military vehicles of course
I have no comment plus or minus on your list.
For the non-UK citizens in the crowd, would you care to explain what a PAT test is and when or how it’s required by whom? Curious minds are … well … curious.
I won’t defend the US plugs because frankly they are pretty weak and not as safe as they could be. Most states in 2013 started requiring tamper resistant sockets which have doors on the hot and neutral (but not ground) to prevent anything from being stuck in them, which is a safety improvement sure, but there’s still many disadvantages. The ability to hold onto the plug isn’t as good as other designs, due in part to the short length of the plug blades, there’s nothing to prevent someone touching the blades in a partially engaged plug, and one thing I rarely see anyone comment about, but which I see all the time, is the placement of the grounding hole in relation to the faceplate means the plastic below the grounding hole frequently cracks if any downward force is put on the plug (such as from tugging a vacuum cleaner). See here: http://images.freeimages.com/images/premium/previews/5409/54095018-grounded-electrical-outlet-cracked-cover.jpg
Anyway, the British plug, I will also agree is over-engineered to the point of absurdity. It’s basically the equivalent of a US clothes dryer plug, which may not be overly excessive for an electric kettle, but for your iPhone charger or bedside clock? Give me a break. Isn’t the recessed Europlug the happy medium? They’re a bit larger than the US version, allowing the prongs to be spaced a bit farther apart, but they’re not so crazy massive as the UK ones. The recessed plugs obviate the need for plastic sleeves on the prongs, and it also prevents loose plugs from falling out easily, or being damaged from tugging on the cord.
One thing I’m curious about, unrelated to the socket types, is how power is delivered typically to residential customers, not just in the UK but elsewhere in Europe. Here in the US, most domestic service is 120/240 volt split-phase (single-phase 3-wire: 120 volts phase-to-ground, or 240 volts phase-to-phase). All lighting and convenience receptacles are 120 volt while high-draw appliances like clothes dryers, electric ovens and cooktops, water heaters, and air conditioners are 240 volt. Across the pond, I understand the typical secondary distribution is 230 volt single-phase/400 volt 3-phase wye 4-wire. Is it typical for a UK or European residential customer to be getting a full 3-phase 400 volt service drop? Is it split up inside the building similar to the US where 230 volts are for the lower power draws and 400 volt is for the big appliances?
It’s not true that the entire world lives without fuses and shutters. Some of them die.
Singapore here, British system. I’ve never seen anything but 240V. Some circuits are rated for higher amps (air conditioners, washing machines) but all still 240V.
I don’t really understand this argument - there’s a spectrum of cases ranging from serious to trivial and you would like to design for the middle cases?
I agree that it is over engineered for the low powered items you mention, but that’s standardisation for you. All the power sockets in my house are the same and designed to accommodate that plug so that’s what has to be fitted.
In fact, the humble USB is beginning to take over for chargers etc. I can now buy a power socket or a power strip with extra USB sockets, ready to take the charging lead for my Samsung phone or my Kindle. I can see how, with a new build, or a rewire, many houses will have these in places where they are likely to be needed.
The local substation delivers power to distribution transformers (mainly 3 phase pole mounted) in a complete circuit. In this way the supply to the consumers is not affected even when any feeder becomes out of service.
The distribution transformers will supply a number of houses (again on a ring) and the feed to each house is 240V, single phase. There is a fuse between the supply and the domestic consumer unit which is sealed and belongs to the power supply company. Of course, a block of flats may well have its own transformer.
A PAT Test is a Portable Appliance Test Test
It’s a (non compulsory) scheme for testing plug-in devices in workplaces for common faults such as damaged insulation, faulty earth, etc.
More details here: PAT (Portable appliance testing) - HSE's answers to popular questions
Let’s just take a look at your list…
PAT Testing is not compulsory.
Using 110v on construction sites is not compulsory - it’s an industry convention.
Never heard of it. Google doesn’t yield anything useful either. What is ‘millimeters testing’? Cite for it being compulsory and imposed by bureaucrats please.
So vague a complaint, I can’t even tell what it is. What unapproved tools would you prefer to use? Example maybe?
And the bureaucrats insisted your insurance must be expensive? Please explain.
I don’t believe there is any legal requirement for step ladders to have a safety sticker. they should be safe, of course.
So fucking what? How are you inconvenienced by pulling a fucking string instead of pawing a switch?
At last! An item on your list that is actually a statutory requirement! Yes, MOT testing is necessary for vehicles that are several years old, as a verification of basic roadworthiness on key points that tend to fail or suffer neglect over time. Vehicles fail this test and need to be fixed because they are unsafe for the road. I think that’s enough of an argument for the test being a worthwhile thing.
This is the ‘20 is plenty’ (advisory, non-compulsory) signs outside schools? Or actual enforced 20mph zones (that exist typically as an attempt to remedy an accident blackspot, often associated with schools)? What’s your point here though? Faster is just as safe? Because it objectively is not.
Not statutory. Decisions to close schools due to weather conditions are made locally by the school.
And this is somehow an indicator of an overbearing government?
Probably not. I think you’ve demonstrated the real problem clearly enough.
Just to add:
PAT testing is often implemented when individuals are using their own appliances in a works building. For example, my wife’s electric kettle had to be tested when she stayed in a nurses home during a course. Seemed sensible to me.
110 volt appliances on building sites are an acknowledgement that if you are going to have leads trailing around in an already dangerous area, 110 is safer than 240.
