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Nothing to do with Brexit (which is being sabotaged as expected), there have always been people who take advantage of sickies the weather etc to avoid doing any work...probably a coincidence but these tend to be salaried individuals who get paid whether they turn up or not, attitude rife in places where the middle management are from the same dishonourable mold, monkey see monkey do.
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Nothing to do with Brexit (which is being sabotaged as expected), there have always been people who take advantage of sickies the weather etc to avoid doing any work...probably a coincidence but these tend to be salaried individuals who get paid whether they turn up or not, attitude rife in places where the middle management are from the same dishonourable mold, monkey see monkey do.
Same goes for the NHS - where it has been proven (I remember a study was quoted to me when I was working for one of the London Underground PPP firms back in the mid 2000s who wanted to cut down on 'sickies' and 'snowies') that staff think that annual sick leave is an extra holiday entitlement to use.
Big firms also have a problem - during a previous 'weather bomb' (yeah right!) back in 2013 I was one of about 10% to make it into my (large) firm's offices, admitedly an hour late - I had to (my train line to Kings Cross was blocked by fallen trees) drive from NE Herts in VERY windy (avoiding falling branches) and rainy conditions to my parents' house 35 miles south, get a bus to Barnet then Tube it all the way to London Bridge station , and yet many staff living far closer didn't even bother to venture in that day. Needless to say me working on a contract basis there was a factor, but I always try (unless its really danagerous) to make it into work if I'm physically up to travelling and not got the flu that would not be good to spread around the office (as well as not do any meaningful work).
In my view, too many state schools close their gates WAY too easily at the slightest hint of snow (the equivalent of the 'sickie' culture in the Public Sector for bad weather [doesn't help with the snowflake millenials - pun intended - now in many such jobs, especially in schools), though it doesn't help these days when many teachers seem to live half way across the country rather than within an hour or so's travel of their workplace (no wonder they think they're not well paid - they spend it all on travel!) - I remember one of my teachers (going to school in St. Albans) lived in Kent!
It didn't help that most Public Services didn't bother looking up the weather reports last week (we knew this was coming nearly a week ago) or didn't want to do anything about them and the result being closures left, right and centre. Every time this happens, we get moans from these people about a lack of resouces, warning or, as the Highways Agency said yesterday, a 'lack of cars' on the road (wrong type of snow?) and afterwards to 'learn lessons', but they never do.
We must be a national laughing stock to those from colder climes around the world who get by with 5-10x as much snowfall...
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The traffic density in the UK is several times that of most colder countries to be fair..
And all you need is one incmpetent driver on a hill in Stoke on Trent to halt traffic as 1. it's hilly and 2. at rush hours there is no leeway
I don't bother when it snows driving 10 miles to shop as I do normally . The queues on the main road are immoveable from 8to 10am..
And 4x4 and other 4x4x lookalikes are driven on summer tyres by people who think 3,000 rpm will get you going in snow and ice and -if it does not - they try 5,000rpm.
Edited by madf on 11/12/2017 at 16:03
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Engineer Andy is right. Why can't these public sector organisations ROLE PLAY a bad weather/snow day and learn what to do?
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Engineer Andy is right. Why can't these public sector organisations ROLE PLAY a bad weather/snow day and learn what to do?
It ain't difficult for them to plan for such things:
- Keep an eye on the weather reports, including those a week or so in advance. They don't always get those right, but are a reasonable guide to plan ahead, just in case;
- Have measures in place to keep the site as free of ice and snow as possible. This may involve gritting at appropriate times and using support staff to shovel snow out of the way if you don't have a snow plough. Having one may seem expensive, so perhaps invest in a small, multi-purpose vehicle as the local industrial firm Johnson Matthey have, and buy a plough attachment which did a very nice job in keeping their site roads and car parks free of snow (before Monday morning!). This may involve sharing resources with other firms/organisations, so liaison and planning is the key here.
- Make sure all staff are aware of the weather reports, and that they will need to leave earlier (well, duh), often a LOT earlier to safely drive in snowy conditions, and to avoid ungritted roads (it would be nice if the councils and highways agencies TOLD US which roads have been gritted) and stick to major roads where appropriate. Also make sure they also have sufficient 'winter car' stuff like a shovel, warm clothes (perhaps even a spare and a blanket) and drinks/food if they get stuck for a while and need a break, plus a fully-charged phone and the fuel tank full enough for 2 days travel at least.
