Should shorts and t-shirts be banned from red zone building sites?

12/01/2013 4:48:30 p.m.

Frank wrote:

I've worked in the roading industry for 30 years. And in this time there has been great changes for the better , beneficial to everybody in this sector ( a much needed upgrade such as; PPE (protective personal equipment ) hardhat, goggles, gloves, steel cap boots, hearing protection and high visibility clothing. I totally agree 110% with the previously mentioned; but please, making someone wear long sleeves and pants with the possibility of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, sweating all day under your clothes, not to mention having to put up with other peoples body odours. We are men and women; not children and as such, are able to make informed decisions as to whether or not we need to cover our bodies from the sun. Try pouring 40 cubic m of concrete or laying kerb blocks in the sun with the requirements they are asking of us; its ridiculous. I agree we have the right to work in a environment that we feel safe in, and the only one who can judge that is the individual. When you're cold you put a warm top on, when you're hot you take it off; simple don't you think? Does a runner/jogger wear longs and a jersey when he goes for a run in summer? Does an Eskimoe put on shorts and a t-shirt if he's in a snow blizzard? How stupid do people who make up these rules think we are? Not to mention the waste of money and resources to pay for the attire and to enforce the wearing of it. What I'm really ticked off with is how is someone able to tell a grown man or woman how to dress before he or she goes to work? Here I was thinking dictatorship was dead and buried. Health and Safety Employment Act 1992; Is this meant for the health and safety of individuals? How can this be when the powers to be enforce individuals to cover up head to toe in the heat of summer. Is this looking after "everybodies" safety? At the end of the day I believe the individual has the right to decide the appropriate attire to wear at work depending on weather conditions

3/12/2012 7:34:43 p.m.

Lindsay Coulter wrote:

Very sad, people are soo stupid why do we just sit back at put up with these zealots who make such daft decisions

30/11/2012 10:16:48 p.m.

Kevin wrote:

Do you still think you line in a democracy when the government do something that 99% of the population disagree with?

30/11/2012 9:56:43 p.m.

Bill wrote:

Has this been written by some fat clown sitting on his butt in his air conditioned office earning $500,000 a year. The only sun he sees is when he goes to his holiday home in Fiji or somewhere else. Cannot believe how backward this country is.

30/11/2012 10:15:30 a.m.

Ben wrote:

If this ridiculous law goes through I and several of my mates will be heading to Oz to work. Let some other idiot who doesn't mind coming down with heat stroke work there. Just another example of "nanny state" gone wild.

30/11/2012 8:47:12 a.m.

Peter wrote:

Shaun thinks it's a jock, Kat thinks it crock, I say we imprison all bureaucrats, And throw away the lock .

30/11/2012 1:20:57 a.m.

Erm... wrote:

Have CERA run out of things to do?

29/11/2012 11:30:44 p.m.

Bebe Frayle wrote:

As far as I know, it's a pretty basic health and safety requirement of most big companies who have people working outdoors that they wear long pants and sleeves. Saying it's uncomfortable is akin to saying it's uncomfortable to wear steel-toed boots rather than jandals onsite. I don't get what the fuss is all about. It's safety equipment!

29/11/2012 10:54:29 p.m.

David B wrote:

Why not just ban the workers from red zone sites? - This is absurd. Big brother butt out!

29/11/2012 10:30:17 p.m.

Darryl wrote:

Former National Party Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley serves on the CERA Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Review Panel for which she is getting paid $365,000 per year - that's $1000 PER DAY of taxpayer money. Not bad for a PART TIME job. Very part time. Shipley is also Chairperson of Genesis Energy. She is also Chairperson of Mainzeal Construction. She is also Chairperson of Momentum Consulting. She is also Chairperson of Seniors Money International Limited She is also Chairperson of Venator. She is also a Director of the China Construction Bank (in 2009 the second largest Bank in the world by market cap) She is also Director of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association. She also serves on a number of advisory boards, advising companies and governments on geopolitical, demographic, economic and social mega trends and speaks all around the world on these and a wide range of other topics. She is also an active member of the World Women’s Leadership Council. She is also Vice President of the Club of Madrid, a group of former leaders who promote certain political and economic ideas globally. One wonders how she finds time to worry about people wearing shorts. Oh, and two others on the CERA are also getting $365,000 for their contribution, which we can assume requires about the same level of commitment that Shipley needs to demonstrate to get her dosh. And another one gets even more.