Snow causes more chaos here than it should, simply because we don’t get much of it. Drivers have very little experience of driving in snow and Councils won’t invest huge amounts to deal with something that happens so infrequently. I do agree that some schools seem far too ready to close at the first sign of a snowflake though.
Are you against any speed limits at all? anywhere? What about those crazy Germans? We all know they have no limits on many autobahns so they must be just as libertarian when it comes to towns I suspect. Except no, 30km/h limits are common in residential areas.
I live in a medieval town, half timbered houses overhanging narrow pavements and narrow roads. Never designed for traffic and on a morning there are little kids all over the place trying to get to schools. Judiciously used and properly enforced 20mph limits are exactly the right thing to do.
hang on, are you suggesting that those vehicles should actually have been constructed to a more suitable specification in order to ensure the safety of the occupants? That seems to be running counter to the general thrust of your post.
Or maybe you are saying that the government should be able to send troops into action in a T-reg canary yellow Ford Fiesta 1.1 pop 3-door should they so wish.
(I use that example as it was the first car my wife and I owned as teenagers and indeed, the interior did see some action…though no soldiers were involved…at least that’s the story she’s sticking to 30 years later)
Exactly - in Denmark, it snows heavily and reliably in winter, so it’s worthwhile investing in the means to deal with it. In the UK - especially in the south, snow is sporadic, so there isn’t a massive fleet of snowploughs sitting idle, waiting to clear the roads on that one day per year when it does snow heavily enough to settle.
The government could spend huge amounts of money on a big fleet of snowploughs to be ready just in case, and nobody would have to blather and whine about ‘an inch of snow bringing the country to a halt’. Instead, they would blather and whine about how much of their taxes were wasted on buying snowploughs that spend 363 days sitting idle.
In some places they just bolt the plow onto other city vehicles, like garbage trucks. The only disadvantage there is they don’t double as salt trucks. Asphalt paving dump trucks or lighter duty maintenance pickups are better because they can have a plow attached and also dump salt. No need for a fleet of dedicated vehicles. It’s like how landscaping companies repurpose their trucks which haul dirt, mulch, and leaves in the summer to plows and salt trucks in the winter.
Aaah, PAT testing.
The regulations say that you need to maintain your electrical equipment in a safe condition, but do not say how you have to go about doing so.
At my work, we PAT test all the kit we service on every site visit. This involves checking the earth bond by measuring the resistance from the earth pin of the plug to an exposed metal surface, and measuring the insulation, by checking the resistance between the earth pin and both the live and neutral pins on the plug. I have had to condemn machines for failing the resistance check - machines failing the earth bond test can usually be repaired (often the power cord).
Does refuse collection get cancelled in those cases? I worked with the waste management department of a major UK city council in my last job - there was zero slack in the truck allocation schedule (and actually, they probably fell behind schedule in worse weather anyway.
The majority of ToughLife’s complaint points were of that nature - there is regulation saying that you must do X safely (and really, is there a rational argument against that?), and there are conventions and recommendations on how you might go about doing it, but they are not actually detailed mandatory prescriptions.
I feel like discussing this a little further. nearly 40% of road vehicles fail their annual MOT tests on first inspection.
That is, 40% of vehicles fail a test of fundamental safety points such as brakes, tyres, structural bodywork, steering, lights and signals.
40% of vehicles are not roadworthy when tested. Despite their owners knowing they will be tested.
Without the MOT test, we’d have a much greater proportion of much more dangerous cars on the road.
That’s why.
Mangetout
I like your posts, I even watch your videos and like them too, so nothing personal.
I just want you to admit that Brits are obsessed with health and safety to an unhealthy degree. 
Your arguments that my examples are not compulsory, optional, industry conventions,recommendations…
don’t change the fact that those requirements exist in reality.
It just means that those requirements are not always government enforced but created by the industry, IEE, ECA, Councils, Unions ,companies themselves and other bodies.
The motivation behind those requirements/conventions/recommendations is unhealthy obsession with H/S and desire to cover someone’s backside regardless of who has created them.
**
including a multimeter that costs £15 new !!!
http://www.calibrate.co.uk/faqs/
see the link above
Re: Ladder stickers
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg455.pdf
Re: bathroom pull switch
using your terms
it’s fucking 21st century and there’s no fucking need to keep using antiquated design because it’s not fucking Georgian character feature …
that’s a bit patronizing don’t you think ?
I’m not against MOT, I can’t justify having to do it YEARLY as I highlighted in my post.
Re: authorized materials
I offered one of my suppliers to organize a shipment of PVC conduits/accessories from South Africa because it was literally 10 times cheaper than here, he refused because they can’t be sold here even so it was authorized in SA whose Electrical Regulations are 95% based on the British code.
Novelty Bobble
No, I couldn’t find “sarcasm” smilie.
What I’m saying is it was a war which is an unsafe environment pretty much
by definition and no amount of vehicle reinforcement will ever guaranty complete safety.
Also:
20mph may be justified where you live, but not in Central London.
**bob++ **
well, 55 v would be even safer, right ? What about 27.5 v… ?
There should be a balance between safety,convenience and cost.
there must be common sense, which is often missing in the UK.
I’m pretty sure there was some fuss in the old days when the Bushite government used Hummers in Iraq that didn’t give floor protection against IEDs.
Maybe nobody in America tried to sue, but more because they are not a litigious people than because it set up a ridiculously high standard of ‘British safety obsession’.