- Encourage staff who do live in rural areas, or have long commutes by car (why?) to either switch over to all season tyres or, if they can, get a separate set of winter tyres to ensure they don't get stuck and can make it to work. Its also amazing how so many people don't check their cars generally (especially tyres, fuel and fluid levels) before bad weather sets in, just in case. Whilst I wouldn't normally advocate paying them to do so (given we in the private sector wouldn't ask), in some circumstances it may be worth it as one cancelled operation is worth many, many tyres. Same goes for schools whose children's education is diminshed due to having to miss out on schooling or skim over parts of the curriculum due to 'lost snow days' etc.
I'm sure there are lots of other things to do that I haven't thought of (I'm thinking about my lunch now so am distracted!). Its not rocket science.
It seems like they all panic and have no idea what to do, when its mostly common sense, and probably why the private sector copes far better, because it can't afford not to.
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I'v had lot's of experience driving in snow, mostly on summer tyres.
I fitted Vredestein Quatrac on one car but in our erratic weather, I had to search for snow in the Derbyshire Peaks.Excellent traction, with ground clearance being the limitation. That car was a Volkswagen Passat which had the newly introduced traction control. I did a test on the same hill on the original sunmer ryres. The traction control won that day. I drove gently and extra traction was available.
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For a change we had barely a flake.
If we had I know I would have seen plenty of this:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-42307083
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Close one state school and many children will need childcare . If that child's parents are teachers at another school that school may have to close and so the closures multiply.
Private schools are in a much better position to remain open as they operate an almost "closed system". They have their own policies and aren't governed by national academy or free school chain policies.
The children of the teachers at private school generally attend the school so there is no issue of childcare due to school closures
They are well resourced so will have in house staff and equipment to clear snow, grit paths and driveways etc
Food is prepared on site - no reliance on external caterers delivering meals as is the case with many state schools.
Some private schools have boarding so school is staffed 24/7 anyway and has to open for the boarders.
Parents are paying and expect the school to be open so they can work and earn to pay the fees!
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Two schools nearby. One--PRIVATE- full car park and children rushing in at 08.45-business as usual with one or two late comers.
The other-a STATE JMI-closed because teachers unable to travel to work due to condition of roads .
The new Brexit Britain ?
What has that do do with Brexit?
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Two schools nearby. One--PRIVATE- full car park and children rushing in at 08.45-business as usual with one or two late comers.
The other-a STATE JMI-closed because teachers unable to travel to work due to condition of roads .
The new Brexit Britain ?
In case of state schools the decision to close was probably made yesterday and, while there might be some selectivity between urban/rural, across whole areas. Everybody knows in advance and contracts (eg for dinners cooked off site) can be re-booked.
The private school, probably much smaller, will consult individual staff members and cover for absences. It may also have its own grounds staff to keep site safe.
Big 11-18 academy (1800 on roll) in this village was closed today. Around 1000 of the kids are bussed in so not only are local roads, many not routinely treated, in play but the bus manouvering/loading apron needs to be safe too. So do reast of grounds including seperate buldings and temp classrooms.
They hope to open tomorrow but with -5 forecast ground/bus safety will still be a potential show stopper.
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Nothing like showing the kids by example how to go on when they are finally out in the world of work.
The bus stopping area excuse brings visions of Reg Varney from On The Buses performing with trepidation the London Transport handbrake turn skid test with a gurning Blakey in shot...if a pro driver in a (usually RWD engine over drive axle) bus can't manage to negotiate a school parking area without losing control best they trot off down the nick, when the snow has cleared, and hand their licences in.
I give up.
By the way, if someone, anyone, has their wits about them, at some places i've worked the companies used to pay a fee and the road gritter would drive round the yard spreading his wares as he passed by, surely with all the brains involved in a large school it couldn't be beyond them to organise something so obvious.
Edited by gordonbennet on 11/12/2017 at 16:45
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In the long bad winter of '63, when some of the snow drifts were over 6' deep, our 10 mile bus trip to school through the Fens lost just one day, too cold to get the buses started and the school itself didn't lose a day - the only concessions to the weather were that breaks/lunchtimes were declared "wet" meaning teachers/prefects supervised pupils in their classrooms and we finished at 3pm instead of 4 as the journey was much slower - and I had to do a 10 mile paper-round on my bike in deep snow before catching the school bus at 8am.
Remember in those days there there no tyre tread depth laws so legal as long as the canvas didn't show - althogh one or two drivers did fit "Town & Country" tyres to the rear axle.
