Saturday - August 15, 2009

FOR YOU FOLKS IN EUROPE AND THE UK, THIS IS WHY WE KEEP GUNS IN THE USA.

Coz the vermin have them and will never hesitate to use em.

Three cheers for this old fellow except I wish he wouldn’t say how sorry he is that he had to pull the trigger. Why sorry?
He didn’t take a human life after all.  He should feel very good. He has also prevented future criminal acts.  Good for him!

Shopkeeper, 72, who shot dead two robbers won’t be charged, say police

By Paul Thompson
Last updated at 11:21 AM on 15th August 2009

When four armed men burst into his store and demanded money, Charles Augusto tried to reason with them.

He calmly explained there was no cash on the premises and they should put the gun down.

But when one of the robbers began to pistol whip an employee in frustration, the 72-year-old’s patience snapped.

He pulled out a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun from under the counter and began shooting.

The blasts hit all four men, killing two and leaving two others critically injured.

he quietly spoken store owner is being hailed as a hero in Harlem, New York, for turning the tables on the robbers. Police said he would not face any charges.

Although the shotgun was not registered, under New York law someone is allowed to use deadly force if they feel their life is in imminent danger.

Mr Augusto, who bought the shotgun 30 years ago after another robbery attempt, said he was left with no choice but to open fire.

‘I told this kid, “We don’t have any money”,’ Mr Augusto said.

‘I asked him, “Why don’t you just put your gun down and go home and we’ll forget about this thing? Someone’s gonna get hurt. There’s no money - you’re gonna get in trouble. You’re wasting your time.”

‘I would have been happy if they’d all run out the door. I’m sick to my stomach over it.

‘I’m sad I couldn’t talk them out of it. I’m sad there’s mothers and fathers with no sons today.

‘I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m sitting here minding my own business and they come in with guns. I don’t feel like a hero. I would have felt like a hero if I could have talked that kid into going home.’

He added: ‘I’m sorry they’re dead but they didn’t give me any other choice.’

The failed robbery took place at his restaurant supply company in Harlem. Mr Augusto was inside the store with two employees, a 33-year-old man identified as JB and a 47-year-old woman.

The four robbers - aged from 21 to 29 - burst in and demanded cash. One was armed with a pistol and they carried plastic handcuffs.

Police said Mr Augusto made it clear there was no money on the premises, which led to one of the robbers to start to pistol whip JB.

Mr Augusto, who was 20 to 30ft away, whipped out the shotgun and fired three times.

James Morgan, 29, died instantly. A gun was found near his body slumped in the doorway of the store.

His accomplice Raylin Footman, 21, died later in hospital from shotgun wounds to his back.

The two other suspects, Bernard Witherspoon, 21, and Shamel Cloud, 21, were caught after police followed a bloody trail from the store.

Witnesses said JB stood over the dead robber screaming: ‘You’re dead! You’re dead!’

He later told police a gun had been held to his head.

Police sources said Footman, one of the victims, had previously been arrested for robbery and weapons charges. The other three robbers were also known to police.

Harlem residents praised Mr Augusto for his actions.

Gene Hernandez, 47, said: ‘I would kill a dozen of them. You have to protect your family and workers. Case closed.’

Stefany Blyn, who rents a space above the store from Mr Augusto, said: ‘He’s been robbed before, so I’m not totally amazed.’

Police said charges are pending against the two injured suspects.

HERE’S THREE CHEERS AND THREE CHEERS MORE

Posted by peiper     on 08/15/2009 at 03:29 PM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Guns and Gun Control • Health and Safety • Heroes •  
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   Wednesday - July 29, 2009

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE NANNY STATE MAKING DECISIONS FOR US. FOR OUR OWN GOOD OF COURSE.

And likely it’s also for the kiddies.

It bothers me not just because they (govt.) are taking away individual decision making. Not that alone.
It also bugs me because I can’t understand why people with more education( then what I got), can not figure out that folks who want it will simply double up and buy more.  Why can’t they see that?

They want the size of soda cans made smaller and candy bars to be cut from the present 57 or 58g, to 50g.  Will that 7g make that much difference? And will the candy makers drop their prices?  Uh huh.

