I see that Donald has released another cracking read this month in the form of an entire newsletter dedicated to the science of radiation dosage from exposure to Radium.
Even I couldn’t be bothered to read the whole thing!
This has brought up an interesting question in my mind…
I got irritated the moment I saw the photo of several modern compasses suggesting that they all contain Radium.
Old clocks and aircraft instruments sometimes contain Radium and it is a fairly radiotoxic isotope. However, because of this it’s use was replaced by Tritium decades ago which is far safer.
Certainly most of the compasses in the photo use Tritium illumination; Military G10 watches also contained Tritium for a long time; Not to mention of course the SUSAT.
An entire essay devoted to the technicalities and dangers of an isotope which we are far less likely to come into contact with might seem somewhat unnecessary in itself.
Further though, consider that it has failed to address the one isotope we might come into contact with on a semi-regular basis; and that any useful guidance is lost in the diatribe of pointless facts and figures.
Surely a clear, concise “quick guide” would be far more useful and far less likely to bore the pants off anyone attempting to read it. If required, a simple “further details can be found in the full report here…” would be more helpful to anyone who wishes to know the technicalities.
Are we really expected to wash our hands after handling the Silva NATO compass!?
Donald would have us do so.
Presumably then I’m not to wear my watch any more either Donald?
Both HSE and general Government guidance stipulate that “no special precautions are required” for routine use and handling of items containing Tritium illumination.
This is yet another case of CESO(ACO) peddling his wares along the same lines as the old ‘you should be expected to predict lightning strikes’ rubbish.
If this were a lone instance of inaccurate and unnecessary information it could perhaps be forgiven; but it seems to be SOP to publish long drivel with unhelpful advice in the form of “newsletters”.
I can only wonder how long it will be until some genuinely important information is completely overlooked because no one takes him seriously any more!?
Surely it MUST be time to start thinking about how to properly engage with the target audience?
Where there are genuine H&S concerns we absolutely need to know about them. Currently though it’s more like reading a column in Viz magazine.
It would be nice to hear anything about the still in place ban on overnight bivvying, since it’s been in effect 2.5 months and NOTHING has come out AFAIK.
I look forward to his newsletters because as you say they often overlook more commonplace hazards for quite rare ones.
Unfortunately what gets put out by Donald is atypical in content for the majority of H&S managers. You only wish they’d print it on 3-ply with perforations, to put it to it’s best use.
Quite right where’s the updates on overnight FMS? The problem is the solution is fairly straightforward IMO and I imagine to many others. As a result like all H&S managers it could jump up smack him in the face and he’d not recognise it.
In my experience H&S managers are by and large redundant, apart from wandering around in a hi-vis with a clipboard and pen or attending meetings and getting excited about not a lot. As a result they have to seek ways to justify their existence and what is quite a good salary.
I bet the ‘safety day’ was a real humdinger of a day. The risk assessment only allowed large stubby type crayons as they may have felt like self-harming or stabbing the speakers given anything sharper.
[quote=“wdimagineer2b” post=19752]Certainly most of the compasses in the photo use Tritium illumination; Military G10 watches also contained Tritium for a long time; Not to mention of course the SUSAT.[/quote]And the iron sights on the L85/L98 IIRC, although most that I’ve seen seem to have lost most of their intensity having been around for around two half-lives.
Indeed. In such small amounts with a half life of just under 12.5 years there’s virtually ■■■■■■ all left in the old compasses we might come across.
The iron sights on the L98 were never meant to have the illumination dots. It was considered to be too much of a risk.
What they thought cadets were going to do with them I’ve no idea?
Maybe they thought that some cadets would get bored licking windows and turn their attention to licking the sights…
Donald no doubt considers that most occurrences can be foreseen but my response is that I have two balls, but neither of them are made of crystal.[/quote]
I did actually hear that this reason was one of the delays which lead to a mini recall with issuing the L98A2 as they solved (one of) the sight problems by using the ones from the L85.
Maybe they thought that some cadets would get bored licking windows and turn their attention to licking the sights…
Donald no doubt considers that most occurrences can be foreseen but my response is that I have two balls, but neither of them are made of crystal.[/quote]
Only people licking windows in the ATC are the officers in HQ!
This month is a new achievement even for Donald… :ohmy:
A H&S Newsletter featuring ONE article on the discovery of Japanese Knotweed at a Sqn… One wonders what risk to health and safety it poses since the article makes no mention whatsoever?.. Not being a horticulturist I looked it up… It poses no risk at all.
It’s simply considered to be an invasive plant which can spread quickly to the exclusion of other plants. Riiiiiight.
Has Donald had a minor lapse of mental capacity and thinks he’s writing for the RHS?
Surely it’s about time someone at HQAC take control of these ramblings which do nothing but sour us all to the HQAC stand on H&S. It’s beyond a joke.
We have quite a lot of giant hogweed that grows around our building and field and we need to be aware of the risks of this when doing grounds maintenance (particularly strimming). Perhaps planting knotwood might rid of us the hogweed problem.
If Donald is worried about invasive species, what about our brambles and elder? A month ago I nearly choked on a blackberry pip from a freshly picked fruit. Not to mention the danger of being stabbed by the plant!
and having just read the ramblings of the forum,
I take it none of you have ever dealt with Japanese Knotweed?
is it likely to cause injury, ill health…Not really
is it likely to cause YOU not the organisation to be fined several thousand pounds for messing around with it… YES
I can just see the thread now, our squadron CO was fined for cutting back Japanese knotweed…outrageous nobody told us!!
remember Health and safety also includes ENVIRONMENTAL issues regardless if they are hazardous to health or not,
and please do not think for one moment I am some tree hugging H&S activist, I for my sins have to deal with crap like this day in and day out and have had to find out the hard way!!
having just read the ramblings of someone who doesn’t know the difference between a H&S issue and a legal one…
you also fail to notice that the derision with which this latest missive is received is caused as much by the Donald creatures past record as by the subject matter - if you think H&S is important, then you need its message to be credible. it appers to me that by continuing to employ a man held in utter contempt by the workforce, a man who’se every utterance is automatically judged as self-licking drivel, the ACO is working hard to push H&S as far down its workforces agenda as possible…