Hopefully someone can help me with this query that has puzzled me for a while. What exactly are the Health & Safety Rules for workers on Motorways?
I regularly travel the M8 Glasgow to Edinburgh and see workers having to run from the centre island to the waiting lorry on the hardshoulder dragging the big "Roadworks 800yds signs" etc.
Are they been forced to cut corners or is this the accepted method of working?
I know I wouldn't like to try running across a motorway alone, never mind dragging one of these signs behind me!
What happens if they trip?
Any roadworkers out there?
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since the industry was deregulated, that is since local councils deregulated and began to contract essential work out to local companies all sorts of corner cutting has been taking place. Have you seen Mike Lees film, The Navigators? You'll never want to take a British train again, even if you did before! Remember that these fly by night cow boy companies just want maximum profits from minimum investment, i.e shoddy work!
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Thats true, I always remember someone telling me that "just remember the company you are relying on is the one that got the contract for the cheapest price"
Pretty good advice no matter what the type of business!
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Thats what one of the space shuttle astronuts said as they were sitting on the pad - "Isnt nice to know we are sitting on enough explosive power to make Hiroshima look like a firework, and built by the comany that submitted the lowest tender"
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I wont if start on this one otherwise the moderator will come along and tell me to turn this thread motorwise, which is of course where i want to keep it.
Anyway, here\'s another interesting point for you. I know a little bird that works for a big car manufacurter company that recently had serious financial difficulties (ok, if you have seen Fight Club the Film this is the same principle, only this is\'nt just in the movies, it\'s really used by the industry (name no names). They use the following equation:
- if a fault is apparent within a certain amount of time with a given vehicle (i.e. certain tyres on 4x4s) you do the following: you can initiate a recall of the vehicle when you have worked out,
take the number of the cars currently out on the field (A)
take the number of probable rate of failue in the vehicles (B)
take the number and cost of \'out of court settlements\' (C)
AxBxC = X, if X is less than the cost of a recall you don\'t do a recall, you let the customer contine playing roulett, just as a tyre manufacturer did with all the SUV customers a few years back. Nice is\'nt it.
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More likely X + what we will call D, which is the likely value of lost goodwill, and E, which is any likely fines. In America, particularly, damages are set by juries and include a punitive element, which can run to eight or nine figures. Being caught exercising such a cynical equation would therefore mean ruin for most companies; I'm not saying that this means it would never happen, but this is one instance where punitive damages can have a very calming effect on commercial behaviour.
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AHHHHH BUT!!! This is EXACTLY what Ralph Nader proved in the states about a certain big two car company. They knew about a certain fault, they calculated the cost of each death, the damages payable, and the cost of rectification, and decided doing nothing was the cheapest option - and thats what they did.
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I don't know why anyone should be surprised at this. Big business isn't about touchy-feely stuff. Hard-nosed bean-counters run the show. I don't find that rough formula the least surprising: I have come across it many times in my career.
Welcome to the real world.
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The rules laid out are basically that when a closure is to be put out without Police assistance, i.e. a rolling block, then a traffic count is done over a set amount of time, average vehicles per lane per hour are calculated and as long as they fall within the published guideline thresholds then it's ok to start putting the closure out.
The guys you see running across all three lanes to put the paddy sign and wicket boards at the centre are there usually quite legitimately, although many do take undue risks.
PP
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I forgot to add that Health and Safety regulations require these traffic management guys to walk across the lanes and not run - yeah right!
PP
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