it out for yourself? Obviously so. And you wonder why people treat you like an idiot!