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| rynner Location: Still above sea level Gender: Male |
 Posted: 11-03-2006 10:32 Post subject: Stupid Rules, and other Jobsworth stories |
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Feel free to move to another thread, Mods, but I couldn't find a similar one:
| Quote: | BANNED AID
School refuses to put plaster on girl's finger .. as they'd be flouting first aid guidelines
By Richard Smith
A MUM was forced to go into school to put a plaster on her daughter's finger - because teachers were banned from treating the small cut.
Julie Scott got a call saying nine-year-old Emily's nail was bleeding.
Not wanting to breach strict council guidelines preventing some minor first aid, teachers refused to touch the wound.
But Julie, 38, yesterday fumed: "I couldn't believe it. It's absolutely beyond belief that the school couldn't stick a plaster on."
Dad Kevan, 39, added: "It's ludicrous. Emily had been biting her nail and caught it on the leg of her school trousers.
"The nail started to bleed but it was only a small cut - you couldn't make it any less of an emergency.
"But if teachers are standing in for parents while our children are at school they should be able to put on something as basic as a plaster.
"I'm not criticising the school - which is brilliant - but the guidelines imposed from above are just plain crazy."
Emily cut her finger during lunchtime at Uphill Primary School in Weston-super- Mare, Somerset.
The family, who live in the seaside town, said they have now been told the youngster will have to put on her own plaster - rather than have a teacher do it - if she gets hurt again. Julie has since given Emily a pack of plasters to keep at school.
Kevan said: "Emily just had a little cut where the fingernail meets the skin.
"Would she have been taken to hospital if nobody had been at home when the school called? Where do we draw the line?
"Do we now ban stairs because children could fall down them?
"This is another example of the nanny state gone mad.
"It's the kind of rule that was probably drawn up by committee because no sensible individual could come up with it on their own. Councils are probably worried that if a child has an allergic reaction to a plaster they'll be sued."
Uphill headteacher David Edwards said: "We're following strict guidelines from North Somerset Council and our school policies that we cannot administer plasters.
"We are only allowed to treat something with water and paper towels. We always try to take a common-sense approach."
North Somerset Council said: "We provide broad guidelines for first aid in schools and there is no mention of using plasters.
"Each child joining a school has to produce a medical declaration which includes allergies and therefore it is down to the school to use its judgment about whether it is appropriate to use plasters or not.
"This case highlights the fact that we perhaps need to re-issue guidelines to schools and clarify the whole issue."
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lawofnations Great Old One Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Total posts: 130 Location: London Age: 34 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 12-03-2006 03:30 Post subject: |
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Sadly this is all too true.
And unfortunately it's the parents, not the state, that are to blame.
"How dare you touch little Johnny/Janie? What are you, some kind of sicko? You've got no right to touch my child. I know my rights. I'll sue."
My mother is a teacher. This is the kind of shit they have to deal with. Fear of parents (often violent) who cry foul when a teacher tries to take a common sense approach. You can't touch the children now at all, as touching is "inappropriate", even if the touching is to prevent "darling little Johnny" from smashing in his classmates face.
This type of parent (and their offspring) are quick to say they know their rights. Problem is they don't. As with all cases of "I know my rights/human rights" the person making the claim hasn't a clue what their right is, what a human right is, where that right comes from, how to enforce it, what the possible derogations from that right are, and will probably never find a lawyer that would take the case, and if they do, would find it difficult to get a judgement in their favour. Yet teachers and councils act out of fear of prosecutions that won't happen.
My tuppence worth anyway... |
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| rynner Location: Still above sea level Gender: Male |
| Posted: 12-03-2006 09:32 Post subject: |
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Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was a student teacher.
Once a boy in my class splashed copper sulphate solution into his eyes.
I immediately grabbed him, bent him backwards over the sink and ran water over his face, and then told him to blink his eyes rapidly.
That seemed to sort the problem, and there was no comeback.
Now I don't know for sure whether the copper sulphate would have had any serious effect on his health, but I felt it was a case of better safe than sorry.
