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An Inspector Calls


Cleopatra

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What a laugh eh? A knock at the door. You open the door and there stood on your doorstep is some officious looking individual with his/her ID already in his/her hand, which he/she thrusts into you face. "Good morning... I've come to inspect your house plants to make sure they have no pests and have a passport." Or, "Good morning... I've come to check that your refridgerator isn't using too much energy."

Could be scenes from a tv comedy play but in fact are real life scenarios. (yeah wolfie, I've been reading The Daily Mail again). Officials have more than 1,400 powers to enter your home to snoop on you. Did you know that?

Could you tell said inspector, "Bugger off! Only pest around here is you and, no, my plants don't have a passport because they are not taking a holiday abroad!"

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tell them whatever you want.

even if the so called law "permits" these people to enter your house, make them produce court orders, and have every bit of paper legally examined and double checked  including calling the police claiming trespass.

 

If you dont then all the fraudsters will be on your door.

Never believe a starnger and monitor everything they do.

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From what I reluctantly read in someone else's "Mail" was that the Government are reviewing all the "Right of entry" legislation and have identified some daft laws, like the plant passport rubbish. They intend to rescind them, however, there are so many new laws brought in by the last and previous governments that few people actually know them all. Some make a bit of sense or at least you can understand why they were brought in ie the Anti Social Behaviour order if you have a huge hedge that blights your neighbours lives Some are lunacy, like checking your fridge is cold enough. Many,however,are myths...like being sued if you clear snow from the footpath and some person slips. Strayed a mite there but it's not illegal. Or is it?

 

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Extracted from Ask The Experts. Make of it what you will. -
 
 
But the professional body that represents health and safety experts has warned businesses not to grit public paths. In its guidance to members, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health warns that if people assume an area is clear and then slip and injure themselves, they could take legal action claiming damages.
Government whip Lord Davies of Oldham explained to fellow peers in a House of Lords debate: 'If people totally clear away all snow and return the pavement to the situation it was in before the snow landed, they have done an excellent job. If it is done in a less than complete manner and leaves ice, which is more dangerous than the original covering of snow, it may not be the local authority responsible but the householder for having dealt with the pavement.'
But Paul Kitson, of solicitors Russell, Jones and Walker, warned home owners are responsible for clearing their own paths and ensuring visiting postmen, milkmen and others are safe.
 

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:roll: More gonads methinks.

 

 

 

The Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday both ran very similar stories at the weekend:

The professional body that represents health-and-safety experts has warned businesses not to grit public paths. (
)

The professional body that represents health and safety experts has issued a warning to businesses not to grit public paths. (
)

Both then went on about health and safety gone mad etc.

Only one problem.

The experts had said nothing of the sort.

The Sunday Telegraph had approached the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health who in fact gave a comment which said the opposite of what the newspaper subsequently reported. Far from warning businesses off gritting public paths, they actually on encouraged them to do so:

Deciding whether to grit beyond the boundaries of their property needs to be carefully considered by companies. If access to the premises is covered in ice, companies may choose to grit the access to help their staff and visitors arrive and leave safely, even though it’s not their property. However, in this instance, if they failed to grit the surface properly and someone had an accident as a result, then they could incur some liability.

As a general rule, though, it’s sensible for firms to consider the risks and take reasonable steps to prevent accidents from happening. If this means gritting outside the boundaries of your workplace, then it’s better to do that than to have people slipping over or involved in car crashes on your doorstep.

The IOSH subsequently commented:

The IOSH position is most definitely to encourage people to be good employers and neighbours by gritting icy areas and to emphasise that health and safety wants to help protect life and limb, not endanger it.

So where did the story come from? As explained by the IOSH in a comment on Malcolm Coles’s blog:

This comment
was ignored, and instead they took words from the “Just Ask” column of SHP magazine in February last year, contributed by legal consultancy Croner, and attributed them to IOSH, passing this off as guidance issued by IOSH to its members.

IOSH has been completely misrepresented.

Health and safety gone mad? Poor journalism run amok more like.

UPDATE: Credit to Labour minister Lord Adonis for his very robust answer in Parliament when asked about snow, clearing, suing, world ending et al:

It is total nonsense to say that health and safety legislation should stop people being good neighbours or doing their local duty. People should do their local duty. They should show common sense, neighbourliness and generosity of spirit, which the overwhelming majority of people are doing up and down the country.

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Gonads :lol:   A very good post there PJ !!

 

 

Extracted from Ask The Experts. Make of it what you will. -


OK..... " it's all a load of twaddle as is the nonsense about officials coming into uur homes to check plants and fridges etc " :wink:
 
If by any remote chance some saddo does want to check my fridge tomorrow now I'll probably be out speading grit so wont be able to answer the door  
 

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