Can anyone give me a bit of advice.
The place I am working is the home of a chilminder, the house is having a lot of building work for a new extension and so the only usable room is the kitchen, the same room I am meant to be changing a boiler and running new pipework etc.
Today there was about 8 kids there incl 2 babies, and due to the bad weather they were in the kitchen all the time,I did remove the old boiler but then virtually walked off the job as I was not happy about their safety.

Trouble is this job has to be done, I have too much money tied up in it to walk away and also the builder needs my work done to carry on with his work.

So in the worst case senario is the kids safety down to me if say one was to trip on a bit of pipe for example or would it be down to the childminder?

Also the bloody screaming was driving me mad

oohhhh the HSE would have a field day cliff

you have to request that in order to carry out your work .....no kiddies

would be the builders responsibility to clear the area of kiddies if your subcontracting to him 

Last edited by aljo on Tue Jul 17 2007 9:35pm. Edited 1 time in total

if you are working in a public area you have to cordon the area off with ticker tape, thus ensuring a safe working environment for you and others, you have a duty of care to yourself and others around you. You should do a risk assessment (to protect yourself) highlighting high, medium and low risk. Tripping hazards are the most prolific cause of accidents in the work place.

My advice to you is that.

If the only usable room in the house is the kitchen and you are working, the safety is down to you for your working practices.
if you are a sub contractor for the builder the responsibility is down to the builder.
but it begs the question is the house fit at this moment in time for child minding it sounds not. Perhaps the authorities should be asked for the safety of the children.



screaming kids
wear ear defenders!!!!!


px no regrets!
ONE LIFE LIVE IT.

No not subbing
Other complications also, I know the customers, the building work should have been further on by now so I should have been able to this work before the school holidays and therefore next to no kids during the day.

The customer / friend is also in a bad way, the builder has been a bit of a nightmare and also she has just found out that her dad is very ill.

It's a s t situation but as you say aljo at the end of the day I really need the kids out of there.

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Thanks P, I thought this would be the answer.

She is actually a very good childminder and the authorities have been kept informed all the way through and are happy enough with the overall situation.

If only we had some decent weather she could have them outside.

It's a bloody nightmare, been making me feel ill

at the end of the day its your call cliff ! and it does sound a difficult situation .. but kids and trying to work dont mix  

MS's and RA's should include risks to yourself, your employees, other contractors and the general public with no exception. To be honest Cliff, you need to consider the 'Risk Levels' - if you have a MS and RA and conclude no significant risks are apparent then you should be fine. The purpose of doing the RA is to determine the risks to others Health and take action to remove this risk

What risks exist
Whats the likelyhood of an accident due to this risk
What is the implication of the accident (i.e. cut finger or fatality etc)

Based on this assessment you should be able to decide ok or not

The hardest part of any RA is discussing it with the Client/Principle Contractor etc - sometimes this ends up being the hardest part - I've been there many many times and can appreciate your situation

The end of the day though, in case of an accident/incident you would be just as responsible as the Childminder and Main Contractor in the eyes of the HSE

Kaine

praying for sun

Cheers all

Cliff,

you have to keep the kiddies out. Put the onus back onto your friend. The HSE will not take any prisoners if an accident occurs.

you need to carry an accident report book and under certain criteria of accidents it has to be reported i think under "RIDOR" (can't just remember) if an injury occurs where medical treatment is administered.

any of the kiddies could trip, swallow a screw, cut themselves.


sorry  no regrets!
ONE LIFE LIVE IT.

for reference - RIDDOR states you must report

- deaths;
- major injuries;
- over-3-day injuries – where an employee or self-employed person is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than 3 consecutive days;
- injuries to members of the public or people not at work where they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital;
- some work-related diseases;
- dangerous occurrences – where something happens that does not result in an injury, but could have done;
- CORGI registered gas fitters must also report dangerous gas fittings they find, and gas conveyors/suppliers must report some flammable gas incidents.

unfortunately I have done a few RIDDOR reports in my time

Don't say the R word Pussy

Thanks, yes it will have to be cards on the table tomorrow morning, just got a feeling things are going to get nasty but of course the kids safety is first.

Today was a nightmare, the stress really affected me, still is.

My wedding anniverary today as well, I am not easy to live with when stressed so Mrs H is already in bed asleep

Send them [even pay for them] to scoot down to the local fun farm factory / whatever to allow you to do what you need... worst case your PLI will cover problems would it not?

...

Yes PLI would cover God forbid I would need it.
Never made a claim in the 22 years I have been doing this

Cliff H wrote:

Yes PLI would cover God forbid I would need it.
Never made a claim in the 22 years I have been doing this

show then a picture of envoy ? that would scare the little

no more problems