But nowadays it seems to be a case of 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't'. |
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| rynner Location: Still above sea level Gender: Male |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 12-03-2006 17:19 Post subject: |
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| i was on an internal flight in australia in 1998 and got an upset stomach. i asked the stewardess if she had a rennies and she said she wasnt allowed to give out things like that. what would have happened if i'd had a heartattack? |
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| stuneville Administrator
Joined: 09 Mar 2002 Total posts: 10230 Location: FTMB HQ Age: 46 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-03-2006 08:00 Post subject: Re: Stupid Rules, and other Jobsworth stories |
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| rynner wrote: | | Emily cut her finger during lunchtime at Uphill Primary School in Weston-super- Mare, Somerset. |
Completely OT, but amusing - Uphill used to have a Horticultural society called, I kid you not... "The Uphill Gardeners Association"  .
They unsportingly changed their name a while ago.
Back OT, working in education meself, many of the students have medical needs and we have to get about 50 seperate waivers and agreements signed in advance in case of emergency. It's all down to the bloody ambulance-chasing culture again  . |
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| zarathustraspake Great Old One Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Total posts: 405 Location: Cardiff Age: 37 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-03-2006 10:49 Post subject: |
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In a similar vein to this post, I once did some temping work for an organisation that supports people with learning disabilities to live in the community.
This organisation had told its support workers that if a client went into cardiac arrest in front of them, they were NOT allowed to perform CPR on them unless they'd taken and passed the first aid course. This was because the company was afraid that if the support worker got the CPR wrong, then they'd be sued.
This is of course total bollocks. I've had CPR training many times, and one thing I've been told by first aid trainers is that if there's one time you can confidently go ahead without fear of legal action if you get it wrong, it's when performing CPR. The reason being that if they're in cardiac arrest, then they're to all intents and purposes dead. If you make a mistake, then you can't be sued because you can't harm someone who's already dead.
Unfortunately it's a sad reflection on our society that organisations produce these ridiculous rules out of fear of legal action that almost certainly will never materialise. |
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| Peripart is only passing through
Great Old One Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Total posts: 3851 Age: 45 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-03-2006 11:51 Post subject: |
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In a moment of dietary madness recently, I bought a large sausage roll from our local BP petrol station. Normally, I'm quite happy to eat them cold, but it wasn't the warmest day, so I asked the girl at the counter if she'd stick it in the microwave for me. So she put it in and set the timer for 2 minutes.
After about 30 seconds, I was bored and still hungry, so I said to the girl "that's enough, I'll eat it like that" (I didn't want to burn my mouth in my haste to eat it). But she said she couldn't heat it for less than two minutes, because of "health and safety". Despite my protesting that she would've been quite happy for me to eat the darned thing stone cold, there was no way she would remove it from the microwave before the allotted time was up. I then wasted five minutes for the sausage meat's temperature to dip below that of the sun's surface, and ended up with bits of blackened pastry all over my car seat, but at least I wasn't breaking any rules and eating a warm sausage roll. |
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| JamesWhitehead Piffle Prospector Joined: 02 Aug 2001 Total posts: 5779 Location: Manchester, UK Gender: Male |
| Posted: 13-03-2006 17:57 Post subject: |
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I think the theory is that reheating food may cause bacteria to multiply quickly. We are all told to make sure that any cook-chill dish reaches a "piping-hot" temperature.
I doubt if even that will guarantee the safety of a garage sausage-roll but I have some sympathy here for the assistant who was doing what she was told. |
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| ProfessorF Great Old One Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Total posts: 336 Location: Ulan Bator - inside my head looking out Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 13-03-2006 19:04 Post subject: |
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<rant?
I have a pet hate with FedEx...
I ask when our cut off is for booking an overnight delivery to the US.
3.45pm I'm told. Fine - it's 3.40pm, I'll book it, but it's not ready until 4.30pm.
Ah, but the cut off for collection is 3.45pm.
So how on earth could I book it and get it collected in the same instance? I seriously doubt FedEx are that efficient...
</rant> |
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| rynner Location: Still above sea level Gender: Male |
| Posted: 30-06-2006 08:31 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Probe over 'deafening' auctioneer
A livestock auctioneer is under investigation because safety watchdogs think his voice may be too loud.
Officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are examining whether David Probert could damage visitors' hearing at Hereford Market.
