How long would this take in Australia

[Cosmick]

Japanese road reopens one week after giant sinkhole appears

[spacesailor]

It would Never reopen!

 

they would keep throwing slush funds in for-ever.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Yenn]

We would fix it quickly. Firat a multi million dollar survey to find out why it happened, reporting back in 18 months, then a multi million feasability study to see if it possible to fix it followed by a multi million dollar design study, by which time it has become redundant as everyone has just gone round it. Finally work begins although there is no need for the road to be there.

 

When it is all finished and the politicians have slapped each others backs they suddenly find that there is no underground wiring for the traffic lights. The chief of the design and construct department resigns as does his offsider. The minister responsible is found to be blameless and given promotion to the inner cabinet. Oops sorry I was only thinking of Queensland and this might be NSW or WA.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Red750

 

"no underground wiring for the traffic lights."

 

Don't forget Yen's lights. More digging later.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[spacesailor]

And It's Back again Big hole that is.,

 

spacesailor

 

 

[dutchroll]

A mate of mine put this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago. This was my comment:

 

Realistic view:

 

4 months of council meetings to decide "yes this is an urgent priority". 3 months engineering assessment. 4 months OH&S assessment. 2 months for comments on the engineering and OH&S assessment. 3 months for the revised engineering and OH&S assessments. 4 months for finance department assessment, followed by rejection due to funding. Deferred to next FY - 8 months.

 

Next FY, 4 months for funding approval. 2 months to make it to Committee for final decision. Committee rejects both engineering and OH&S assessment on ground that they were done almost 3 years ago and are out of date, so order new assessments. 2 months for resubmission of same engineering assessment which was done in the first place. 2 months for OH&S assessment with the only change being that traffic cones are now fluorescent yellow, rather than orange, 1 month for expedited final approval from Council, 6 months to tender and approve contract. 14 days for private contractor to complete work.

 

Total time: 3 years 9 months to commencement of works. 14 days to complete works.

 

 

[nomadpete]

What are you trying to say?

 

Surely you would not like to see our workers exposed to injury? Nor see the councils spend money without checks and balances to prevent excessive expenditure? Nor would you approve of our council rates being spent on poorly engineered work in our towns?

 

It's all for our own good, you know!

 

 

[nomadpete]

Then the contractor cuts corners, ignores OH&S, rushes out a half assed job in order to make a profit after council overspent on their admin budget last year.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Good mate of mine runs his own OH&S business giving advice to private companies.

 

He told one company that a specific part of their operation was unsafe, and if they didn't fix it, it'd kill someone.

 

They didn't fix it.

 

It killed someone.

 

Sometimes OH&S isn't a waste of time.

 

 

[dutchroll]

No it's not a waste of time if done properly.

 

But in our company you get things like a senior manager on an OH&S rampage yelling at you at Melbourne airport because while walking through the carpark, you didn't use a marked pedestrian walk for the last 10 metres to the waiting crew transport.

 

And where the crew transport parks.......wait for it.......there is no marked pedestrian walk for the last 10 metres.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Marty I'm not trying to pick a fight. It's just that the real world outcomes of OH&S often fail to achieve their intended safe outcomes. I don't begrudge a bit of lost time or inconvenience where necessary to keep safe. Unfortunately though, the reality is that modern 'risk management' is tainted by litigation cost fears. I have seen massive waste caused by the need to maintain a solid paper trail of compliance, the main purpose of which is to provide a water tight 'blame wall' to any subsequent Workplace accident investigation.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Marty I'm not trying to pick a fight. It's just that the real world outcomes of OH&S often fail to achieve their intended safe outcomes. I don't begrudge a bit of lost time or inconvenience where necessary to keep safe. Unfortunately though, the reality is that modern 'risk management' is tainted by litigation cost fears. I have seen massive waste caused by the need to maintain a solid paper trail of compliance, the main purpose of which is to provide a water tight 'blame wall' to any subsequent Workplace accident investigation.

I agree wholeheartedly that a lot of OH&S is a complete and utter waste of time. I work in an office and we MUST have an OH&S rep on each floor, and we get emails regularly telling us to report hazards... in an office? Hardly the most dangerous workplace on earth. About the most danger I face is spilling my coffee.

 

But on the other hand that situation with my mate just goes to show that some companies exist where the opposite culture exists - shortcuts, cost savings, anything to get the job done cheaper or quicker. In that case it cost a worker his life. They were told exactly where the problem was but it was deemed too expensive to fix.

 

 

[nomadpete]

In your story, Marty, their risk management might have been a callous "What will it cost us if the worst happens? does insurance cover it?" Most businesses have risk managers who are paid to do those calculations.

 

However, when it comes to your office, I believe we were informed by our OH&S expert, that the biggest cause of lost time incidents is, believe it or not, "Slips, trips and falls" and paper cuts. Seems that office staff cause us a lot of grief by costing their employer too much when they take time off for paper cuts and similar minor avoidable carelessness. So the real worker dealing with heavy loads, high voltages, stored energy, etc, all pay the price with cumbersome safety dumbed down to the lowest level.

 

At least in aviation there is some semblance of logic - we are teaching that safety starts with human factors which start with situational awareness. That in itself would be condensed to "use common sense and allow for all things that can go wrong in order of likelihood"

 

 

[spacesailor]

There is a way to stop all this carnage,

 

Ban all round wheels, Ban all volatile fuels, Ban all acids & alkalis, and ban all pedestrians off the roads completely.

 

The list isn't finished by far, but you get the drift,

 

spacesailor

 

 

[nomadpete]

No need to make it so complicated.

 

Just ban idiots

 

 

[spacesailor]

From bureaucracy and government.

 

Your will, will be done "Nomadpete"

 

because I agree with you

 

spacesailor