H&S Gone Mad Again

This is because you would probably contract some horrible lurgy.

One of the problems that tea bars and coffee shops run by volunteers have is with H&S and environmental health.

The volunteer organisations do not have access to expert advice or a well informed person who can challenge and negotiate the often OT rules or procedures that they are told they must comply with, so they just give in.

I have had first hand experience of this with a very large volunteer run coffee shop at my then local hospital; the food and beverage provided were gradually reduced by rulings from the local environmental health office. The commercial organisations providing similar services in the same hospital didnt seem to suffer tho' !! Robert

Perfectly reasonable. If you had removed the lid you would have seen what was inside. When it popped its three eyes up above the tea level you would have screamed and hurled the cup into the air. At the same time you would have stepped back into a passing trolley carrying someone from TV on their way to theatre for an emergency nail repair.

The warm tea would have fallen upon an old lady who would have been startled and waved her knitting about causing an unsecured no6 darning needle to pierce the brain of a cardiac consultant enjoying a slice of Lardy Cake.

The trolley would have tipped over spilling the now unclothed minor celebrity onto the cabinet minister sitting next to the chief photographer from the News of The World.

You can see the headline now "Government fails to protect our Chillun from Hospital Madmen - MRSA to blame". You just can't be too careful about these things.

Probably the lid adds to the rigidity of the cup. Is there a beak / spout for drinking from?

This means until you have found a suitable place to drink it ie walking about with an open hot drink could result in getting knocked by someone and you or they end up getting scolded.

Not rocket science really.

But who will administer the scolding?

Malcolm

message

Tosses Malcom an 'A'

That's not fair. You should give it to Malcolm.

Matron. Who else?

Hattie Jacques would turn in her grave.

Mind you some of those WI women and county ladies who seem to frequent hospitals would be able to do a pretty good job as well.

But how hard is rocket science?

Not that hard really, it's just Newtonian mechanics. I did a bit as an undergraduate a long, long time ago. I think it's considered hard because there are so many bits that make up a rocket, and getting them all assembled in the right order makes the manuals rather large and daunting. Having said that, there are (here's the DIY link) amateur rocket clubs so it's well within the abilities of "normal" people.

Now tensor analysis, that was hard!

Pete

The point about rocket science is: if it fails you can't look at the pieces to see what went wrong and thendo a quick repair. It either works or it is totally destroted.

|On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:17:04 +0000, Andy Hall |wrote: | |>On 2007-01-11 17:12:36 +0000, "The Medway Handyman" |> said: |>

|>> Hi All |>> |>> Was back up the local hospital today to get the wound checked out (it's fine). |>> |>> League of Friends tea bar was covered on notices; |>> |>> " Please DO NOT remove the plastic lids from hot beverages. This is a |>> Health & Safety Directive." |>> |>> The mind boggles........................ |>

|>This is because you would probably contract some horrible lurgy. |>

|One of the problems that tea bars and coffee shops run by volunteers |have is with H&S and environmental health. | |The volunteer organisations do not have access to expert advice or a |well informed person who can challenge and negotiate the often OT |rules or procedures that they are told they must comply with, so they |just give in. | |I have had first hand experience of this with a very large volunteer |run coffee shop at my then local hospital; the food and beverage |provided were gradually reduced by rulings from the local |environmental health office. The commercial organisations providing |similar services in the same hospital didnt seem to suffer tho' !!

Then I suggest that someone in that organization learns a little about whatever they are doing. For years I have been in charge of the Food Hygiene bits of a Soup Run. I got myself an Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate, at the massive cost of GBP46 plus about 8 evenings, and argue the toss with the EHOs. We have made *no* substantial changes to what we do, and the last inspection was absolutely clear.

That's rocket engineering surely!

Its not so much someone having the qualifications - they did - but having the energy, confidence and ability to do the necessary research including reading the rules in detail to challenge EHOs.

I'm glad to hear you suceeded - BUT the fact that you read let alone post regularly on newsgroups means you have the above qualities !

Many people (except newsgroup readers) accept whatever an official/inspector tells them as accurate. mandatory and non-negotiable. Robert

|On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:30:28 +0000, Dave Fawthrop | wrote: | |>On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:32:45 +0000, snipped-for-privacy@invalid.invalid wrote: |>

|>|On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:17:04 +0000, Andy Hall |>|wrote: |>| |>|>On 2007-01-11 17:12:36 +0000, "The Medway Handyman" |>|> said: |>|>

|>|>> Hi All |>|>> |>|>> Was back up the local hospital today to get the wound checked out (it's fine). |>|>> |>|>> League of Friends tea bar was covered on notices; |>|>> |>|>> " Please DO NOT remove the plastic lids from hot beverages. This is a |>|>> Health & Safety Directive." |>|>> |>|>> The mind boggles........................ |>|>

|>|>This is because you would probably contract some horrible lurgy. |>|>

|>|One of the problems that tea bars and coffee shops run by volunteers |>|have is with H&S and environmental health. |>| |>|The volunteer organisations do not have access to expert advice or a |>|well informed person who can challenge and negotiate the often OT |>|rules or procedures that they are told they must comply with, so they |>|just give in. |>| |>|I have had first hand experience of this with a very large volunteer |>|run coffee shop at my then local hospital; the food and beverage |>|provided were gradually reduced by rulings from the local |>|environmental health office. The commercial organisations providing |>|similar services in the same hospital didnt seem to suffer tho' !! |>

|>Then I suggest that someone in that organization learns a little about |>whatever they are doing. For years I have been in charge of the Food |>Hygiene bits of a Soup Run. I got myself an Intermediate Food Hygiene |>Certificate, at the massive cost of GBP46 plus about 8 evenings, and argue |>the toss with the EHOs. We have made *no* substantial changes to what we |>do, and the last inspection was absolutely clear. | |Its not so much someone having the qualifications - they did - but |having the energy, confidence and ability to do the necessary research |including reading the rules in detail to challenge EHOs. | |I'm glad to hear you suceeded - BUT the fact that you read let alone |post regularly on newsgroups means you have the above qualities ! | |Many people (except newsgroup readers) accept whatever an |official/inspector tells them as accurate. mandatory and |non-negotiable.

Shame really, EHOs have told me things which were absolutely wrong, quite apart from the things which could be cured by minor adjustments.

People walk with them and spill the contents, making the floors slippery. Common sense.