Some action at last

The last two sessions have been better. Last week we did some hazard spotting exercises. OK, so the hazards we were being asked to spot weren't relevant to the topic under discussion. We were supposed to be dealing with fire in the morning and chemical and biological hazards in the afternoon, and the hazard spotting exercise (presented in Powerpoint, of course) was mostly construction site hazards. But we had to do something. We had to engage our brains. Then this week we had a mini-practice for our practical exam. No preparation by the tutor it seemed as we didn't have any forms to complete. But we walked around the outside of the building and back in the front door, spotting slippery surfaces, unmarked and blocked fire escapes and combustion hazards on our way. Good wake-up activity after sitting in heavy traffic for longer than normal. In the afternoon we had a video on manual handling. I've complained before that the tutor seems to use videos in order to take a rest (or normally a phone call) but on this occasion we were given check sheets to complete whilst we watched the video. At different stages we had to identify and classify manual handling hazards. An excellent use of video. Oh, but I forgot to mention. The video and the check sheets were provided by one of the other students on the course, and not the tutor….

PS As I was getting into my car to go home, I noticed two of the other students doing their little bit to reduce the combustion hazard outside the hotel by removing some of the log pile from outside the front door. Every little bit of risk reduction helps…..