Thread: OHS GONE MAD

I worked for a company in Bayswater years ago which made tractor cranes and I complained about a gantry crane which when you took your finger off the UP button down the load came with a bang.
Nearly crushed a young blokes feet when I wasn't quick enough to stop it the first time.
I complained to management and was told to "Get up there and fix it then". I refused as I wasn't qualified or experienced for that sort of job and a couple of days later they sacked me not for that but for a cooked up excuse.
Went or tried to rather, see the union rep (a deeply religious man) who promptly disappeared and I never saw him again after I eventually left the factory.
Before I went the old bloke on the Safety Committee" told me they'd complained for years and nothing had been done and the DLI (as it was then) inspectors had for 18 years just arrived in a department vehicle, written out the certificate of compliance stating they'd been weight tested etc. yet nothing had been done....and then gone for lunch with the supervisor at the local pub.
I complained to the DLI but nothing happened so I made a further vigorous complaint a fortnight later wherein full details of my previous complaint such as date/time etc were taken and within a week they inspected the cranes and 3 were condemned as unfit for purpose.
Apparently the management had a short time before got Demag around to provide quotes for replacements but the cost was not economic......who cares about "accidents" to a few workers? They're easily replaced.
I believe they went out of business not that long after.
OH&S is good if it does what's intended and you've got staff who are not **** scared of their jobs like this lot were, but from what I've read on several forums it's gone far to far but is a great money spinner for a huge amount of companies claiming expertise in it.
AlanH.

Originally Posted by frantic

Rambling it wasn't the ohs, or if it was the management are very weak?
An OHSE committee can only recommend they cannot implement or stop. So if management say "we're going to buy this machine or put maintenance on this roster " the OHSE committee can only recommend yes or no, improvements and give reasons why.
In my work maintenance have different needs to operations so some are day shift and others do shiftwork.
2 suggestions: Push management to implement a 6-12 month "trial" of the roster. This way it can be proven and tweaked, and if it works there is no reason not to keep it. Second tell those whingeing to get a trade then they can work the same pattern.
One other thing, get your OHSE. Rep to make it an item as "the current roster is causing excessive fatigue and maintenance believe this roster would reduce this and reduce potential injuries". Then next time there is a minor incident get all the maintenance to say tired from bad rosters.

It may not have been an OHS "committee" that he was referring to. I agree with you - an OHSE "committee" only has the power to make recommendations. However, most companies have an OHS "Department" (usually called by any of a multitude of different names - in our company, it's the HSEQ Department). This is a part of the company's senior management structure and, in many cases, has the power to veto decisions such as rosters etc. Such decisions though, should be based on "safety" considerations - and not on comments like "if everyone else on site has to work to this roster, so should the maintenance guys" as seems to be the case in the example quoted.

As you've said - sounds like ****weak management though. Even if it is an OHS "department" - blocking this roster change for reasons other than demonstrated "health & safety" issues, senior management should still have the balls to over-ride them. They would where I work.

Winner of the week.


This is an 18 tonne production drilling rig next to a small D9 Dozer, we have 7 in the fleet. They walk on steel tracks, 3 metres at a time between holes. Sometimes they move between shots, say, 4 to 5 hundred metres at a neck snapping pace of 4 Kph.


Yesterday, one of our drillers was subject to an on the spot Mines Inspector Safety Audit. The nice middle aged lady during the inspection asked our driller, wait for it, are you ready, "Does this machine drive on the road?"

Meaning haul road ?

Originally Posted by Pilbara130

Meaning haul road ?

No No, meaning the road. They walk among us.

Originally Posted by tonic

No No, meaning the road. They walk among us.

yes they do...some too close

A mate was working as SSE for a big multinational at a satellite pit to the main underground show - in Qld.

They had a contractor mining company foreman (stuck up spoilt 'relative' of the owner and self-proclaimed most productive operator of all plant in the world) interviewed by District Mining Inspector (she was friendly but this fella had no time for a woman in authority) ...

Inspector asked this little brat - "Does your company have a Traffic Management Plan?"
The little turd replied (after a smirk and roll of his eyes) something similar to "yeh, we drive on the left ... and light vehicles stay out of the way of the trucks"

No surprise she made some constructive notes in the book and requested the site Traffic Management Plan to be forwarded to the Dept for review in 7 days

Some quick work went into preparing some nice plans and Site Specific Instructions that week!

Originally Posted by Greatsouthernland

yes they do...some too close

A mate was working as SSE for a big multinational at a satellite pit to the main underground show - in Qld.

They had a contractor mining company foreman (stuck up spoilt 'relative' of the owner and self-proclaimed most productive operator of all plant in the world) interviewed by District Mining Inspector (she was friendly but this fella had no time for a woman in authority) ...

Inspector asked this little brat - "Does your company have a Traffic Management Plan?"
The little turd replied (after a smirk and roll of his eyes) something similar to "yeh, we drive on the left ... and light vehicles stay out of the way of the trucks"

No surprise she made some constructive notes in the book and requested the site Traffic Management Plan to be forwarded to the Dept for review in 7 days

Some quick work went into preparing some nice plans and Site Specific Instructions that week!

Sounds like someone who does know their job, this idiot, nasty term, untrained person, to be fair, had no idea at all.

Originally Posted by tonic

No No, meaning the road. They walk among us.

To be fair, I've asked similar questions to demonstrate that the operator has no idea. Some operators have a glazed over look when asked any questions, even about excavation permits, service records, or. Plant capabilities. Not all, but some, others definitely know there stuff! It amazing how many people just 'paid' for their ticket and have no real knowledge, although this is coming from civil construction, not mining.