Something else that is really bizarre. In an unscientific poll on the Daily Mail site, 22% of ppl think that the govt. is right.  Twenty Two percent of those polled would prefer to allow someone else to be responsible for their thinking.  Not a very good sign.

Chocolate bars could be made smaller to help fight obesity

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 11:32 AM on 29th July 2009

Chocolate bars could be cut in size to help fight the obesity epidemic.

The Food Standards Agency wants the average bar to be reduced by up to a fifth to reduce daily calorie intake.

It has drawn up plans for confectioners to make voluntary changes to the size of their snacks.

By 2012 the watchdog wants all confectionary to weigh no more than 50g - currently Mars bars are 58g and Bounty bars 57g.

Manufacturers have also been asked to sell bite-size bars as single items rather than as part of multibags.

They will be discouraged from promoting large supersize items - such as the Maltesers ‘Big Bag’ and - Mars ‘Duo’ - and instead encouraged to offer healthier snacks as alternatives .

By 2050 up to 60 per cent of Britons will be obese and the cost to the National Health Service estimated to reach more than £8.4 billion.

The plans, drawn up in an FSA consultation, also propose that within six years, fizzy drinks should be sold in 250 ml containers instead of standard 330ml for most brands.

They propose that drinks’ ‘added sugar’ levels are reduced by 4 per cent within three years in the hope that consumers will be gradually weaned off very sweet beverages without noticing the lower sugar content.

Gill Fine, from the FSA said: ‘We are not telling people what to eat. We want to make it easier for people to make healthier choices — to choose foods with reduced saturated fat and sugar — or smaller portion sizes.’

‘We are committed to working in partnership with Government and its agency to help consumers eat more healthily - and reformulation is just one of the ways in which we will continue to make a real difference.’

FOR MORE

‘We are committed to working in partnership with Government and its agency to help consumers eat more healthily

What they’re committed to is playing health bully. 

Posted by peiper     on 07/29/2009 at 10:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Health and Safety • Health-Medicine • Nanny State • UK •  
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   Monday - July 27, 2009

American Tyler Bradt set a new world record by plunging 186 feet over a waterfall.  MUST SEE!

I keep getting further away from the things I planned to to post as I keep finding other things.

Weather EXTREMELY bad at the moment.  Hopefully I’ll remain on line. 

No warming to report though.  Should I report that to Al Bore?

Kayaker in world record waterfall plunge
American kayaker Tyler Bradt has set a new world record by plunging 186 feet over a waterfall in Washington State.

Posted by peiper     on 07/27/2009 at 07:14 AM   
Filed Under: • Adventure • Health and Safety • Scary Stuff •  
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   Tuesday - July 14, 2009

The rush to arms since President Obama’s election.  Right to carry in TN.

I’m a bit behind on the news from home and only saw this, this very morning.
I also understand a right to carry law was passed in Tennessee.

Guns in Memphis

Jay Hill, owner of the Classic Arms Gun Store in Memphis, Tennessee, explains the rush to arms since President Obama’s election.

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 07/14/2009 at 02:16 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control • Health and Safety •  
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   Wednesday - July 08, 2009

UK has paid off their entire national debt, fixed all the roads and bridges. So said Drew yesterday.

Actually, this is Drew’s quote.

Computerized cameras and automatic squealers on your garbage cans! Unreal. I’m so glad the UK has paid off their entire national debt, fixed all the roads and bridges, provided food, clothing, and shelter to all (not just MPs), etc., that they can afford to waste tax money like this.

Now that was in response to a post yesterday with regard to trash bins and spying on same etc.

By chance this morning I found the following uncredited article in our morning paper.  Somethin’ to do with a bridge. Couldn’t resist the post.

AMBULANCES TOO HEAVY TO CROSS SUSPENSION BRIDGE
The Telegraph

Ambulances have been banned from traveling over Clifton suspension bridge because they are too heavy.

Instead, they will have to take a 2.5 mile detour, which will put an extra six minutes on a journey and raised fears that it could put patients at greater risk.

The ban was imposed after the Great Western Ambulance Service introduced a fleet of ambulances that exceeded the bridge’s weight limit.

Staff who operate the bridge, which has a mechanism that weighs approaching vehicles, said they would consider allowing ambulances on a “life or death” call.
But the ambulance service says the bridge has now been struck from their route effecting their fleet of 103 ambulances.

