Health and Safety

[david_d11]

Hello I have currently been suspended with pay from work until a hearing about negligence of Health and Safety...

I will briefly explain what happened and if anyone can advice me on where I stand i would greatly appreciate it.

On Monday I was given a job card from my office to sample a water tank for Legionairre's/TVC and Ecoli..I attended the site and climbed up to the roof space of the building.However to access the actual tank room I had to use a harnice to gain access,I was not issued with a harnice to complete the site nor was there anything on the Job card stateing I would need a harnice to access the tank room.

I decided to complete the job anyway and climbed into the tank room while holding onto the lanyard after i sampled the tanks i tried to make my way back out of the tank room.However this was difficult to do safely enough as i had no harnice and couldnt hold anything due to holding the samples in my hand.

So i left the samples in the tank room to retrieve my bag so i could put the samples in my bag and climb down while holding onto the lanyard.When in the van i get a phone call from my boss to carry out a site audit..He asks me where my bottles are and i inform him they are in the tank room still.

Now I accept I have breached Health and Safety by going into a roof space without a harnice.However my boss who was on site is aware this site needs a harnice and instruted me to go retrieve the samples.

So my question is I understand my breach but is my boss not comitted the exact same breach as me,as he has instructed me to retrieve the sample's knowing a harnice is needed to access the tank room?

[david_d11]

Hi Mrs Overall the actual full name is NVQ Level 2 in Water Distribution Systems..

I called it water as most people probably didnt care enough to no what exactly it was in lol sept you ;)

[mrs_overall]

Boxy, as I understood it, NVQ's in water related subjects have been replaced by diplomas?
I agree the issuing of an NVQ without a portfolio sounds dodgy

[bednobs]

unfortunately (for you) it probably wont really matter if your boss is also disciplined, or receives a warning - i think they will treat you both seperately

[david_d11]

Bednobs I realise im going into the lion's den with this and the hearing is taking place at my office so all my bosses will be in the building..therefore I am expecting to fully get the boot...

On a side note as I have already started thinking of a new career path and my main interest is driving...is there anybody with any knowledge to bus driving is something i would like to try however the dangers and aggrovation seems to put me off.

Also doing my knowledge for cab driving is something that has always interested me...but im going to need to learn in my spare time as obviously you dont get paid to learn.