Upon a visit to my Son's high school MDT department I was left shaking my head in disbelief.
Firstly, the MDT department is being halved in size to make way for an expanded art room, secondly and this is the real issue that has got right up my nose. The teacher is currently going through a long, drawn out process to justify keeping the MDT bandsaw. How precisely are you meant to operate an MDT department without one? As it stands, it is a teacher operation only tool, which is fair enough. It has the obligatory guarding, lockable isolator switch, yellow painted line bordered exclusion zone, dust extraction etc etc etc. The horrid little safety germ pulling the strings from his office 200 Km away is concerned that while operating the saw with a large workpiece, the teacher could hit a student with the piece of wood being cut.
I am angry on two grounds. Firstly, this illustrates how little understanding and respect there is within the education system for trade type pursuits. Secondly it makes patently clear, the lack of understanding that many safety germs possess about the actual risks they are managing.
Now, I know a thing or two about risk management having been a tradesman for well over 20 years and a ticketed Health and Safety rep to boot. If performing a risk assessment upon that very machine, the risk posed by hitting a student with a piece of wood pales into insignificance compared to the other hazards, all of which have been mitigated and effectively controlled from my observation. In fact, the congestion produced by the reduction in size of the department in my opinion produces a far greater level of risk, given more frequent exposure to numerous hazards and potentially serious consequences.
Will they remove the chisels next?
I should add that the MDT is the lifeblood and soul of the teacher, who through his tireless efforts has managed to connect with and divert many disadvantaged youth onto a productive path that has lead to employment. The teacher is absolutely gutted that 15 years work is effectively being devalued and thrown away. I don't blame him for one minute and have committed to giving him whatever support I can to fight this idiotic directive.
What say the learned members of this forum?
Firstly, the MDT department is being halved in size to make way for an expanded art room, secondly and this is the real issue that has got right up my nose. The teacher is currently going through a long, drawn out process to justify keeping the MDT bandsaw. How precisely are you meant to operate an MDT department without one? As it stands, it is a teacher operation only tool, which is fair enough. It has the obligatory guarding, lockable isolator switch, yellow painted line bordered exclusion zone, dust extraction etc etc etc. The horrid little safety germ pulling the strings from his office 200 Km away is concerned that while operating the saw with a large workpiece, the teacher could hit a student with the piece of wood being cut.
I am angry on two grounds. Firstly, this illustrates how little understanding and respect there is within the education system for trade type pursuits. Secondly it makes patently clear, the lack of understanding that many safety germs possess about the actual risks they are managing.
Now, I know a thing or two about risk management having been a tradesman for well over 20 years and a ticketed Health and Safety rep to boot. If performing a risk assessment upon that very machine, the risk posed by hitting a student with a piece of wood pales into insignificance compared to the other hazards, all of which have been mitigated and effectively controlled from my observation. In fact, the congestion produced by the reduction in size of the department in my opinion produces a far greater level of risk, given more frequent exposure to numerous hazards and potentially serious consequences.
Will they remove the chisels next?
I should add that the MDT is the lifeblood and soul of the teacher, who through his tireless efforts has managed to connect with and divert many disadvantaged youth onto a productive path that has lead to employment. The teacher is absolutely gutted that 15 years work is effectively being devalued and thrown away. I don't blame him for one minute and have committed to giving him whatever support I can to fight this idiotic directive.
What say the learned members of this forum?
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