[modeleng] Re: Shut yards, HSE and spoiling of fun

Hi there Harry,

Yes, I know what you mean.

Here at work (engineer as both a job and a hobby, but as one colleage puts 
it "it's okay, his wife is sympathetic to it") I have a boss who simply 
decides what experiments with 40 tonne vehicles he wants done and 
effectively says "make it so".

These vehicles tilt into bends, have rear wheels that steer at motorway 
speeds; or if you apply the brakes they will 'pirouette' on ice.

Needless to say, our safety officer needs to have plenty of spare hair to 
pull out.

On not one occasion though have we had to abandon testing work due to H&S.

The issue is just that the health and safety stuff dictates what we need 
to do to make it safe enough; or such that if it goes wrong then no-one 
ends up with any serious injuries.

In my case it is usually just putting down on paper, thinking through and 
implementing the ideas and thoughts that I normally have whilst relaxing 
in the bath the night before; oh and not rushing into things too fast.

I can't see why with a few removeable screens and barriers, more visitors 
couldn't be allowed into the yards.

Sure there will be times when it's not appropriate, and there will be some 
people who don't like being watched whilst they work, but this could all 
be accounted for and factored in - you know, just have the yard open for 
an hour over lunch say, for those interested in seeing it.

I know that some people don't like the interacting with the public aspect 
of the hobby; but some revel in it. Also if you don't attract new people 
into the hobby, then all of the equipment that we lovingly tend to will 
one day end up being cut up for scrap by future generations who just don't 
get what we see in it, because we never gave them the chance to 
understand; or we don't want them to touch or investigate (despite the 
fact that as youngsters, this may be what got us interested in the hobby 
in the first place).


Yours,


Rich.


On Thu, 21 Jun 2007, Harry Wade wrote:

> At 02:23 PM 6/21/07 +0100, you wrote:
>> Would anyone else care to comment, or disagree with my thoughts? - Rich
>
> Rich,
>     We have very much the same situation over here.  Many places where one
> was formerly allowed to wander are now off-limits and the universal reason
> is now "Insurance regulations" and there is every reason to believe that is
> truly the case, for much the same reasons you state.  The primary focus of
> OSHA (our H&S) is life safety, not litigation prevention although that is
> certainly a secondary effect.  But there are also a number of suituations
> where shops simply don't want to have the nasty public wandering about so
> "Insurance regulations" is given as a convenient excuse, rather than just
> out and saying we don't want to you wandering around back there or
> attempting to serve yourself.
>     I have two or three local metals suppliers, all of which once allowed
> me (ie, the public) to go into the shed and sort through their "drops" bins
> for shorts & odd bits of metal, and as often as not I found and came away
> with much more than I'd initially intended to buy.  But no more, "insurance
> regulations" forbid it, so IF I go back at all it will be to buy only what
> I need and no more.  I think they simply don't want me wandering around the
> shed.
>
>
> Regards,
> Harry Wade
> Nashville  Tennessee
>
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