Who`s responcible

[housebasher]

After a spell of unemployment I have just started work as a maint Electrician in a holiday camp, previously all the electrical work was done and some still is by a local NICEIC contractor , since working there I have discovered some outragous bodgeing, eg the RCD feeding the some showers
by- passed because of a intermint tripping fault, a 2 gang13A socket spurred of in a length of 1.5mm, the T&E feeding from several of the consumer units has been lengthened by just twisting it together and then covered with tape, and the worst seen so far, the front of a large old DB board has been removed (exposing buss bars) because a replacement 50A threephase MCB would not fit and then the replacement breaker has been left dangling out the front in mid air. just above head hight and over a sink unit used by bar staff. There is a lot more more and I will try and up load pics next week.
I have highlited these to my Maintenance Manager who doesnt see it as a problem and thinks I am being bolshie what do you thing my next move should be ? should I contact H&S Excutive or local Council.

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

although contacting H&S might be the noble/correct thing to do, it might be a career shortening experience for you, especially if you have just started there.

Does your boss use email? If so, it might be a good idea to note down all the problems you have seen and send it in a nice polite email suggesting these should be rectified promptly.

If a problem happens, at least you have knocked the ball into his court.

CYA


(edit for spelling)

 

[bongos]

Hmmm. Good point about the very bad practices. These should obviously be highlighted, as you have done so.

While i'm sure you're not wanting to put your new job at risk, it sounds like this install is just waiting for something to go wrong - and will it be your name in the frame if it does? If your maintenance managed really won't listen then perhaps you could complete a written report of the extremely dangerous state of the install to the centre manager, highlighting the dangers and legalities to the centre if something goes wrong.

Aside from that your arse is covered - not sure that there's really much you can do apart from quit.

 

[Spark123]

If you have serious issues and the maintenance manager is ignoring them then go a step higher and talk to his boss, probably the site owner.
Exposed live parts are a breach of the EAWR, as are systems which are have been bodged and are now dangerous.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What authorisation do you need to get hold of parts & materials?

Could you just start fixing these problems on the basis that if you are allowed to acquire materials then EAWR #3 requires you to fix them, as they are within your control?

Spark123 is correct - you can't just let your immediate supervisor ignore dangerous and illegal situations. Take lots of photos ASAP. You might want to send them to NICEIC too....

 

[electronicsuk]

You definitely need to put your points in writing to your immediate manager. That way, if he chooses to ignore them, at least your arse is covered. Of course, that's not going to help the poor begger that touches those live busbars - give your manager some time to respond and then escalate it from there until you reach someone who's willing to listen.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And the reason I said take photos ASAP is in case it all goes pear shaped for you.

The problem you'll likely face is that the owners won't want to spend any money, they'll believe the Maintenance Manager rather than you because he's been there longer and they have no reason not to trust him. Particularly if "it's been like that for years and nothing has happened".

Are you in a union? I don't think that you'd need to be employed for a year for a dismissal to be automatically unfair if you're victimised for pursuing H&S violations, but you should find out.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That way, if he chooses to ignore them, at least your a**e is covered.

If nobody will listen then I'm not sure it is, because all it would prove is that he knew it was dangerous and didn't report it to the HSE.

 

[electronicsuk]

That way, if he chooses to ignore them, at least your a**e is covered.

If nobody will listen then I'm not sure it is, because all it would prove is that he knew it was dangerous and didn't report it to the HSE.

True. I think it's fair to say that the courts would take a far dimmer view of the maintenance manager's stance, though.

 

[housebasher]

Many thanks for the advice from all. I am not looking at the job as a long term career, the money`s p*ss poor , I just want to cover my a*se.

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

As i suggested at the top CYA is all-important.
Doing this whilst not rocking the boat and not scuppering yourself in the process is an art form.
In my experience, some maintenance managers are more interested in maintaining their budgets rather than their plant and equipment - its often a bum-licking brownie point excercise, especially if s/he has aspirations of higher management.
One good way of controlling budget is by not carrying out tasks, one way of justifying not doing the task is by denying all knowledge that the task exists.
If you put your views to him in a clear polite manner, but most importantly, in a way which he cannot deny (emails are traceable, conversations arent usually and delivery of written letters can be subject to arguement.)

Hopefully, a message which he cant sweep under the carpet might prick his conscience enough for him to action the things you mention.

No further hassles

 

[FrankE]

It's not worth working for a team like that, always a mission to get the most basic materials to to the job, then pressure from them when jobs haven't been done. I've worked for such a crowd, ended up takng in my own instruments, plant and PPE, which the site manager and my manager ended up stealing.

The site manager wouldn't do anything about the substation overheating or the main breaker running at over capacity until someone was killed and another was seriously injured on another site by a transformer explosion.

Put your concerns in writing. Print off and keep a copy and if you are using e-mail request a read receipt and print that off and keep offsite.

Do you have a planned maintenance programme?

Refer to whistle blower advice if contacting site owners / HSE / NIC-EIC.