Health and Safety (Jeezo)

[Razamataz]

2 night ferry to Santander…I asked the Site Warden if he could put 3x 2ltr plastic bottle’s of water on to freeze… so it would keep fridge cold on 2 night sailing…..Nope … quoting Health and Safety.
Don’t want to name the site… but it’s in Cirencester ⛴

 

[Figaro]

Did he specify what aspect of H&S ?
Maybe he just didn't have room in his freezer or didn't want an exploding bottle

 

[Razamataz]

totally empty freezer….no explosion of plastic bottles…. I’ve Done this for years

 

[Figaro]

No H&S issue then, they're talking bollocks
Just couldn't be bothered

 

[Googlebot]

I have said it before, what they really mean when they cite Health and Safety is they can’t be arsed but don’t want to say they can’t be arsed.

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[fishplug]

Not necessarily.

If the freezer is used to provide any food / beverages that are sold on site or even just consumed by site staff then they'll be subject to Basic Food Hygiene regulations which means they would be well within their rights to refuse to put something in there which they had no traceable origin for.

For all they know your containers might be contaminated.

Playing devil's advocate to some extent here, but when I was running catering trailers I wouldn't have entertained the idea of anything going into my fridges or freezers or anywhere near any of my cooking equipment if I didn't have a traceable source for it. The risk to the business just wasn't worth it.

Of course there's also the possibility that they just didn't want to, or you were wearing the wrong football shirt or whatever... There's nowt as strange as folk.

 

[Minxy]

I have said it before, what they really mean when they cite Health and Safety is they can’t be arsed but don’t want to say they can’t be arsed.

Or don't want to start a trend with all and sundry asking them to do it if word gets round.

Actually there is a H&S risk, as the bottles won't be security sealed which they are when you originally buy them, there is a risk of them blowing the top off. As the warden only has your say so as to what's in them he/she has no way of knowing if it would contaminate the freezer if it happened.

 

[Two on Tour]

For all they know your containers might be contaminated.

As could anything that has been handled by someone with dirty, unwashed hands before being placed in a freezer, including the staff.

 

[fishplug]

Or don't want to start a trend with all and sundry asking them to do it if word gets round.

Yup. That too.

There's a place close to Mont StMichel who have signs all over the car park saying that it's exclusively for customers only with a 30 min time limit etc. However, out of season they don't really mind if you park there or even overnight there despite what the signs say.

I found it through a web search, and clearly lots of others had too. I've stayed there twice and both times I've seen people park up, pop in and ask if it was OK to park and then just leave for their day trip to MSM and then drive off when they came back. Both times I've made a point of having a coffee and a cake before asking permission to overnight, then had breakfast, bought some bits from the shop and left them a €20 tip. Both times they've tried to refuse the tip and both times I've told them I would have spent more to park further away somewhere without a cafe and toilet and that hopefully it went some way to making up for the freeloaders so that I might be able to go back there again someday.

 

[fishplug]

As could anything that has been handled by someone with dirty, unwashed hands before being placed in a freezer, including the staff.

Yes, but as the business owner you would have policies in place for staff hygiene as do all the food manufacturers / packagers etc.

You need to be able to demonstrate that you've taken reasonable precautions against contamination.

If a staff member forgot to wash their hands then you have the defence that they have been trained to do so and that as an employer you've kept their training up to date and provided them with a dedicated hand washing area....

If you've left joe public place an unknown object into your fridge then you don't really have a leg to stand on.

Sure, it's an arse-covering exercise. You and I both know that in the real world those water containers would have been fine in the freezer but would you risk your business for it? I know I wouldn't.

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[chaser]

I don't really see why you couldn't have froze them in your fridge freezer in the van, or even this weather just left them outside.

 

[gus-lopez]

Anything I want to freeze I put in the freezer weeks before to ensure it is completely deep frozen. same with my 5 litre insulated water bottles for work.half full & freeze for days then add water to use daily . 2 of them allows refreezing without to much loss of ice

 

[TrudeandDall]

I have said it before, what they really mean when they cite Health and Safety is they can’t be arsed but don’t want to say they can’t be arsed.

