shocking site safety (1 Viewer)

toppa

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hi all,i've recently started a new job on usk mouth power station (new build) in newport gwent south wales.i've been in the game now lads for a little over thirty years and have never seen such disregard for safety.the site is populated by a lot of foreign workers ie poles,finns,germans,italians,hungarians etc etc,and they seen to have no respect for site or personel safety whatsoever.we erect physical barriers around our work area and they just duck under the hand rails and walk below us as we are erecting/dismantling jobs,we have taken pics with mobile phone only to be told by "our" site safety guys this is not good enough for evidence.to be honest they are a joke,quick enough to bollock a british worker for not wearing his safety specs yet turn a blind eye to a foreigner swinging by his balls with no harness.lads working there for a while say they have repeatedly tried to get the h s e on site but it appears they also are turning a blind eye,you can't help but wonder that they have all been given a back hander to stay away.we are officially not allowed to take mobiles or cameras on site but i will do my best to download some pics on here for everyone to see.any advise or tips to get some help to bring to light this nightmare site would be much appreciated,cheers.toppa
 
Hi toppa
it seems the safety for other nationalities is ignored worked a site in gloucster iIalions where running it made our boys follow rules to the limit but they did there own thing same all over what company you work for in usk mouth i heard macs and vange are there ? but HSE should do a site vist next time you phone then get a name who you spoke to then if they dont turn up when something goes wrong you can say you phoned them and the name wish you luck though
 
Lads

There are a few way to stop this non-compliance of the HASAWA.

Contact the HSE on Mass and dont stop untill you get a responce.

Lobby the Local Member of Parliment---they are duty bound to respond.

The next time some wize ass crossed the barrier drop him with a Paddy McGinntey.

The Principal Contractors know they have the Lads on the back foot and they are takin the piss---the U.K. work force are the best Trained Operatives in the world---our best export is our Trained Work Force, yet we are treated like sh!t---whats the answer---march or die---I have lost count of fellow Scaffs that have moved to work in the UAE and West Africa because they cana get a fair crack of the whip in their Country---This once Great Country is now a holding pen for every c*nt under the Sun, once they milk it dry they'll feck off and leave a trail of distruction.

If we dont get a grip now the future 3rd Generation Nucler Power Stations will be Built by cheap Labour---I dont know the answers, but, after 38 years before the mast, Im feckin glad that Im on my way out---it's our young ones I dispear for.
 
saftey

heard all about usk you on for nss?

garry is right i think its about time we ALL stuck together and marched to stop this happening everywhere us as scaffolders are lucky at the moment that there isnt so many forriegn workers in our game but if we dont do something about it soon there sure will be.

this is britian this our country lets do something about it.
 
Toppa,

If you have conclusive evidence of personnel working unsafely, then by all means report it to the HSE. Send all your photos & reports (if any) anonymously. However try not to emphasize on the foreign worker thing or they might view at racial complaint rather than a safety concern!

It's great that you brought this information to the forum, but unfortunately this is as far as it will go really. Bubble 'em mate..!!!

Cheers,
Phil.
 
tell the hse the mangerment wont listen to you findings and you feel your health and saftey on the site dont excist, or send them some pics of the tossers there now might make work for the right men then
 
This is not an isolated case nor is it a new concern, the last line of defense for the U.K. Work Force was decimated by Thatcherisim and we ALL contributed to it because by our silence and capitulation we sanctioned it and sealed our fate. A Mans Political affiliation is no concern of mine, however, if we are to rely on the morals and virtue of the Policy and Decision Makers to give us a sporting chance to earn a crust, then you will wait until the Mountains melt and run into the sea. Therefore we have been the authors of our own destiny and that of our descendants---we let them ***** on us, but to feck with eating it too.
 
