Leathermans tool banned at mine site

[56L]

Some underground electrician cut himself whilst using a leathermans tool and now we all had to sign off on the banning of leathermans tools on the whole mine site,above and underground.

Some guys are devastated as they loved their leathermans tool LOL

[74_XB_Ute]

Sounds like a knee jerk reaction to me by the site OH&S. Similar stuff goes on in my work place. OH&S seems to never take into account that sometimes things happen but they are obligated to put something in place to prevent further incidents. It's the world we live in these days!

[05_ENFORCER]

I would be flabbergasted if it was a sparky (albeit a mole) that used a leatherman and caused the incident.

Open bladed knives seem to be the OH&S idiots beef on many sites.

How about be engineer the idiots out of the equation.

Gees that would be different.

[AdamL]

Originally Posted by 74_XB_Ute

Sounds like a knee jerk reaction to me by the site OH&S. Similar stuff goes on in my work place. OH&S seems to never take into account that sometimes things happen but they are obligated to put something in place to prevent further incidents. It's the world we live in these days!

Couldn't agree more.

Our policy at work is that "all accidents are preventable" and with hindsight they are. There will always be little cuts and scratches in my industry. The pencil pushers just don't understand the real word.

[Iggypoppin']

I love my leatherman. Fantastic tool, if you use it correctly. I have used mine for 2 years without an issue. My work had a fairly strict "no knives" policy but after I put my case to them they relented and bent the rules. It's a pretty awesome tool if you are smart about it. I can't believe a minesite banned such a versatile tool! Sounds like post number one is right, very knee jerk reaction to a small incident.

[wrongwaynorris]

I have been breaking the law for years by carrying my Swiss Army knife everywhere with me . Grew up in an era where you were encouraged to carry one . Which evil organisation encouraged me to carry a knife everywhere I hear some of you asking , the Scouts . Be prepared .

[DJR-351]

With regards to knives ExxonMobil did the same about 6 months ago, only knives with a non-slip handle fitted with a guard and sharpened on one side are allowed, you are not even permited to have Stanley knives in your tool box......

They have also implemented a rule that while ever you are onsite gloves are to be worn all the time, it does not matter whether you are working or not, you could be just transiting the area, everyone has to be wearing gloves.....

[302 XC]

Some restaurants now dont serve meals with knifes for fear or being robbed by people using the restaurants cutlery

The world has gone crazy

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Some restaurants now dont serve meals with knifes for fear or being robbed by people using the restaurants cutlery

The world has gone crazy

We will all be eating at soup kitchens soon

[Rapid5.4]

RIP common sense.

[Kryton]

Sounds like where i work.
Something happenes - get rid of it altogether - even if it was an accident.

[buggerlugs]

Servicing a 12 tonne excavator, one mob made us use scaffolding and a safety harness.........it's getting worse by the day.......

[bungarra]

Been banned on a lot of mine sites in WA for a couple of years. Most sites have to have the auto retracting blade. Unfortunately we have socially engineered out self responsibility and the idea of using a brain!

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by bungarra

Been banned on a lot of mine sites in WA for a couple of years. Most sites have to have the auto retracting blade. Unfortunately we have socially engineered out self responsibility and the idea of using a brain!

Same goes for any of the Ford factories, must have auto retracting blade because some moron cut his finger.

[bob^]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Same goes for any of the Ford factories, must have auto retracting blade because some moron cut his finger.

The sparkies used to be exempt from that until another moron cut his finger recently. Then they did a total ban.
Try stripping a cable with an auto retracting blade - it's even more of a hazard.

[mistermxer]

Originally Posted by bob^

The sparkies used to be exempt from that until another moron cut his finger recently. Then they did a total ban.
Try stripping a cable with an auto retracting blade - it's even more of a hazard.

i beg to differ, auto retract is all i ever use. i prefer it personally. but that's all it is, a personal choice, just cause i'm too lazy to retract it and i would cut myself if i left it open in a EWP with a bucket load of stuff in the basket... but that's why i use the safety type, common sense..

[fordomatic]

WOW talk about knee jerk reactions, glad to see its not just in my job

[Franco Cozzo]

When I was at Honda we had one of the mechanics accidentally put a chisel into his arm, they where banned from then on.

Then another guy hit his hand with the hammer instead of what he was intending to hit so they got banned.

[Lotte]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

When I was at Honda we had one of the mechanics accidentally put a chisel into his arm, they where banned from then on.

Then another guy hit his hand with the hammer instead of what he was intending to hit so they got banned.

Wow, if my company did this, we'd have to ban electricity.... (only because we engineers are teh smart, and one of our guys, despite being an electronics engineer, whould never be allowed to touch anything with electricity running through it....)

[belvo]

Then another guy hit his hand with the hammer instead of what he was intending to hit so they got banned.

ha how can they ban a hammer?

[AdamL]

Originally Posted by belvo

ha how can they ban a hammer?