Mr Probert has been told his voice can reach the same level as standing within 25m (82ft) of a jet aircraft.
The HSE said it had received a complaint about Mr Probert and was "duty bound" to investigate.
But, officials added that they were taking a "fairly low priority approach".
Health and Safety rules state employers should provide ear protection for people exposed to average levels of 85 decibels over an eight-hour period.
But Mr Probert said his weekly auctions "very rarely" last longer than two hours.
'Rather ridiculous'
He said he intends to carry on as normal and is more concerned "about the ridicule likely to be heaped upon the HSE".
He told the BBC: "I find it incredulous that my voice should raise concerns.
"If you compare the noise I make for a short period of time with noise at a nightclub or a football match, it gets rather ridiculous.
"Their criteria is that for the short period of time I am operating during the week, the noise levels they will investigate are the equivalent to standing within 25 metres of a jet aircraft taking off - apparently I am that loud.
"I am continuing as I have for 40 years on the premise that if I had damaged people's health there would be a lot of deaf people in Hereford."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/5130734.stm
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| JamesWhitehead Piffle Prospector Joined: 02 Aug 2001 Total posts: 5779 Location: Manchester, UK Gender: Male |
| Posted: 30-06-2006 11:29 Post subject: |
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A few months back, I needed to visit the library and thought the library habit might be worth re-acquiring. Trying to check out a book, I was told my old tickets were no longer valid. So I joined a queue to get new ones.
Despite the fact I had all the old tickets and my credit card etc. I was not carrying two utility bills and/or my driver's licence so they refused to issue them. Possession of the old tickets was not regarded as evidence since they had deleted the old database completely.
No, they couldn't have informed me of any of this because too many people use the system. One less now, despite paying for it.  |
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| hokum6 I am one can short of a six-pack!
Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Total posts: 842 Location: Location Location Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 30-06-2006 12:19 Post subject: |
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| ramonmercado wrote: | | what would have happened if i'd had a heartattack? |
They'd call your Mum. |
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| Philo_T But, this one goes to 11! Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Total posts: 1339 Location: slaving away in the bit mines Age: 47 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 30-06-2006 15:14 Post subject: |
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| rynner wrote: | Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was a student teacher.
Once a boy in my class splashed copper sulphate solution into his eyes.
I immediately grabbed him, bent him backwards over the sink and ran water over his face, and then told him to blink his eyes rapidly.
That seemed to sort the problem, and there was no comeback.
Now I don't know for sure whether the copper sulphate would have had any serious effect on his health, but I felt it was a case of better safe than sorry.
But nowadays it seems to be a case of 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't'. |
Rynner:, the nanny state has solved that problem over here. We just don't bother to teach them chemistry. That way, they don't hurt themselves, they don't sue, they don't learn to blow things up and become terrorists. Anyhow, if we allow them to study the science of chemistry, they might then go on to study global warming or evolution, and we can't have that now, can we ? We're a country that builds nothing and invents nothing, we outsource all those functions.
| Quote: |
Don't Try This at Home
Garage chemistry used to be a rite of passage for geeky kids. But in their search for terrorist cells and meth labs, authorities are making a federal case out of DIY science.
By Steve Silberman
(see Wired 14.06)
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| MercuryCrest The Severed Head Of A
Great Old One Joined: 24 Mar 2003 Total posts: 753 Location: Floating down the Ganges Age: 33 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 30-06-2006 15:32 Post subject: |
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I'll assume "plaster" is a British idiom for a band-aid, shall I? I have a poem I wrote a while back about how the world is now safety-padded and kids are soft because of it. When I grew up, playgrounds were damned dangerous and we wouldn't have had it any other way.
Steel beams embedded in concrete. Woodchips might have been a boon, but why land on soft things when you have asphalt? "Chicken fighting" from monkey bars 12 feet off the ground, the entire goal of which was to make your opponent fall and, if you were lucky, bleed. God how I miss things like that.
If I ever have kids, since they won't be able to get hurt in school, I guess I'll have to compensate by leaving lots of sharp, pointy things laying around that they can gouge themselves on. And the backyard swingset will be made from barbed-wire with ripped denim for seats.  |
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