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In the long bad winter of '63, when some of the snow drifts were over 6' deep, our 10 mile bus trip to school through the Fens lost just one day, too cold to get the buses started and the school itself didn't lose a day - the only concessions to the weather were that breaks/lunchtimes were declared "wet" meaning teachers/prefects supervised pupils in their classrooms and we finished at 3pm instead of 4 as the journey was much slower - and I had to do a 10 mile paper-round on my bike in deep snow before catching the school bus at 8am.
Remember in those days there there no tyre tread depth laws so legal as long as the canvas didn't show - althogh one or two drivers did fit "Town & Country" tyres to the rear axle.
If, as was likely, the car was rear wheel drive, the owner would probably have put a bag of sand or cement in the boot. The extra weight pushing down on the driving axle would give a helpful boost of traction!
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Ah, back in the good old days, the schools never closed for bad weather, etc...
Just remember that in 2016, there were 1,792 people killed on the roads. In spite of the huge volume of modern traffic. Every year since 2009 has seen the annual figure under 2,000 people.
Back in the 60's, every single year from 1961 to 1970 saw over 7,000 killed on the roads each year. 1960 itself only missed that milestone by the slightest of margins - 6,970 deaths.
'The good old days', where 20 people died every single day on our roads (on average), or today, when the figure is closer to 5 fatalities ?
I know which I'd choose.
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Ah, back in the good old days, the schools never closed for bad weather, etc...
Just remember that in 2016, there were 1,792 people killed on the roads. In spite of the huge volume of modern traffic. Every year since 2009 has seen the annual figure under 2,000 people.
Back in the 60's, every single year from 1961 to 1970 saw over 7,000 killed on the roads each year. 1960 itself only missed that milestone by the slightest of margins - 6,970 deaths.
'The good old days', where 20 people died every single day on our roads (on average), or today, when the figure is closer to 5 fatalities ?
I know which I'd choose.
How much of that is massive road improvements, better safety equipment in cars and better emergency medical services?
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How much of that is massive road improvements, better safety equipment in cars and better emergency medical services?
Oh, I agree. A lot of it is down to improvements in safety, technology, road design ... But on the other hand, there were about 6 million cars on the roads in 1960, about 11 million in 1970, and close on 30 million now.
If you put it on a cars per death ratio, and average the sixties as 7.5 million cars, and the 2010-2017 figure as 25 million cars, and the sixties as 7,000 deaths per annum (it was more than that in every single year but one, and in 1968 it was nearly 8,000 deaths (7985)), and the 2010s as 1,800 per annum (pretty accurate) then you get figures like these :
1960s : one death per 1,071 cars per annum (remember, this figure is conservative, see above). Probably more like 1 death per 900 to 1,000 cars per annum.
2010s : one death per 13,900 cars per annum.
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Motorways, our safest roads by far, by any measure, have skewed many historical comparisons - because that's where so much vehicle mileage occurs.
As the number of cars per head of population has increased, a bigger proprtion of them is not in use at any one time.
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Motorways, our safest roads by far, by any measure, have skewed many historical comparisons - because that's where so much vehicle mileage occurs.
As the number of cars per head of population has increased, a bigger proprtion of them is not in use at any one time.
There is also the factor that so many roads are now so congested it isn't easy to go fast enough to kill yourself.
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The bus stopping area excuse brings visions of Reg Varney from On The Buses
I don't think it's an excuse GB though maybe H&S errs on side of caution. School remains closed today after a heavy overnight freeze. Head's statement says:
The snow and ice that continues to lie makes for potentially dangerous travelling conditions for students and staff. Following a further assessment this morning, bus companies cannot guarantee safe passage through all areas.
Having heard neighbour's cars moving over slush earlier it's difficult to disagree. Won't stop me from going to London to meet ex-colleagues for lunch. Mrs B is trying to find out if Uni access/campus at Harcourt Hill is OK before setting off for a three day stint in Oxford.
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By the way, if someone, anyone, has their wits about them, at some places i've worked the companies used to pay a fee and the road gritter would drive round the yard spreading his wares as he passed by, surely with all the brains involved in a large school it couldn't be beyond them to organise something so obvious.
The gritter driver would probably need CRB/DBS checks done to ensure low risk of photographing or kidnapping children for nefarious purposes..... as for 'brains' in a large school, who but the most dedicated and vocational brainy types would embark upon a career teaching in a large UK state school these days.....
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