Posted by peiper     on 07/08/2009 at 02:37 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Health and Safety • Scary Stuff • UK •  
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   Monday - July 06, 2009

Man left dying in his home as paramedic carried out 16-minute risk assessment outside. elf n safety?

Jeez what a story this is. I can’t make any comments. Words just don’t come to mind.

To think we have a minimum of another year in this place.

By Tom Kelly
Last updated at 4:19 PM on 06th July 2009

Heart attack: Roy Adams died after a paramedic spent 16 minutes on a health and safety check outside his house

A grandfather was left dying in his home while a paramedic waited outside for 16 minutes as he carried out a health and safety assessment.

The family of Roy Adams believe he might have survived if those ‘vital minutes’ had not been squandered.

The 61-year-old police chauffeur, who suffered a suspected heart attack, did finally receive treatment, but died on the way to hospital after suffering breathing difficulties.

Mr Adams telephoned 999 from his home in Morden, south London, complaining of chest problems.

On the advice of the operator, he left both the communal door to the block of flats and the door to his own apartment on the latch to enable the ambulance crew to get in quickly.

But when the rapid response medic arrived six minutes later he decided against going straight into Mr Adams’s home.

It is believed that, because the doors were open, he feared that the flat was being burgled.

Instead the medic carried out an on scene risk assessment and called the police for back up.

After waiting for 16 minutes he went into the property to find Mr Adams - who was alone in the property - dying on the floor unable to breathe.

He was taken to hospital but died before he arrived.

His daughter Catherine Adams, a security worker, said: ‘I keep picturing him in agony on the floor taking his dying breaths as he could hear the paramedic outside.

‘He must have been thinking: “Please, just come in, just come in”.

‘It’s heartbreaking. I can’t understand why the medic waited so long and why he thought carrying out a risk assessment was more important than saving my father.’

Miss Adams went on: ‘What risk did my father pose? It is ludicrous.

‘Why would you stand outside carrying out this risk assessment when you know an old man is inside with a serious medical emergency?’

‘My dad had been instructed to put the doors on the latch by the operator. 

‘Vital minutes were wasted. He might well have survived if the medic had gone in and treated him as soon as he arrived, but now we will never know.

We haven’t been given any explanation from the ambulance service. I find it baffling.

‘We’ve got to get answers. We’ve got to find out. We don’t want any other family to have to go through what we are going through.

‘My dad was a pillar of the community.

‘He spent his life serving others, but when he desperately needed help he was made to wait for heath and safety reasons.

‘The image of him lying there desperate for help as the paramedic waited outside keeps going round and round in my head.

During his 17-years as a police chauffeur, Mr Adams drove Scotland Yard Commanders around London and also had responsibility for taking witnesses to court in major cases.

He also drove police vans during fraud squad raids.

A talented amateur singer, he had appeared at the Albert Hall with the London Welsh Male Voice Choir.

He was devoted to his two daughters and three grandsons, and remained good friends with his ex wife.

His death on June 29 was caused by coronary artery disease.  A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘We were called at 00.14 am to a residential address in Morden.

‘The first member of our staff to arrive at the address carried out a full on-scene risk assessment and requested police assistance due to safety concerns.

‘He then took the decision to enter the property, maintaining telephone contact with our control room.

‘One patient – a man – was taken to hospital.’

‘We are currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.’

The London Ambulance Service said an on scene risk assessment is a ‘mental check list’ which paramedics are required to go through when they arrive at an emergency.

It includes questions like: Does the scene look safe? Are there any obvious risks? Will I require extra help? Will I need a stretcher? Will I need extra equipment? Are there any steps or other obstacles that could cause a problem?  The assessment is not written down.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘We have a duty of care to treat patients but we also have to look after our staff.

‘In this case the medic conducted the on scene risk assessment and had safety concerns and decided to call for back up.’

SOURCE

Not to worry though. I’m certain someone will issue an apology and say their condolences and heart felt feelings go out to the family. Hoping most likely that the family will accept that BS in place of a law suit.

Posted by peiper     on 07/06/2009 at 02:26 PM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • Health-Medicine • UK •  
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   Tuesday - June 16, 2009

School bananas ban ‘over the top.  Ain’t this god-awful silly. England is SillyLand. Think not? Read

Now this is really over the top in Moonbat thinking. I find however that it’s typical for how they approach things here.

