Another opportunity for incompetent jobsworths?

[Arthur Marshall]

"Volunteer Visitor Risk Assessors Needed

 

CRT are looking for help to survey our canal structures, to ensure they are safe to use for boaters and visitors alike. As a visitor risk assessor volunteer, you will work in pairs to undertake a programme of safety inspections on locks and lift/swing bridges  to check that they meet navigational standards. They are looking for individuals with a background in engineering, surveying, health and safety or related subjects. As well as surveying you will then write your reports up and submit them to the Trust, so basic competence in Microsoft Word will be required.

You may be asked to visit sites all over the NW Region so access to your own transport will be needed (mileage expenses can be claimed). For a preliminary chat please contact Steve O’Sullivan: ********.******@canalrivertrust.org.uk

 

We started this work about 3 months ago, it's interesting and rewarding. Commit as much or as little time as you need. "

 

Admittedly it's from Facebook, so I suppose it could be a joke... if not, I suppose they'll all be issued with a stack of those little yellow signs saying" CRT aware  and a "to be fixed by" date left blank for eternity. Or maybe I'm just too cynical and it'll actually be the dawn of a golden age of repair and refurbishment.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Jen-in-Wellies
Email address obscured a bit by a moderator.

[Rob-M]

Probably highlight the dangers of unfenced locks and get them all filled in 😀

[Chris Lowe]

I'll volunteer and apply all the elf & safety we have to use on site.

 

You can't go through those dangerous locks with full hi vis, steel toe cap boots, hard hat, eye protection goggles, and anti cut gloves.

[Tonka]

39 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

"Volunteer Visitor Risk Assessors Needed

 

CRT are looking for help to survey our canal structures, to ensure they are safe to use for boaters and visitors alike. As a visitor risk assessor volunteer, you will work in pairs to undertake a programme of safety inspections on locks and lift/swing bridges  to check that they meet navigational standards. They are looking for individuals with a background in engineering, surveying, health and safety or related subjects. As well as surveying you will then write your reports up and submit them to the Trust, so basic competence in Microsoft Word will be required.

You may be asked to visit sites all over the NW Region so access to your own transport will be needed (mileage expenses can be claimed). For a preliminary chat please contact Steve O’Sullivan: ********.******@canalrivertrust.org.uk

 

We started this work about 3 months ago, it's interesting and rewarding. Commit as much or as little time as you need. "

 

Admittedly it's from Facebook, so I suppose it could be a joke... if not, I suppose they'll all be issued with a stack of those little yellow signs saying" CRT aware  and a "to be fixed by" date left blank for eternity. Or maybe I'm just too cynical and it'll actually be the dawn of a golden age of repair and refurbishment.

I used to know the full time lady who did that job. She was poached from British Airways.

[BilgePump]

42 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

 They are looking for individuals with a background in engineering, surveying, health and safety or related subjects. As well as surveying you will then write your reports up and submit them to the Trust, so basic competence in Microsoft Word will be required.

Why, why, why? If there is a great candidate, a retired civil engineer, who only wants to send a scan of a handwritten sheet, then surely that is of better value than some little know nothing hitler who happens to be able to format a word doc.

[Peanut]

I think it is a question of Due Diligence.  Unlike boaters, many of the “new” visitors are not aware of the potential risks there are on canals. We live in litigious times, and some newer canal users may decide to pursue CART for their misfortune.  To mitigate the risk, CART needs to show that they have carried out ongoing risk assessments of the system. Their employees most likely do this on a routine basis, but they do not have the money or manpower needed to do so everywhere, and so are asking for volunteers to help.

[Tonka]

At British Airways you had to do a risk assessment course before you could do a risk assessment. Are they going to train the volunteer 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

The application is by email, so at least the aspiring volunteer isn't risking a paper cut on an application form.

[Higgs]

It seems like a euphemism for - we have no idea what we're dealing with, and we are also not willing to pay to find out.

 

 

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, Rob-M said:

Probably highlight the dangers of unfenced locks and get them all filled in 😀

I must admit I was staggered by the wobbly state of some of the walkways up North, I always hold on tight to the rails, but the other day I stretched out to grasp one, which appeared to be a bit of untreated timber affixed with two flat headed nails.

In a former life I did inspect some work for my employer, but if I was a retired engineer with the correct expertise, I'd not be doing this type of work as a volunteer. Working in pairs is a cop out too, does the one with knowledge tell the one without what to report, or vice versa. Let's hope it's a joke, one can't be sure.

Edited July 24, 2023 by LadyG

[Arthur Marshall]

15 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I must admit I was staggered by the wobbly state of some of the walkways up North, I always hold on tight to the rails, but the other day I stretched out to grasp one, which appeared to be a bit of untreated timber affixed with two flat headed nails.

In a former life I did inspect some work for my employer, but if I was a retired engineer with the correct expertise, I'd not be doing this type of work as a volunteer. Working in pairs is a cop out too, does the one with knowledge tell the one without what to report, or vice versa. Let's hope it's a joke, one can't be sure.

I think they have to be in pairs to make sure they actually do the job. A single bloke could just do no actual work, write reports at home, and claim expenses. Reminds me of something. I remember, my MP...

Re Mickey Word, is there a human being currently alive and over the age of 8 who can't use it?

[David Mack]

19 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Re Mickey Word, is there a human being currently alive and over the age of 8 who can't use it?

Well I can use MS Word, but I no longer have a computer with the software on it. Instead I use Libre Office Write, which is good enough for basic documents, but falls short when you want some more sophisticated formatting. So are CRT going to provide volunteer visitor risk assessors with a laptop with Word?

[Rob-M]

6 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Well I can use MS Word, but I no longer have a computer with the software on it. Instead I use Libre Office Write, which is good enough for basic documents, but falls short when you want some more sophisticated formatting. So are CRT going to provide volunteer visitor risk assessors with a laptop with Word?

