Hygiene Standards In The Workplace

[Steve3948]

I will never forget the day I needed to work in the loft in a LA bungalow. The house did'nt look too bad but when I lifted the loft hatch I was greeted with a strange smell. When I stuck my head up and shined a torch the whole loft area was literally carpeted in rat droppings, you could barely see any loft insulation ! It's rare for me to refuse to do a job but I refused this job on health and safety grounds, the tenant was furious but I felt my health was more important. I was never asked to go back but hopefully the pest controllers were sent in and the loft was cleaned out !.

You didn't go to my job yesterday did you, sounds the same.

The owner is away so we called them and they said get pest control in, guy turned up at 1pm looked into roof void and said wow insulation saturated in rat pi*s, he asked if we had cuts on our hands, to which I replied I have not been in there, by my mate had spent all morning in it. They both looked at his hands, looked ok, we were advised to abandon and come back, no problem we had finished changing 23 Halogens for LED.

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

Yes rats can infect us with some horrible things. I recently spent seven months on a massive job at a 400KV substation where a lot of the work involved pulling thousands and thousands of metres of cables through ducts, some of them flooded. Rats often frequent these ducts and pee in the water from which you can catch leptospirosis through cuts and abrasions on the skin. It is a vicious disease which can be fatal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

I tried to pump out all the flooded ducts and wore protective gloves but water somehow still got on my hands and I was constantly wondering if I had been exposed to the germ.

If anybody works where there is a realistic chance that rats have been present I would ensure any cuts are covered up and gloves always worn.

 

[Sidewinder]

HSE do a card you can carry, that advises any medical person should you be sick or injured that you may have been exposed to Leptospirosis, thus they will then hopefully undertake the tests immediately & start early treatment if needed.

It can be lethal, close to me at the moment as I am working regularly in rat infested locations.

In fact IIRC the location is the most heavily baited on record in Wales!

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

HSE do a card you can carry, that advises any medical person should you be sick or injured that you may have been exposed to Leptospirosis, thus they will then hopefully undertake the tests immediately & start early treatment if needed.

It can be lethal, close to me at the moment as I am working regularly in rat infested locations.

In fact IIRC the location is the most heavily baited on record in Wales!

Great post Sidewinder (and when I get my fresh quota of daily scoobs tomorrow I will scoob you for that). I am amazed the National Grid did not advise me to get one of those cards. I will look into getting one the next time I get work on a NG site. It looks like I will be starting a big job at Dinorwig Power Station in the new year.

 

[Sidewinder]

You just go on the HSE website and search Leptospirosis, from there you should find the card & you can print your own!

TBH, I think that any one of us who does any, work where this could be an issue, should carry one.

This is much more of a risk than you may think, if you work on farms, waste processing, certain types of warehousing, sites like yipou have described etc.

Mrs SW is currently well versed in they symptoms as I am exposed weekly if not daily sometimes & I ALWAYS have cuts on my hands.

 

[steptoe]

I should get one myself,

a lot of the places I work has this issue, the void walls in old tin houses are a particular favourite for them,

now when one becomes vacant the LA generally gut it and do a total refurb including sealing/securing the shell.

 

[OnOff]

Mate of mine was asked to look at a security light on the back of a mews house that had failed. On top of the ladder he had a clear view into next door and down one floor where he could see the TV on. Mick said that it was *** porn film playing and whoever was watching it had their back to him and.he could just see the edge of a lairy dressing gown. Anyway he changes the halogen and as he's leaving the customer says "Oh' my neighbour was looking for some work to be done................". The place is a bit of a warren and the customer takes him round and rings this doorbell. Mick said as he was shaking the blokes "limp wristed" hand he was thinking "I recognise that dressing gown colour from somewhere............................". :Blushing

 

[Nicky Tesla]

:slap

Are you sure it was a toilet brush cos we put our dish brush in the machine and it does look quite similar.

If you were a grotty person, why would you wash the toilet brush. Just leave it festering.

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

If I am doing a job in a house and the occupier allows cats to sit on the worktops and tables in the kitchen, I prefer to politely decline offers, however kind, of a cup of tea.

 

[Andy™]

you should ask for a cup of milk

and then leave it for the cat. you will also get a new friend

 

[OnOff]

Back when I was an apprentice in the early 80's we worked on The Jewish Free School in Camden. It was my introduction to "working men's cafes". As a naive 16 year old I was amazed at people eating things like mixed grills and CHIPS for breakfast!

Even more amazing was the local cafe we used. As people got up and left their table the cafe's cat would hop up and start clearing the plates until the table got cleared! Then it would get half heartedly shooed off with a chop bone or half a sausage between it's teeth!

:lol: :lol:

 

[Nicky Tesla]

i went to a jewish cafe in Salford once........turkey rashers for bacon ......and beef sausages.

Why????? it was me eating it not them

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Most here probably know, but check out Weils disease (one of many links here) http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/26/weils-disease-andy-holmes.

Around 18 years ago i worked nights for Cable London ( now Virgin ) upgrading the street cabinets. 2 main health & safety things were really pushed forward, one was Weils disease and the other gas testing .

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Forgot to mention how important this is. Even though its rare i know a guy who cut his foot on a broken bottle in the sea whilst on hoiliday in Spain. He caught Weils Disease almost died. He spent 5 years on a dialysis machine before he got a kidney transplant and now is ok.

 

[steptoe]

i went to a jewish cafe in Salford once........turkey rashers for bacon ......and beef sausages.

Why????? it was me eating it not them

WHERE?

by jaysus I'd kill for a decent beef sausage round these parts,

I have to either get my sister to post me some every now and then, or when Im visiting my mum I bring a suitcase full of them and 'Antrim Steak' back with me.

only beef sausages I ever see round here are full of other rubbish like spices or pepper or whatever, I want beef, not some stoopid mix you decide I might like,

if I wanted pepper Id put it on after I cooked them,,,,,, headbang

 

[Sharpend]

Have you tried them there minted lamb sausages, much better than the beef that's dished up over here. But don't try the chicken ones.....yuck!(spit)

 

[OnOff]

Remember the coats, Parkas, blue things with the furry hood? These were supplied as site coats to the testing and commissioning engineers. I was only on secondment to them out of the drawing office but got taken all over the country. It was raining one day and I was told to go to the van and get some coats. I couldn't quite figure why the coats were laid in the back of the van in a big pile and quite why there were so many, they were also sort of stuck together............

Classy lads as they were it was usual to pull some bird in a club then take her into the back of the VAN where there was a impromptu bed made up of coats! :Blushing

 

[OnOff]

Weils? Did a site induction with a MAJOR contractor over at Paddington Basin. After it finished I had to see the guy who'd given it about our works. He asked what I thought of the induction as it was the first time he'd given one. I said I was surprised what with the site being next to the canal, that he hadn't mentioned Weils Disease. He said that they had run out of cards to give out so didn't mention it!