Before 1974 workers in the UK were treated as dispensable by their employers and most Acts of Parliament protected the employers and not the workers.
The Health and Safety at Work Act turned that around! This Act and all subsequent Acts and Regulations, have made the UK a much safer place to work in.
Unfortunately Elf and Safety is often used as an excuse by business that are risk averse or just cannot be bothered.
I would have asked the site warden for the site policy and what specific H&S regulations were used to define the controls in that policy.

 

[Barryh]

We used to have a small freezer in our reception for campers to freeze blocks and bottles for free. We gave it up when the hassle of explaining that we were not responsible for their blocks being swapped or no longer there or not properly frozen; or they would come to retrieve them when reception was shut and we were busy on-site or trying to grab a quick bite to eat. So can’t be arsed would have been our standpoint.

 

[nicholsong]

If there are genuine H&S rules governing the request it would have been helpful of the site manager had explained them.

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[Figaro]

totally empty freezer….no explosion of plastic bottles…. I’ve Done this for years

Is it a business restaurant type freezer we're taking about ?

If so I can understand their reluctance to let joe blogs put his stuff in it and quote H&S

 

[enark]

Sounds like train drivers who could not work as they could not walk on snow!!

H&S development has massively improved the safety of the UK workforce, but sometimes clueless people use it as an excuse to not do something.

I guess the site warden really meant, “cant be arsed”

 

[Landy Andy]

Even if he was concerned about his freezer and your contents it would be “Food safety” not Health and Safety.

Sounds like BS to me.

 

[eddie]

totally empty freezer….no explosion of plastic bottles…. I’ve Done this for years

You'd think you'd have a better plan by now!

Many people don't realise that you can freeze water in your own freezer! You can even buy Ice now pretty much anywhere

Or just keep relying on everyone else and getting upset when totally reasonably getting refused!

On my campsite I had to remove all of the hosepipes as some people were arseholes. Then people started to ask to "borrow" a hose. So we started stocking hosepipes in the shop, as so many people seemed to "need" one!

That started a drippy moaning complaint that we only removed the hoses so we could sell them, which was entirely the wrong way around

One day James (Andrew James Motorhomes) got conned into "lending" someone a hose, I was out, and drove into see "my hose" the one I used to fill my fresh water tank in my RV, through the shower room window of a motorhome on the motorhome service point. On closer inspection, the "customer" had filled his tank, then proceeded to pass it through the window and down into the toilet bowl, dangled down into his black tank!

I simply pulled it out through the window, which brought an angry "customer" asking "what the hell I thought I was doing"

"Taking my hose back, you dirty bastard" wasn't the apologetic response he thought he'd get!

James got an almighty bollocking, and he and non of the staff ever would lend our hoses again, no doubt many people thought that our refusal was us being "unhelpful" or "difficult"

There's normally a reason why a requests are refused, normally not you, just the unreasonable dicks before you.

 

[Rob Hammond]

How did we ever survive post H&S.

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[Razamataz]

I don't really see why you couldn't have froze them in your fridge freezer in the van, or even this weather just left them outside.

Cos my freezer is full of grub
And
3x2ltr bottles will not fit in.
But
The reason for my post…. Was only to highlight what people will spout…… when they can’t be bothered.
FYI…..Must be thousands of beach shops in Spain/Mallorca selling FROZEN water …. Never heard of any explosion
Jeezo … never expected such a reaction to the thread

 

[Googlebot]

How did we ever survive post H&S.

Many people didn’t, I think that’s the point.

 

[Bailey58]

Cos my freezer is full of grub
And
3x2ltr bottles will not fit in.
But
The reason for my post…. Was only to highlight what people will spout…… when they can’t be bothered.
FYI…..Must be thousands of beach shops in Spain/Mallorca selling FROZEN water …. Never heard of any explosion
Jeezo … never expected such a reaction to the thread

You made a comment about a site warden being unhelpful, it was bound to get both positive and negative replies as do most "complaints" on Fun.