Saw same on job way back,wouldnt give a hoddie grief for walkin under a barrier below me,but were on my back bout gloves and glasses and im upside down 12 floors above this joker tryin to reach a fittin on a truss out.They only see what they want to see,and we're not the most anonymous boys on site are we lads.:nuts:
 
toppa

The HSE have a duty to investigate EVERY complaint, if they dont then keep bugging them until they do...You can obviously contact them anonymously, try sending them an e mail using a hotmail account for added anonimity.
 
Toppa
Hi Mate, This goes on, i was chatting to a guy who was a 'Agency worker' on the New Tyne tunnel, full of Foreign workers working full time, he could only get agency work.

The Induction and PPE issued were out of this world, PC French co (i think), however once on site, he stated the ammount of 'Near Misses' on a day to basis was unreal, more-so on the Lifting op's side of things.

Anyway mate, back to your problem, you will probably find the HSE dont take kindly to being informed of unsafe practices at a place of your work as your size suggests unless you have tried to resolve the problem (as you have done) by the system in-situ for dealing with problems, mainly the Grievance Procedure.

The following Information is from directgov

Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employer. There is no legally binding process that you and your employer must follow when raising or handling a grievance at work. However, there are some principles you and your employer should observe.

There is an Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (the Code). It sets out principles that you and your employer should follow to achieve a reasonable standard of behaviour in handling grievances.

Try talking with your employer informally before raising a formal grievance, to see if that helps.If you tried to resolve your grievance informally and this approach did not work, you should raise the matter formally. You should do this using your employer’s formal procedures for grievances. You should be able to find these in either your:

company handbook
human resources (HR) or personnel manual
HR intranet site
employment contract
Procedures for handling grievance situations should be in writing, specific and clear. Your employer must, at least, give you in writing the name of the person that you can apply to seek redress from (put the matter right).If you tried to resolve your grievance informally and this approach did not work, you should raise the matter formally. You should do this using your employer’s formal procedures for grievances. You should be able to find these in either your:

To comply with the Code, your employer’s grievance procedure is likely to include the following steps:

writing a letter to your employer setting out the details of your grievance
a meeting with your employer
the ability to appeal your employer's decision

I hope this helps

Regards
Paddy



















If you tried to resolve your grievance informally and this approach did not work, you should raise the matter formally. You should do this using your employer’s formal procedures for grievances. You should be able to find these in either your:

company handbook
human resources (HR) or personnel manual
HR intranet site
employment contract
Procedures for handling grievance situations should be in writing, specific and clear. Your employer must, at least, give you in writing the name of the person that you can apply to seek redress from (put the matter right).

To comply with the Code, your employer’s grievance procedure is likely to include the following steps:

writing a letter to your employer setting out the details of your grievance
a meeting with your employer
the ability to appeal your employer's decision
 
Doomed?

Only ever had a "disagreement" regarding H&S the once.....I was informed they were going to do nothing about my concerns......I did get a lift with my tools into the car though :D


A lot easier to walk from one job to another back then!

Try dropping a nice juicy fitting on one of their thick skulls! :idea: :blink:
 
As i have posted before, the Grievance procedure, is the correct route to go down, however, as Toppa has stated " they are Germans,Italians,Hungarians and Poles.

On your 'Restricted Area' try adding some Signage mate.
'ACHTUNG MINEFIELDEN' and maybe 'ACHTUNG TREZPAZZERS VILL BE SHOT'

This should make them aware, however, jobs are still hard to come by at the minute mate, so have faith in the Grievance Procedure, as you will then have a paper chase you can send to the HSE.

Paddy
 
If they are going under the barriers make them hard barriers with a toeboard and 3 handrails if that doesn`t stop them STOP the job abd build even better barriers the management cant pull you for being safe
Gaz
 
site safety

HI LADS,thanks for tips/info.jobs a nightmare to be honest,cameras and mobiles not allowed on site so i asked permission to use a camera for my boys evidence (nvq) but was denied permission.why i wonder as i was given no real reason.security,terrorism or worried the h s e might get hold of them.have been asking manage ment for safety signs and still waiting.playing it by the book now boys,clipping on at all times,using fitting bag and rope,erecting physical barriers around work area.management not happy as we are causing a (nuisance) and taking longer on jobs,but **** em as i'm to old to bow to peer pressure.think i'm fighting a losing battle tho as no ones seems to give a monkeys.i'm a old street scaff who has slowly got used to power station safety and have picked up a lot of GOOD habits and don't want to slip back into the old ways,but it aint going to take long on this site.any news on who's got the work on new power station down west wales,could fancy some of that.roll on the weekend lads as i'm ready for a ciderfest lol.:bigsmile:
 
