A customer of ours has a machine, which they have owned and operated for 20 years without an accident. The insurance surveyor has now identified a pinch hazard, which he says must be guarded. The pinch hazard is not severe - even if you were dopey enough to stick your finger in there, it would get bruised at worst.
We tried pointing out that having carried out a risk assessment, that the hazard was low grade, historically there wasn't a problem, and that guarding would: -
a) make the machine almost impossible to use at all.
b) would create more pinch points, therefore increasing the hazard rather than eliminating it.
He wasn't having any of it (which makes me wonder what is the point of risk assessment, if you are just going to ignore the results?)
I suppose at the end of the day it all comes down to our ridiculous compensation culture - he is just trying to avoid having to pay out a couple of grand for some eejit getting a black fingernail once every 25 years.
Makes me wonder how long it will be before all hammers come complete with a guard - I have had a couple of black fingers from missing the intended target!
That's it - rant over. Normal service will be resumed shortly!
A disgruntled and disillusioned Taffy!