Some many years ago for example, a few people had problems with Halcion, someone may have even overdosed. So what’s their solution?
Easy. Ban Halcion. Never mind that a kazillion other ppl had taken it with no ill effects. Let one get sick and the boom gets lowered.

There are some doctors in the USA that don’t like Halcion and give Ambien instead. Of course, that drug is (or was five yrs ago) VERY expensive. But it didn’t mean you could never get the other, which was cheap and worked.  Anyway, this is how they do things here and it really is stupid.
With regard to this article, apparently a teacher had an allergy to bananas. Does that mean just being in the same room was enough to cause a problem? Was one of the kids trying to poison the teacher? This just seemed so darn silly I thought it deserved some space here.

A council leader has said a banana ban enforced at a primary school for two years was “over the top”.
Children at Stoke Damerel Primary School, in Plymouth, have been unable to include the popular snack in their packed lunches since 2007, as one of its staff members has a life-threatening allergy to them.

But after only just learning of the banana boycott, Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, said she would ask officers to investigate.
Councillor Pengelly said: “This is the first I have heard about this and it does sound a bit over the top to me.

“It’s my experience as a headteacher that when there are allergies in a school we encourage children to manage the risk around them. I shall be asking officers to look at this particular case again to see whether anything else might be done.”

A spokeswoman for Plymouth City Council said it could not reveal the identity of the staff member involved, due to medical confidentiality.
She said: “A member of the school community has a severe life-threatening allergy to bananas and on the advice of the council, the school has asked pupils not to bring them in.

“These are very unusual circumstances but the school community has been supportive and understanding over the last two years.”
But the spokeswoman added the individual involved would be leaving the school in September - when bananas will be welcomed back to the facility.

She went on: “We cannot comment on specific individuals because of medical confidentiality. Most people know that individuals can have allergic reactions to substances, with nut allergies being particularly well-known.”

SOURCE

medical confidentiality?  FOR BANANAS?

Posted by peiper     on 06/16/2009 at 07:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Health and Safety • UK •  
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   Friday - May 08, 2009

After 400 years, health and safety bans stepladders from historic Oxford library…

THERE JUST CAN NOT BE ENOUGH BATS FOR THIS ONE. 

ELF ‘n’ SAFETY WIN AGAIN.  LATEST SCORE FROM THE BATTLEFIELD.  THE PUBLIC ZERO .... H AND S 1000%.

After 400 years, health and safety bans stepladders from historic Oxford library… but nobody can reach the books

By Lizzie Smith
Last updated at 7:00 PM on 08th May 2009

Stepladders have been banned from part of Oxford University’s historic Bodleian library - because of health and safety fears.

The ruling by officials means that students cannot use items on the higher shelves of the Duke Humfrey reading room.

However, the university is standing its ground and refusing to move the books from their ‘original historic location’ on the room’s balcony.

As a result of the stalemate, students have to travel to libraries as far away as London to view other copies.

Art History student Kelsey Williams, 21, had to travel 80 miles to London to view a copy of Arthur Johnston’s 1637 work Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum after librarians refused to get it down for her. She said: ‘Access to these books is necessary for my research and I wasted a day travelling to London and looking at the one in the British Library.

‘It’s madness because I can practically see the Bodleian’s copy every time I walk into Duke Humfrey’s.’

Stepladders have been used by scholars to reach books since the library was built more than 400 years ago.

But the University’s Health and Safety officer put his foot down last year and they were removed two weeks ago.

A notice given to students requesting the books reads: ‘Unable to fetch, book kept on top shelf in gallery. Due to new health and safety measures, stepladders can no longer be used.’

Laurence Benson, the library’s director of administration and finance, said: ‘The balcony has a low rail and we have been instructed by the health and safety office that this increases the risk.

‘As part of the process the restriction on the use of ladders on the balcony have been introduced.

‘The library would prefer to keep the books in their original historic location - where they have been safely consulted for 400 years prior to the instructions from the Health and Safety office.’

Posted by peiper     on 05/08/2009 at 02:22 PM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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   Thursday - May 07, 2009

Police constable refuses to mount a bike due to possible health and safety. And it gets funnier.