Toppa,
Firstly anyone walking under barriers we had in place would be getting a serious mouthful from me, secondly the site Safety advisor would be getting a near miss card followed by our own scaffold related near miss cards which i would expect to be closed out with actions, this would all be backed up by an email to the client, principle contractor and subbies involved and cc'd to my bosses (who would back me all the way) Don't be bullied mate.

I had a similar case recently and I just pulled my lads off the job and said make it safe and we will be back, untill then shove it up your arse, we invest fortunes on our men to comply with all these H&S rules, so I insist the same of my clients. :mad:
 
Extract from todays Daily Star

MORE than 500 furious Brit workers staged a wildcat strike yesterday, claiming foreign contractors are putting lives at risk.



Engineers building the Staythorpe power station accused poorly skilled Spanish labourers of interfering with giant scaffold towers.



The rigging suddenly fell away, which could have sent men plunging to their deaths, they say.



Union leaders have accused migrants of breaking site rules by removing scaffold poles to fit pipework.



The walkout came after the accused men received a slap on the wrist and were allowed to carry on working at the plant near Newark, Notts.



Health and Safety inspectors have launched an urgent probe.



The plant is being built by French firm Alstom, which has been accused of hiring cheap foreign labour amid “British jobs for British workers” protests. One worker who contacted the Daily Star said the Spaniards had lost the trust of the UK workforce.



He said: “It’s illegal to tamper with scaffolding if you don’t have the right card. That scaffolding dropped by a good 3ft. If there was any weight on it the scaffolding would have collapsed.



“Alstom just gave them a warning, but if it was us we would have been sacked immediately. Alstom are not willing to get rid of these lads, so they have pushed us out the gates.



“They are coming over here to work, which is fair enough, but their safety laws are not as tough as ours.”



The protesters blocked roads, with union sources describing the situation as “tense”.



GMB spokesman Andy Fletcher said: “This is a very serious matter. The UK construction industry safety record is very good but unless issues like this are sorted out it will not retain that reputation for long, and people will be hurt.”



Alstom claimed it found no evidence of a breach. It said in a statement yesterday: “Today’s protest is both unofficial and not supported by unions.



“Health and safety is always the main focus on all Alstom sites, so much so that Alstom has asked the Health And Safety Executive to conduct a further independent review.”

Paddy
P.S. Also see scaffoling news posted by SF admin
 
Paddy,

You would be referring to 'The Peoples Republic of Newarkskiwich' if I am not mistaken! Just a couple of miles up the road from myself and PW. A very fine little medieval market town (that was), now over loaded with our Eastern Block Cousins!

This is all thanks to the likes of British Sugar PLC and neighbouring agricultural territory such as Lincolnshire importing cheap labour. I'm surprised at Staythorpe though, but then again the hire of labour is between the Contractor & Subcontractor. This is where the client/customer has to get more involved and have a personnel screening procedure in place, pretty much like we do in the O&G industry.

As for Spanish labour, I told you before that I spent 2007 in Cadiz/Algeciras on the Adriatic LNG Topsides Project for ExxonMobil and was by far some of the most dangerous Scaffolders/Riggers I have ever had the displeasure of working with!

End of rant..!!!

Cheers,
Phil.:mad:
 
No doubt something will be done when its to late and another family is left devestated by the loss of a loved one,the example should be set by the management,passed to the lads on the park,then carried out accordingly,all respect on the mentioned project is lost and it wont be possible to get it back,just a matter of time before something serious occurs.:mad:
 
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