Lack of good Health and Safety practices.

There are 12 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 999 times. The latest Post (March 14, 2024 at 10:05 AM) was by UK Man.

    In a past life I used to have to do regular H&S site inspections and record them...cause I'd done a course. This has resulted in me noticing how lax H&S is taken here.... at least where I am. One instance happened last week as I was waiting in the car for the missus to come out the pharmacy. We usually park on the other side of the busy avenue where they're erecting a new three storey building. However that day we were able to find a parking space outside.

    Through the usual banging noises coming from the builders across I suddenly heard a clattering noise of metal. Looked over and saw a long square metal pole bouncing down and hit the pavement just missing a parked car. Looked up to the third floor to see the worried looking builders peering over the edge to see where it had landed. Fortunately due to the time of day the normally busy pavement was quiet...a girl had just walked past where the pole had landed. She looked back to see what had happened. I don't think she relised how lucky she was, had she been a second or two earlier it could easily have landed on her head.

    Got me thinking what the H&S practices would have been in place on a UK building site compared to those here. I'm not an expert on building sites but I feel confident in saying there'd be a hell of a lot more than there was on this site involved. Especially one with the general public being so close.

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    It's all pretty lax, yes. On the other hand, one could say that Argentina is a patchwork quilt of grey areas which often work to our advantage.

    Also, if you've ever bought a choripan from a roadside parrilla, did you notice the sanitary conditions? I used to, but not any more.

    It's a case of just having to ignore these type of things until one becomes a victim of them. You'd end up going mad otherwise. Especially as far worse things can be seen on the roads every day.

    I used to work in H&S in an industrial plant before moving here. I was appalled by the lack of safety devices and practices in Argentina, although I notice that in Capital they do make an effort as I see workers wearing helmets and harnesses, the works have QR code and need to be authorized/approved by the city. That said, yet one more reason why I never looked for an engineering job in Argentina -- it would drive me mad.

    I refuse to do any electrical job in the house anymore. Last time I opened a socket the cables were all the same colors. It made no sense. Our upstairs cabling was also done incorrectly, as there is no lighting circuit and it sockets and lights all run on the same circuit. Does it work? Yes, but every time you need to make any work or modification it gets to a painful trial and error. When we had installed the motorized curtain outside, they couldn't find a way to make it work and had to work twice as much just for a thing that would have been a non-issue had they made the electrical circuit up to standard.

    Quote from serafina

    That said, yet one more reason why I never looked for an engineering job in Argentina -- it would drive me mad.

    Don't blame you. Given many of the construction site workers here are Bolivians those who employ them probably don't care about their H&S.

    We used to run safety drills on Saturday afternoon when the offices next to the plant were empty. Prior to that, H&S and emergency training was not taken very seriously. It is important to educate and train workers because time, training, procedures, and personal protective equipment (PPE) are key to minimize safety risks.

    It all seems redundant until something tragic happens, then it is too late and it is all blaming and finger-pointing.

    Quote from serafina

    We used to run safety drills on Saturday afternoon when the offices next to the plant were empty. Prior to that, H&S and emergency training was not taken very seriously. It is important to educate and train workers because time, training, procedures, and personal protective equipment (PPE) are key to minimize safety risks.

    It all seems redundant until something tragic happens, then it is too late and it is all blaming and finger-pointing.

    Health and Safety Law in the UK is very strict so woebetide any employer who doesn't follow safe working practices.

    This is the building they are building next to our STR in Hollywood. On the same block, one house away, they are starting a new one.

    If you look at the 2nd picture below (taken from the bedroom), you can see there is another building being built across the block.

    I wonder for how long they will have those board installed, as they are bearing over our property and provide easy access to our STR bedroom window. It seems they are installing these as "containment" for debris every two floors.