 

[Bill-H]

My freezer compartment is generally near empty most of the time, even when going across to the EU as you are technically not allowed to take many fresh/frozen products into the EU (cue 'we've never been checked' type responses ), plus the fact that there are many supermarkets near most EU ports where you can stock up on nice fresh products.
I keep several 'ice packs' in the freezer compartment all of the time which helps level out any temperature fluctuations and stops me worrying about the fridge content should a power failure occur in the middle of the night.
Thinking about it, I can't recall using the motorhome freezer compartment for food for a very long time and my freezer at home has been switched off and unused for many a year.

 

[jerryz]

H& S was a good idea but its now become a money making bureaucratic exercise , that actually often impeded good safe working practices ,, wastes alot of time and makes UK uncompetetive ,, The H&S companies and their lobby are very very profitable .. and one of UKs success stories for exports infecting all corners of the globe ... BUT only UK gold plates it in practice ...

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[robnchris]

Health and Safety...I worked in the Petro/Chemical industry where H& S was invented.
After a few years of it's implementation This is a golden Gem of an incident all true of what it turned into once the Shirkers from the real world took hold of H&S.

Imagine a night shift 4am and the Shift Controller (Harry) is a useless item scared stiff of his boss and always sucking up the higher management.
He thought he would gain some brownie points by doing a job that had nothing to do with him, it involved taking off a Manway on top of a large filter vessel, said Manway weighed about 800lbs and was fitted with a Davit to lift it clear from the vessel.
You require 1-7/8th Ring Spanners to undo the bolts, Harry doesn't have these but has found a pair of 24" Stillsons.(Pipe Wrench designed for gripping pipes, Clue is in the name).
Certainly not the correct tool but this doesn't bother Harry, as he pulls on the Stillson it slips off the Nut and hits Harry in the mouth breaking two front teeth.
H&S safety meeting which I couldn't attend the committee decide that when working with Stillsons they shouldn't be pulled towards you.

Moving forward 3 months and it's 4am in the morning and once more Harry the idiot Shift Controller is back on top of the C4 dryer Vessel doing the same job, now Harry isn't that stupid he remembers the Safety advice so instead of pulling on the Stillsons he pushes, oppps this time as they lose their grip and slip off the Nut he falls forward and hits his mouth on the edge of the Davit, knocking out his two new front teeth.

This time I'm sitting in the Safety meeting and the committee decide the safe way to use a pair of Stillsons is not to use them in a Pushing motion, it's at this moment I burst out laughing saying hang on a minute before you actually write this into procedure you have to realise that you have just forbidden the use of this formidable and much used tool across the whole of the refinery. Stillsons have a single job and that is to grip and turn what ever is required, so Pulling on them is how they work, as you outlawed that in your last meeting their only other option is Pushing which although not recommended does work.
The problem here is Harry, we have a mantra of Time, Tools, and Ability.
The questions that you should be asking is, Did Harry have the Time.....Not really it wasn't his job he should have just stuck to that.
Did Harry have the Tools....Definitely Not.
Did Harry have the Ability...Most certainly Harry did Not.

Sorry for the long winded story but remembering it does still make me giggle.

 

[gus-lopez]

FYI…..Must be thousands of beach shops in Spain/Mallorca selling FROZEN water …

& petrol stations but they are all freezers solely for that purpose. & outside usually.

 

[enark]

How did we ever survive post H&S.

Many didnt……

 

[Dolmen]

How did we ever survive post H&S.

Well we are doing, not sure how we did pre H&S though.

 

[Northernraider]

Cos my freezer is full of grub
And
3x2ltr bottles will not fit in.
But
The reason for my post…. Was only to highlight what people will spout…… when they can’t be bothered.
FYI…..Must be thousands of beach shops in Spain/Mallorca selling FROZEN water …. Never heard of any explosion
Jeezo … never expected such a reaction to the thread

You should know what to expect by now lol.

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