Over the last year I have written a few blogs for RRC’s website. Most of these have been aimed squarely at students studying towards a NEBOSH health and safety qualification; though much of the advice in them is relevant to any course of study with a formal exam at the end. If you want a quick reminder of topics covered they have included: Revising and preparing for the exam (You make your own luck) Examination technique (Just read the instructions) Handwriting tips (Doctor’s handwriting) Studying as a distance learner (Studying as a distance learner – I know; not very creative – I was going to go with “The loneliness of…
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RIDDOR – A Missed Opportunity?
RIDDOR – A Missed opportunity? From 1 October 2013 the new Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations came into force. The alleged reason for the change from RIDDOR 1995 (as amended) to RIDDOR 2013 is to simplify the reporting requirements in line with the recommendations of the Young report (2010) and the Lofstedt review (2011). To sketch out a bit of background here – the Young report made two recommendations regarding RIDDOR. The first was implemented by the 2012 amendment to change over-3-day injures to over-7-day injuries. The second was to “re-examine the operation of RIDDOR to determine whether this is the best approach to providing an accurate…
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What’s In a Name?
What’s In a name? “’What’s in a name?’, as the great John Fatpimple said.” Thank you Ronnie Barker – sorry I couldn’t resist it. The old ones are the best. I think I may have written previously about my embarrassment at having to confess to people that I work in health and safety and the fact that when I did other jobs personal introduction were so much easier. It’s the name isn’t it. Health and Safety. With the capitals. or ‘elf and safety as the tabloid press would prefer us to think of it. The very name grates on people. It’s like a red flag to a bull (incidentally cattle…
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Pig Weighing
Pig Weighing So the farmer wants to sell his pig at market for the best price. He wants the pig to be as heavy as possible. So he weighs the pig to see how heavy it is. Next day he weighs the pig again. He writes each weight down in a notebook. He creates a database on his iPad (very 21st century farmer this one). He plots a graph of weight against time and toys with line graphs and bar charts to find the jazziest way to present the data. He weighs the pig each and every day to track its progress. Only thing is, if you want a pig…
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Hawkwind – Thirty Years and Counting
Hawkwind – Thirty Years and Counting I went to see Hawkwind when I was a teenager. The “Choose Your Masques” tour. Some of you will remember Hawkwind. They were notoriously loud in concert. Lemmy of Motorhead fame used to be their bass player; but that was way before I went to see them. I was half way up the stalls in the Southampton Gaumont. It was so loud that my guts vibrated in harmony with the band. That’s not a pleasant feeling. When we came out after the concert my head felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool. I had very loud mosquitoes buzzing in each ear…
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Qatar 2022
When FIFA announced that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup there was surprise and concern from many quarters because of the country’s summer temperatures. And now it looks as though many organisations are backing a move from summer to winter for the tournament because of those concerns. Qatar certainly has an extreme climate. Jutting out into the Persian Gulf it is an arid peduncle covered largely in sand and gravel. Average temperatures for July are over 35oC. That’s the average day and night-time temperature across the entire month. At 5am, the coolest time of night, temperatures can still be above 30oC and relative humidity can be 100%. The maximum…
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Litvinenko – Seven Years on
Litvinenko – Seven Years on We are approaching the seventh anniversary of the poisoning and death of Alexander Litvinenko. He was poisoned on 1st November 2006 dying of acute radiation sickness 22 days later. The radionuclide that he was poisoned with was Polonium 210 which is a radioactive element first discovered and characterised by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre in 1898. She also died as a result of her long-term exposure to radioactive elements – from anaemia at the age of 66. Incidentally she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remarkably won two (one for chemistry and one for physics). As a point of historical…
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Playing to the Gallery?
Playing to the Gallery? Is it me, or are the radical reforms to health and safety proving to be all smoke and mirrors? Way back in June 2010, when the coalition was newly formed, David Cameron appointed Lord Young of Graffham to conduct a review of health and safety law and practice. The Young report was published later that year. It was wide-ranging, though whether it was fully comprehensive and evidence-based is a matter of opinion. Lord Young was very clear in focusing his attention on the issue of the compensation culture, stating that fear of litigation (and the associated costs) was a major driver in many risk-averse decisions taken…
