OSH legislation is going to cost lives. Too much emphasis is being put on covering everyone's arse with bureaucracy that the real purpose of OSH is being forgotten.

It's costing small business too much money and work as well. The latest garbage is the Pre-Qual where you pay a third party to rate your OSH processes and procedures so a main contractor will give you work.  I'm so sick of it all that I recently told a large contractor to get stuffed I wasn't going to pay for a qualification just to get work. To me its the same corrupt action as extortion. The law requires me to have processes and procedures in place not the whims of organisations trying to cover their arse if something goes wrong.

We recently looked at a roofing repair job. $1,800 for the repairs, over $7,000 for edge protection.  What ever happened to using common sense.

Another piece of legislation that people will get sick of and walk away from their choosen professions because their jobs will no longer be viable. How does all this work on OSH keep the price of housing down?

Hi Robbo  The legal requirement is out of the "Fish and Chip Act" being "TAKE ALL REASONABLE STEPS TO......." . What is reasonable to a bureaucrat probably won't be reasonable to me as a trades person. Ask them for a definition and you get a reply that its up to the courts to decide what is all reasonable steps based on the circumstances. To me its all bullshit. If legislation is not easy to understand then it is poor legislation. 

 It seem to be Cover Arse Retain Employment, all CARE aye.

I find it rather ludicrous that that after having a demo on how to secure pipes and ladders to the roof of the van, store solvent and such like in the new approved dangerous goods container, it goes on and on and on and sign that I have been trained and understand the procedure that I get sent off on a job in the wops by myself to remove and replace a 270 litre hot water cylinder by myself.
try heaving a water logged cylinder around aye.

I then get a gradual process injury (tennis elbow) and get told by ACC that it is old age related and suck it up... keep working and endure it. I then watch the apprentice on ACC for 4+ months due to a sporting injury. Im not knocking him but jeeze.

Then im cleaning flues on 2 houses watching 4 able bodied guys farking about with a crappy ford ute drinking beer before they go white baiting  while the next door thugs are pissing up enjoying the sun sharing a ciggerette between themselves. it must be a hard life doing nothing aye.

I will have to work harder so I can give these fellas a better standard of living, no wonder I am getting to the point where I just want to throw it all in and go live in a punga hut in the scrub or maybe an electrode applied to each temple and flick the switch,Viola no more worries.
Note health and safety content in the first paragraph.

When the minimum wage goes to $20 an hour it will be an attractive option robbo.
what is a qualified licenced tradesman going to be worth then??

It all comes down to liability, at the end of the day.
And who's going to carry the can. Nah she will be alright, till some thing happens, I understand the  recent water supply contamination in havelock affected people  in the thousands. Ignorance is no excuse under law.
 So how do you or who do you stick that one on?
 if you were say investigated and found potentialy culpable then you need your paper work done, boxes ticked, all ticketty boo and ready for intense scrutiny.... I imagine it would make an Inland Revenue G.S.T audit  a doddle...

 I would like to see industry work with policy in a more dominant role to create sensible safety- results based.

Good on the Fed and you wal & others. I remember the toilet sit in at Wgtn.

I also remember the golden rule, ''whosoever has the gold makes the rules''
I doubt that will change very much.

Thank gawd its Friday tomorrow, a good weekend to all.

(Safety is an indispensable thing for the plumbers or construction workers as well as health. In order to provide better service to their customers) it always was and now a source of income for swags of ticket clippers who are only in danger of `paper cuts`
cheers