[SEL] Nat Rally Reg's New Letter

[Ron Page]

Down the track it will be interesting to see the outcomes of any litigation
should this occur.

Ron

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim French" <fbi at insulate.co.uk>
To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [SEL] Nat Rally Reg's New Letter


> Just so that all of you who are descending to the level of personal abuse
know
> that THE FLAMEMISTRESS is watching you, I thought I'd just add a comment
or two
> to this.
>
> First, the Medina accident.  For full details, go to
> http://www.steamengine.com.au/misc/safety/medina.html which also includes
a link
> to the official report.  Interestingly, when I put the query into Google,
that
> page by Paul Pavlinovich came up first, and the second was a comment by
our own
> Reg Ingold, in the digests of this list!
> At the time, the steam engine wasn't in a fenced compound, so in that
particular
> case, fences didn't make any difference at all to the level of injuries.
>
> Secondly, in my opinion (which may or may not reflect my political
leanings) I
> believe that no amount of laws and rules will EVER combat stupidity.  All
these
> restrictions seem to do is reduce the freedom and pleasure we get, and
take away
> some of the need to think.  If there's a fence around the engines, there's
no
> need for people to tell their children not to touch the moving parts.  If
they
> ever come across a real working engine, unfenced, how are they to know to
keep
> back a safe distance?
> Rules are no substitute for common sense, but they do take away a lot of
the
> need for such a thing so, in a way, rules actually increase the potential
for
> stupid behaviour.  This applies not just to engine shows but to many areas
of
> life.  We, as a company in the construction industry, spend far too much
time
> and money on health and safety - consultancies, qualifications, risk
assessments
> etc etc.  None of which proves better than our long-term safety record
that we
> can do a job well and safely, but if you do all that stuff right and have
an
> accident you must be able to blame someone else for it!
>
> You may flame me direct at helen at insulate.co.uk if you don't like my
opinion.
>
> Dolly
>
> peter ogborne wrote:
>
> > Unfortunately if we want to attend shows we have to abide by the rules.
> > There are STUPID people ,take the example of the owner of that Case
Steam
> > Traction engine in the US . It exploded and took out a lot of people.
Just
> > think how many more fatalities there would have been if there had been a
big
> > crowd around it in an unfenced compound . Yes i know that to make it
safe
> > and escape the results of that explosion the fence would have had to be
a
> > bloody long way back .
>
> --
> Jim French
> fbi at insulate.co.uk
> http://www.insulate.co.uk
>
>
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