I’m not 100% certain the guy was serious. On the other hand, even if he was, in today’s climate he just may have a point.  And apparently there really is a proficiency test lasting two whole days on ....  RIDING A FREEKIN BIKE.  So maybe he was really complying with moonbat regs.

Oh dear,oh dear.  Look what the empire has come to.

PC refused to sit on bike for photo without proficiency test
Police officer Tony Cobban refused to pose on a stationary bicycle for a publicity photograph because he had not passed his cycling proficiency test.

By Daily Telegraph Reporter

The officer said he feared he could get into trouble without first having a risk-assessment conducted.

The community officer was following guidelines from his superiors at Lancashire Constabulary, which state that staff who have not taken the exam, a course taken by thousands of schoolchildren every year, are banned from using a bike.

Pc Cobban refused to even sit on the saddle during the photo shoot at Halfords, where two new bikes were donated to the police.

“It was basically a health and safety thing. I was just being cautious as I haven’t passed the cycling proficiency test,” he said.

“My personal view would be concern if anything happens to me while on the bike and it hasn’t been risk assessed or insured – in this day and age you have to cover all bases. It’s the way of the world.

“I could get on the bike but I’m not massively proficient.”

Inspector Nick Emmet, from Lancashire Constabulary, said Pc Cobban was right to be cautious.

“Our officers are required to be appropriately trained and assessed prior to using bikes for patrolling in order to comply with insurance and for the safety of themselves and the public.

“An increasing number of our neighbourhood officers do patrol their wards on bikes and their communities have welcomed this due to their increased effectiveness and visibility,” he said.

Fortunately, Pc Cobban’s colleague, PCSO Emma Nixon, had passed the test and was on hand to pose for a picture sat on one of the bikes.

But his actions have been ridiculed, even by the Lancashire Police Authority, the body responsible for the organisation of Lancashire Constabulary.

“I think it’s one of these PC gone mad things over PCs on bikes – I think having coppers on bikes is great,” said Cllr David Whipp, a member of the authority.

“I think the balance on health and safety is probably right but there may be one or two occasions where you raise your eyebrows.”

Councillor Geoff Driver, Conservative group leader for Lancashire County Council, also criticised the

“The mind boggles when a grown man can’t go on a bike for a photograph,” he said.

“When I hear stories like this I just think what on earth is going on.”

Mountain bikes are often used by beat officers to chase suspects down footpaths or passages that would be too narrow for a car.

Several forces have banned officers from riding bikes until they have passed a two-day proficiency test.

The decision followed the death of PCSO Christopher Maclure, 21, who was hit by a lorry in Wigan while on a mountain bike patrol in 2007.

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said the cycling proficiency exam they use is a modified version of tests taken by children learning to ride bikes but is “police specific”, using in-house instructors issuing extra guidance such as how to use police radios while cycling.

TELEGRAPH

Posted by peiper     on 05/07/2009 at 10:24 AM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • Insanity • Nanny State • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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   Thursday - April 23, 2009

Czech troops in Afghanistan seen as cowards.  Refuse to fight leaving Brits to do it.

FROM, THE HINDUSTAN TIMES.

Czech troops in Afghanistan seen as cowards:

Agence France-Presse
Prague, April 22, 2009
PLEASE MR. CUSTER. I DON’T WANNA GO

Czech soldiers in Afghanistan have let their British command down by refusing to fight terrorists several times, the Czech daily DNES wrote on Wednesday. When asked by the Britons to attack Afghan rebels, the commander of a special operations unit (SOG) said “we’re not going to, it’s dangerous,” then ordered his men to get in trucks and return to the base.

On another occasion, an SOG commander decided that the task the Britons had set ran counter to the unit’s mission. Yet another time, a commander said he could not help as his soldiers were on vacation. “I find it hard to recover from the news I get about this unit. It harms the reputation of the army,” Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova told the daily.

Her ministry is now investigating the commanders of the SOG unit of up to 35 soldiers, currently deployed as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Logar province in eastern Afghanistan. The daily said SOG should not be confused with an acclaimed special unit of 100 soldiers serving in the southern Kandahar province within the Enduring Freedom operation.

The Czech army, which has lost three soldiers in Afghanistan since 2007, has another 275 people working in the Logar provincial reconstruction team, serving under ISAF. The SOG commanders argued that Czech laws did not say clearly whether their unit, trained to free hostages, should also help fight terrorists or protect humanitarian convoys.

