It's not political correctness to blame. In this litigious age, it's risk aversion that's to blame for the pulling of the plug on what should have been an enjoyable day for all concerned.
</PEDANT>
Indeed.
If you saw a toddler drowning in two foot of water, would you pull them out? Common humanity makes the answer obvious. Self-preservation and the risk of lawyers blighting your life - and maybe costing you things like your job and house[1] - tells you the opposite answer.
[1] That is NOT exaggeration. I might have added family there, but (unlike job and house) I have no firm, real-life evidence of that.
Please give more details. If you don't want to post them on usenet, I don't mind an email. However, without some way of getting to the source I just do not give credence to that. It looks like typical urban myth scarelore.
I was phoned this morning, day of the hire, by the researcher to say that the person in London in carge of health and safety would not allow children to cycle on the public roads.
Yet they routinely let their reporters drive while talking to camera
Tony
Yes, I've wondered about this. I know it used to be the case that they *looked* like they were driving, but in actual fact their car was on a trolley, towed/pushed by another vehicle (ignore the wittering and look at the relationship between bumps/steeringwheel/gear changes and the scenery going past etc). I'm not so sure these days that practice (if talking to camera, you and vehicle will be on trolley) is still used.
Maybe they've just got better at syncing 'driving' acting with what's really happening. I'd like to believe that's the reason, but wouldn't be suprised to find they are actually driving whilst filming.
Rocket science isn't really very hard, it's just solving a few differential equations, running the odd Monte Carlo simulations, and a bit of first principles engineering.
...and then wondering why your Beagle has disappeared around the time astronomers spotted a new crater on Mars.
At least that particular flash and bang didn't involve people...other than a few red-faced ones in lab coats.
There has to be some balance. I enjoyed metalwork at school but I've got doubts about the occasion (mid 1970's) when we were making things from cast aluminium; one of my friends dropped a crucible of molten metal on the concrete floor and, propelled by vapourised moisture from the floor, the whole class, assembled to watch, was showered with drops of liquid aluminium. Clothes smouldering, hair burning and an unfortunate few clutching their faces while stumbling about screaming. Nobody was blinded. Perhaps it's not worth trying to prevent such things. If you've got children how would you feel?
In a curious way I bet the whole class had a better appreciation of the risks and dangers from this incident than a modern class would have from not being allowed to handle the stuff in the first place.
"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment". Barry LePatner
Upon the miasma of midnight, a darkling spirit identified as JLB <[email hidden]> breathed:
Quoted message said:
There has to be some balance. I enjoyed metalwork at school but I've got doubts about the occasion (mid 1970's) when we were making things from cast aluminium; one of my friends dropped a crucible of molten metal on the concrete floor and, propelled by vapourised moisture from the floor, the whole class, assembled to watch, was showered with drops of liquid aluminium. Clothes smouldering, hair burning and an unfortunate few clutching their faces while stumbling about screaming. Nobody was blinded. Perhaps it's not worth trying to prevent such things. If you've got children how would you feel?
That's the problem - people elevate "my child!!!" to a status higher than society as a whole. This is bad for society.
That's the problem - people elevate "my child!!!" to a status higher than society as a whole. This is bad for society.
Yes, bloody selfish parents. If only they'd realise that the death of their child might be good for society.
Pyromancer is right, though. In a way it's the opposite of speeding, where a benefit accrues to one individual (self-pleasure) at the cost of a disbenefit to a large number of bystanders (pollution, delays, etc); the metalwork thing has a benefit to a large number of children (education) at the cost of a disbenefit (death and serious injury) to one or two individuals.
That's the problem - people elevate "my child!!!" to a status higher than society as a whole. This is bad for society.
Yes, bloody selfish parents. If only they'd realise that the death of their child might be good for society.
Pyromancer is right, though. In a way it's the opposite of speeding, where a benefit accrues to one individual (self-pleasure) at the cost of a disbenefit to a large number of bystanders (pollution, delays, etc); the metalwork thing has a benefit to a large number of children (education) at the cost of a disbenefit (death and serious injury) to one or two individuals.
There is however a case for making the kids stand back a bit further and wear appropriate PPE. What convinced me to always wear my lab specs was when I had something go up in my face. I made a silly error and ended up with a very salty face (it was a sodium chloride solution.)
It could have been much worse. Small accidents prevent big accidents.
There is however a case for making the kids stand back a bit further and wear appropriate PPE. What convinced me to always wear my lab specs was when I had something go up in my face.
