Brooms banned by HSE?

Question

Do you find it difficult to take the HSE seriously sometimes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2307275/

Answer 1

Funny, well I am in the US and it so happened we noticed how much c**p that we were brushing into the air on our own.Our first idea was to wear masks but it was summer and uncomfortable. The next one worked better; we just sprayed water before we swept our shop and it kept it out of the air and clumped up. Everyone was happy with that especially those who used to beat it when they saw us coming before we came up with it.

By the way, I was an apprentice in a big shipyard so the dust was not just sawdust but god knows what heavy metals in it.

Still, some times the simplest solutions are cheap and work. Government officials have a special gene or something that makes it impossible for them to find one!

( I stifled my urge to use the old saying that ends with "....from a hole in the ground"...)

Answer 2

yet another jobs worth t**t

Answer 3

only if you brush the floor with them stuck up your arrse

Answer 4

what a bunch of wasters that is ridiculous what about the health and safety of leaving stuff all over the floor

Answer 5

Whatever happened to the age old practice used by generations of housewives to just scatter the tea leaves on the floor to settle the dust when sweeping?

Answer 6

The HSE is a joke now.  Hardly any tradesmen use ladders anymore because of all the restrictions.  Safety harness to go up 4 steps !!

Answer 7

Brooms have not been banned by the HSE. Quote from the article: "Instead they are advising carpentry firms...." Advising does not mean banning. They have advised people who are currently sweeping up sawdust and woodchippings of the potential ill health effects that the dust can cause - certain wood dust can cause cancer - fact.

And contrary to a previous poster, the HSE have not banned ladders or step-ladders and you do not have to wear a harness to use one. http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/april.htm There is a lot of nonsense going on across the country by various jobsworths who see fit to blame ''elf n safety' but in the vast majority of cases, it is simply some poor lackey trying to cover his/her backside from a claim because he/she is too stupid or too lazy to use common sense.

Edit: Hey Cisco - and I am a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, and I work as SHEQ Manager on one of the biggest construction sites in London at present.

Answer 8

And what will these daft do-gooders do when they've succeeded in wrapping us all up in cotton wool??? Probably worry themselves silly that we might choke on the fibres, overheat or suffocate ourselves.

So, while the HSE tries to take all the hard edges and sharp corners off the world, and opportunist lawyers promise to win compensation for us if we do manage to hurt ourselves (even if we're the authors of our own misfortune), more serious issues are being ignored: crime is rising, civil society is in decline, and the Barbarians are at the gates... but, hey, let's tell people how they should and shouldn't use brooms.  

I'm sorry, but can you imagine the historical effects of this kind of 'advice' if our ancestors had been so nannied and patronised? From Agincourt (beware: bowstring under extreme tension could injure user's fingers) to the Battle of Britain (flying towards oncoming hostile aircraft - especially when outnumbered - could result in pilot injury or death)....

Answer 9

Yeah, where is the health benefit of *not* sweeping?

I personally think hands are very dangerous, they should ban them. I mean, you can hit people or even yourself. Maybe I should drop them a note....