The daily added the army was looking into the relevant law, but it was too late to mend its reputation now that that the Britons had started to work with Danish troops instead, leaving the specially trained Czech soldiers to serve as ordinary guards or bodyguards for diplomats.

A Czech soldier who was left guarding the base recalled how the Britons and Danes “left to fight and only laughed at us with contempt.”

Posted by peiper     on 04/23/2009 at 09:18 AM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • War-Stories •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Sunday - April 19, 2009

Just can not let the subject go. Sorry. Here’s more ELF n SAFETY from the nanny club.

Well it ain’t gonna get a whole lot more schtupider den dis.
Cue the music for Laural and Hardy ...

If it’s getting dumber it’s also getting downright funnier as well. 

Now BBC health and safety mandarins won’t let three of the world’s toughest men light a stove in case they have accident

By Paul Revoir
Last updated at 12:41 AM on 18th April 2009

They are among the toughest and most resilient of men, having survived in some of the most unforgiving places on the planet.

But that does not mean that BBC health and safety mandarins trusted them to be left alone to light a Primus stove - in case they had an accident.


Sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston revealed the ‘absurd’ rules he, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and war reporter John Simpson were subjected to on BBC2 adventure series Top Dogs.

The three men went on gruelling trips to Afghanistan, around Cape Horn by boat and across the Canadian Arctic.

But the trio, each well-known for their survival skills in tough conditions, were all understood to have been taken aback by the health and safety rules.

This included a ban on lighting a Primus stove without supervision, and being given a ‘huge’ document warning them about hazards - such as tripping over.

Despite the fact that explorer Sir Ranulph, 65, was in the Army for eight years, he and Sir Robin, 70, were also sent on a ‘hostile environment course’.

And the trio were given guidance from an expert in Arctic exploration - even though Sir Ranulph has two medals for his polar expeditions.

Sir Ranulph was the first person to cross Antarctica by foot and has been described as the world’s greatest living explorer.
A stove

He famously cut off his own frostbitten fingertips after a doomed attempt to walk unsupported to the North Pole in 2000.

Sir Robin, meanwhile, was the first man to sail singlehanded and non-stop around the globe, and in 1994 won the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by yacht.

The comments from Sir Robin come days after similar remarks from Simpson, 64, who has been shelled in Afghanistan, bombed with poison gas in the Iran-Iraq war and dodged bullets in Tiananmen Square.

Simpson complained about the health and safety ‘nonsense’ surrounding the series, which ended last night, saying he was given a risk assessment form ‘the size of a telephone directory’ for one episode.

Sir Robin said: ‘Ran and I were told we could not light a Primus stove unless we were supervised. So that’s the kind of nonsense you get.

‘This young man came in and said he was going to supervise and we told him to clear off. Or words to that effect.’

The sailor added: ‘It was just absurd. What do you think we cook on in boats?’

He attacked the BBC’s insistence on giving the men an expert in Arctic exploration to make sure they kept safe. Sir Robin claimed: ‘He had about 10 per cent of Ran’s knowledge.’

He added: ‘When you read the health and safety document, it is ridiculous. You just read it and thought you have got to be joking. This is just to create paperwork.’

He added: ‘Ran’s view was very similar to mine.’

But Sir Robin did praise the training for their Afghan trip, which taught them how to deal with being kidnapped.

A BBC ‘general risk assessment form’ shown on the National Union of Journalists’ website provides a list of hazards including trip hazard, slippery surface, attacked by animal, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, lightning strike, laser light, noise, vibration, litter and stress.

On Thursday, the Daily Mail reported how health and safety rules meant BBC staff had to have a paramedic and a first aider watching over them when they changed a car wheel.

Producers had to fill out a risk assessment before the two BBC Radio Essex presenters each took off a wheel for a feature on programme about learning new skills.

A BBC spokesman said of Top Dogs: ‘The BBC takes its responsibilities for health and safety very seriously.

‘We knew that for each programme, one of the trio would be completely comfortable, operating in their own environment, but for the two novices learning the ropes, it was important that we minimised the risks as much as possible.’

MAIL

Posted by peiper     on 04/19/2009 at 07:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • UK •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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