Yes, learning from experience. When I use the wire brush on the circular drill (or, indeed, anything rotating at speed), I always wear safety specs. I never used to, but then I worked with a guy with a glass eye, who'd lost his eye through one of the bristles being ejected at high speed...
"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
In a curious way I bet the whole class had a better appreciation of the risks and dangers from this incident than a modern class would have from not being allowed to handle the stuff in the first place.
My favourite recollection of grammar school chemistry was when one of the lads in class set fire to the workbench during the experiment of distillation of crude oil by managing to concoct a river of oil along the top of the bench which connected to the bunsen burner flame :-)
Cheers, helen s
Quoted message said:
"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment". Barry LePatner
There has to be some balance. I enjoyed metalwork at school but I've got doubts about the occasion (mid 1970's) when we were making things from cast aluminium; one of my friends dropped a crucible of molten metal on the concrete floor and, propelled by vapourised moisture from the floor, the whole class, assembled to watch, was showered with drops of liquid aluminium. Clothes smouldering, hair burning and an unfortunate few clutching their faces while stumbling about screaming. Nobody was blinded. Perhaps it's not worth trying to prevent such things. If you've got children how would you feel?
So you had an exciting experience (which you've remembered) and you learned something about handling hot materials? This is a bad thing?
Yes, you can 'protect' people from 'risks', but all you'll do is end up with half a population that's so timid it doesn't dare live life, and the other half that are so uneducated about risk that they don't know not to take foolish ones. Any child who gets through childhood without at least one broken limb has missed out on a lot of necessary learning.
-- [email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ Das Internet is nicht fuer gefingerclicken und giffengrabben... Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das mausklicken sichtseeren keepen das bandwit-spewin hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das cursorblinken. -- quoted from the jargon file
My favourite recollection of grammar school chemistry was when one of the lads in class set fire to the workbench during the experiment of distillation of crude oil
Not allowed to do that now...
Use a made up concoction of ethanol, lubricating oil , white spirit and various other things.....
My favourite recollection of grammar school chemistry was when one of the lads in class set fire to the workbench during the experiment of distillation of crude oil by managing to concoct a river of oil along the top of the bench which connected to the bunsen burner flame :-)
Similar things happened in my comprehensive school. Indeed, I'm sure the type of school has no relevance. I wonder then why wafflycat included a reference to her grammar school? -- Michael MacClancy
"Michael MacClancy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:41:58 +0100, wafflycat wrote:
Quoted message said:
Similar things happened in my comprehensive school. Indeed, I'm sure the type of school has no relevance. I wonder then why wafflycat included a reference to her grammar school? -- Michael MacClancy
"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Yes, you can 'protect' people from 'risks', but all you'll do is end up with half a population that's so timid it doesn't dare live life, and the other half that are so uneducated about risk that they don't know not to take foolish ones. Any child who gets through childhood without at least one broken limb has missed out on a lot of necessary learning.
Well Nathan did manage to break a finger when he was younger, so he's alright then ;-)
My favourite recollection of grammar school chemistry was when one of the lads in class set fire to the workbench during the experiment of distillation of crude oil by managing to concoct a river of oil along the top of the bench which connected to the bunsen burner flame :-)
One chemistry teacher wot I had decided to demonstrate the reaction between sodium (or was it potassium?) and water, by chucking a large lump of the former into a glass wossname of the latter. The resultant explosion would have done the gas board proud, though happily no-one was injured.
He left at the end of the year to work in the H&S department at Leafy Meadows (formerly Sellafield (formerly Windscale))...
--
Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ World Domination? Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)
I was phoned this morning, day of the hire, by the researcher to
say
Quoted message said:
that the person in London in carge of health and safety would not allow children to cycle on the public roads.
"Censorship" I think is the word that you want to use, when laughing at the reporter for being timid enough to bow to such things, and mocking the BBC for having a censorship department.
Mind you, when the lady from BBC London phoned me up about Barnet's vanishing bike lanes,and I said, yes, wasn't it great to see them go, there wasn't much I could do as I heard the enthusiasm for having me on the air gradually vanishing from her voice.
"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
One chemistry teacher wot I had decided to demonstrate the reaction between sodium (or was it potassium?) and water, by chucking a large lump of the former into a glass wossname of the latter. The resultant explosion would have done the gas board proud, though happily no-one was injured.
Potassium. Yor kemistree teechur was mi kemistree teechur and i klame mi five powndz.
Cheers, helen s
Quoted message said:
He left at the end of the year to work in the H&S department at Leafy Meadows (formerly Sellafield (formerly Windscale))...
--
Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ World Domination? Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)