They could provide browser access to Office 365 using Word Online.

[Tony1]

 

I'll sign up, and if my boat fails its BSS, I'll fail every damn bridge and lock I can get to. 

Can you fail a lock if the sign isn't the right shade of blue? It seems very dangerous to me.

 

The swines think they can fail my boat???

I'll close down their whole Goddamn system. 

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Tony1

[jonathanA]

" CRT never think outside the box"...

 

"they are stuck in their ways..."

 

"they need to modernise and find better ways of doing things...."

loads of posts on here with those sort of comments..

 

and when they do those things = how dare they slate and chalk was good enough for Thomas Telford 200 hundred years ago, how dare they abandon the heritage.  damned if they do and damned if they don't. 

 

I would worry if it is a dubbing down or replacing properly trained staff with volunteers, but if it is a way of getting more bang for their buck out of their experienced and qualified staff then I for one think its worth a go.  I could see how the reports from the volunteers could be reviewed quickly and a 'CRT bod' sent out for those situations that look like they need follow up, making good use of a valuable resource. seems like a sensible way of maximising what they have. 

 

in my work situation I have over the years dispatched fairly dumb field engineers to survey stuff for me, given them simple checklists and asked for photographs, (every tom dick and harry has a camera phone these days), and thats saved countless hours and many thousands of pounds of expensive design engineer time. its not hard to do. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by jonathanA
sp

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, Peanut said:

I think it is a question of Due Diligence.  Unlike boaters, many of the “new” visitors are not aware of the potential risks there are on canals. We live in litigious times, and some newer canal users may decide to pursue CART for their misfortune.  To mitigate the risk, CART needs to show that they have carried out ongoing risk assessments of the system. Their employees most likely do this on a routine basis, but they do not have the money or manpower needed to do so everywhere, and so are asking for volunteers to help.

Risk assessment... good grief, it's extremely risky to dig holes in the ground and fill them with water, who decided that was a good idea?

Any random person, their child or their dog could fall in. My cat has fallen in twice!

Should we now expect a yellow  "!" sign on every post owned by the CRT?

There is a saying "let sleeping dogs like", and again "be careful what you wish for"

I've seen a few lifebelts at a few locks, but not at others, is it more likely people will be helped by these rings at one place and not at the other?

I understand some locks near pubs have been fenced, was that after or before an incident? Who pays?

And don't imagine that using volunteers is free, they need to be interviewed, trained, supervised, provided with branded clothing and probably other checks, then their reports assessed, compiled, a meeting to discuss anomalies. A presentation to senior management, a decision by a committee, you can see how these things get out of hand!

Edited July 24, 2023 by LadyG

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, LadyG said:

  Working in pairs is a cop out too, does the one with knowledge tell the one without what to report, or vice versa. Let's hope it's a joke, one can't be sure.

They work in pairs for safety as they will be out effectively in the wilds and if they had an accident while inspecting say a culvert they could lay there for hours 

[BilgePump]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

 

Re Mickey Word, is there a human being currently alive and over the age of 8 who can't use it?

It's not about not being able to use it, but why be forced to use a Microsoft product? Writing something quite simple in old school HTML4 produces a document that can be viewed in any web browser, and nobody has to pay a license fee.

[LadyG]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

They work in pairs for safety as they will be out effectively in the wilds and if they had an accident while inspecting say a culvert they could lay there for hours 

Really? I think we are in the realms of fantasy. 

CRT employees who drive around every day could fall in a lock, or trip over as they get out their van, they don't go round in pairs so one can work while the other acts as his H&S buddy.

Edited July 24, 2023 by LadyG

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

It's not about not being able to use it, but why be forced to use a Microsoft product? Writing something quite simple in old school HTML4 produces a document that can be viewed in any web browser, and nobody has to pay a license fee.

 

Because of corporate think - a bit like "no one got sacked for buying IBM". Personally, I find Libre Office Write on Linux will do everything y Word 97 would, and it will save in Open Document Format so almost any reputable word processor will open it. I have done some fairly complex layouts without much trouble.

[ditchcrawler]

12 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Really? I think we are in the realms of fantasy. 

CRT employees who drive around every day could fall in a lock, or trip over as they get out their van, they don't go round in pairs so one can work while the other acts as his H&S buddy.

We are not talking CRT employees we are talking volunteers. One canal society wanted to repaint mileposts, one of CRT requirements was to be in pairs . The difference in costs between one volunteer and two working together is small, not two salaries, NI, pension and all the other bits and pieces

[Rob-M]

40 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

It's not about not being able to use it, but why be forced to use a Microsoft product? Writing something quite simple in old school HTML4 produces a document that can be viewed in any web browser, and nobody has to pay a license fee.

Why would someone want to write in HTML4, not something plain and simple to generate a presentable document that may need to be printed, emailed, etc.  Unless you are running a web server and html editor.  Far easier to give them a login to Office 365 and access to online Word and SharePoint.

[MtB]

I am distraught to realise I am disbarred from applying, me being an Apple user. 😭 

[enigmatic]

34 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

It's not about not being able to use it, but why be forced to use a Microsoft product? Writing something quite simple in old school HTML4 produces a document that can be viewed in any web browser, and nobody has to pay a license fee.

Probably because they want people filing in their standard report template in Microsoft Word rather than receiving collections of custom webpage layouts with separate images, or royally buggered up layouts in OpenOffice documents or scans of well informed but completely illegible retired engineer scribbling...

[Rob-M]

Just now, MtB said:

I am distraught to realise I am disbarred from applying, me being an Apple user. 😭 

Why is that, we have plenty of staff accessing Office 365 from their Apple Mac's, iPads and iPhones.