There are some things which just annoy me,
those which worry me,
and others which really alarm me.
Fire extinguishers being used to prop doors open,
a failure to appreciate the importance of regular fire equipment
tests,
missed fire drills,
&
the failure to hold regular health and safety surveys combine all
of the above for me.
It is not because I’m worried about all the fire or Health and
Safety regulations as such.
It is not because I’m worried about complying with the legal
requirements to do so.
My concerns are far more fundemental than that.
It is because failing to deal with these things can result in either
someone being either killed or seriously injured.
Failures in the past.
It was a failure to deal with the dangers of fire in the past which
resulted in the kind of fire regulations which we now have in place.
For example: –
The Triange fire.
The Kings Cross fire.
The Tooley Street fire.
&
That at the Alhambra Theatre which resulted in the creation of theatre fire curtains.
It was also as a result of trade union action to save peoples lives
that these health and safety regulations came in to place in the first place.
This is an ongoing campaign.
Setting the standards.
We should not be forever going on about it’s a nuisance,
or costs too much money and time to do.
We should not just be complying with the various fire,
or Health & Safety standards.
We should setting our own much higher standards.
This goes hand in hand with campaigning to improve what are in
the building regulions.
As radicals we should be working to create living spaces which
go way beyond the regulations,
and show just how this can be done.
Meanwhile in Cumbria.
Which brings me on to the very latest job vacancy for the
Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
It’s for a Health and Safety Officer based at Windscale/
Sellafield.
The best line in this ad being:
‘ We help keep the nation safe. You keep our people safe.’
Now how’s that for an interesting way of thinking?