Lifesaver Admonished

[nivrip]

A Yorkshire Coastguard has quit in disgust after being "ticked off" for breaching Health and Safety rules whilst he rescued a young girl from a precarious position on a clifftop. She was in great danger of falling about 300 feet into the sea when he inched down and clung on to her till further help arrived.

Let's look at this:

1.He breached some H&S rule
2.He probably saved the girl's life

The alternatives are:

1a. He didn't breach H&S rules
2a. He left the terrified young girl to...........


Is it just me?

 

[Ian]

That's crazy - do you have a link to the story?

It's fair enough to place H&S rules within the contract, as the employer has a responsibility to every employee to look after them - however when it comes to something like this were most people would ignore it anyway to save a life, then surely you shouldn't be punished? More congratulated on being brave!

 

[Rush]

The link is here​

​

 

[Anon_F]

H&S was drummed in to me recently on a course i went on.
We got taught how to do the job safely, but of course when in the workplace this is not often done.
It's left to each manager to asses the way a job is carried out along the H&S lines.

 

[floppybootstomp]

They should have had a quiet word with him in private and pointed out he was, by the book, out of order but not put all that pressure on him.

Around 8 years ago I was working away with this American geezer and we were drinking in the hotel bar in the evening. We got to discussing humanity, the good and bad thereof.

I put it to him 'Come on, it's a basic human instinct, if you see somebody in peril or needing help, you go and help without thinking don't you? If you see a person lying in the road injured after being knocked down by a vehicle, wouldn't you instinctively rush to their aid?'

He replied 'No I wouldn't, the hell with that. In America that person would likely sue you for agravating their injuries.'

Money fixated over basic humanity it would seem.

Perhaps what these two tales illustrate is the UK is maybe becoming more Americanised.

 

[Anon_F]

All kit used at work has to first have a written report on how it might work, how it might cause any damage or injury & how operators must have the right training before using said equipment.

It is an H&S nightmare these days and all because of the 'where their's a blame, their's a claim' society we have become!

 

[Adywebb]

Police officers have extensive input into H&S these days - they have to complete a risk assesment for everything they do that is pre-planned, and 'dynamically' risk assess in emergency situations like chasing suspects etc to minimise their own, the suspects and other colleagues saftey.


Why is this done? - so that the Commisioner/Chief Constable/Police Authority don't get prosecuted if something goes wrong - so when a brave copper gets injured/dies saving someones life/preventing a crime etc, they can say 'We trained them about assessing the risks, and it was their own decision to go ahead - it was their own fault not ours it happened'

All this started in the police after the Commisioner got prosecuted by H&S after a PC died falling through a roof chasing a suspect - its all about protecting the bosses

 

[Abarbarian]

They should have had a quiet word with him in private and pointed out he was, by the book, out of order but not put all that pressure on him.

In the good old days his story would have made the front page of his local newspaper and he would have been put forward for a commendation .
But heck we have progressed since then . Welcome to the future .