It happens.
My work place banned sledge hammers without putting into place a suitable substitute. They eventually got slide hammers that take 2 people to use and are far more stressful on the body than any sledge hammer ever was.

Solving one problem by creating 6 other problems is not a good solution in my book.

[Krytox]

Damn, I keep mine in my work toolbox, Maybe I'll need to be inducted for 45minutes at each site.

I better have my $9 'disposable' 15watt Nicholson soldering iron test and tagged too.

Would a simple disclaimer waive this issues?¿

I'd much rather use a tool that I'm used to instead of a modified safety item i have to 'work out' how to use before a basic wire strip. Someone might lose concentration and wire my smart meter in reverse due to these complications.

[redxm]

Should have seen yesterdays effort. I was at a railway site inside a mine.............

[XD 351 Ute]

Cement Australia is the latest to get on the downward travelling common sense train.

Luck for them I have a hammer and a short temper.
Failing that, I will try cutting anything with an oxy.........

Ed

[mistermxer]

Originally Posted by XD 351 Ute

Cement Australia is the latest to get on the downward travelling common sense train.

Luck for them I have a hammer and a short temper.
Failing that, I will try cutting anything with an oxy.........

Ed

Cement Australia... i "worked" for them... till they closed the place..

[fangq]

Originally Posted by XD 351 Ute

Cement Australia is the latest to get on the downward travelling common sense train.

Luck for them I have a hammer and a short temper.
Failing that, I will try cutting anything with an oxy.........

Ed

The smart thing would be for someone to get an infected paper cut from handling WHS induction notes....

Steve

[XD 351 Ute]

Originally Posted by mistermxer

Cement Australia... i "worked" for them... till they closed the place..

Don't worry, our turn is coming 3 to 5 years thanks to the carbon tax.
They will import clinker & grind it in the mills here.
Apart from that, our maintenance crews are down about 6 blokes, and they don't look like getting replaced, just more contractors...

Originally Posted by fangq

The smart thing would be for someone to get an infected paper cut from handling WHS induction notes....

Steve

We can only wish......

Ed

[Brent]

Its a weird world. Everyone laments the overkill of OH&S even across relatively trivial issues, yet when somebody cuts a finger, first thing that's done is reach for the Workcover form, and the saga begins.

Make no mistake, it is extremely expensive for an employer when people claim Workcover compensation, be it for time off work, medical bills or compensation. Think of Workcover like car or health insurance, the more you claim, the more your premium goes up. Then there's excess payments and various out of pocket expenses for the company. After all that, you get a friendly visit from the Workcover inspector who's attitude of superiority puts the Gestapo to shame. Then you have to find a temporary replacement for the injured employee. Its a very expensive part of any labour intensive firm's overhead costs.

Most companies find little joy in paying OH&S dudes to run around company sites waving the finger at everyone, but it ends up cheaper than paying out when Davo hacks his little finger off due to his own ineptitude.

Don't get me wrong, if an employer is negligent in removing obvious risks that can reasonably be foreseen, and somebody gets injured or worse, then the company deserves the full wrap. Unfortunately though, like most things in life these days, OH&S has been brought down to the lowest common denominator. The fact that somebody cuts their finger through misusing a knife holds no weight whatsoever in court....the mere fact that the employee had ACCESS to a knife means that the fault rests with the employer. Game over. So, what does the employer ask his OH&S guys to do? Yep, remove the knives.

That's it in a nutshell folks, and end result is that the job takes you longer, costs your boss more, your industry becomes just that little bit less competitive on the world economic stage, but then Davo has a reduced chance of cutting off his finger, doesn't he?

[XD 351 Ute]

Originally Posted by Brent

That's it in a nutshell folks, and end result is that the job takes you longer, costs your boss more, your industry becomes just that little bit less competitive on the world economic stage, but then Davo has a reduced chance of cutting off his finger, doesn't he?

The cost of WH&S is probably something that is far more than most people realise.

Humans are humans, there will always be accidents to a degree, look at the way generations learn from generations.
I never thought I'd ever say this, but one of the best ways to reduce & hopefully eliminate injury, is to use your melon, take 5 and think about the job at hand.

It's probably the most useful bit of WH&S stuff they've actually come up with.
Come to think of it we did use the exact same methodology years ago when I first started work as an apprentice.
If you didn't think about what you were doing and stuffed up, you got a kick up the backside, and then you were asked if you were alright....

Maybe that's where we need to go back to, and get rid of all this "I'll sue you" crap...

But still keep the big stick out for those on both sides of the fence that take shortcuts and endanger lives unnecessarily.

Ed

[mistermxer]

Originally Posted by XD 351 Ute

Don't worry, our turn is coming 3 to 5 years thanks to the carbon tax.
They will import clinker & grind it in the mills here.
Apart from that, our maintenance crews are down about 6 blokes, and they don't look like getting replaced, just more contractors...



We can only wish......

Ed

so it's true what Brian said happened on his 2nd day down there... "long service leave anyone?"