Just as Imperial only, with no metric equivalent shown, remains the language of choice for major national adverts and billboard campaigns (see bwmaonline.com bulletin board passim), so it is the language of choice for Health and Safety reasons for Britain's fork lift truck drivers.

There were just three references to weights and measures in the Narrow Aisle Operator Licence Rule Book, seen today. They are:

(1) Keep your fork as close to the floor as possible...this should be 4" to 6" clearance from the floor.

(2) A 1" increase in load should be a decrease in capacity by 100 lbs.

(3) When stacking metal stillings (cages), always stack them at a distance from one another of approximately 4" to 6".

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(2) A 1" increase in load should be a decrease in capacity by 100 lbs.
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This is about the most idiotoc thing that has come from HSE. Anybody who has been anywhere near a warehouse will know that all containers are marked in kg, not pounds. Any semi-competent fork lift driver would automatically think in terms of kg when he is thinking in terms of shifting boxes.

I remember being shown how to "work a ladder". That was in feet.

The HSE also shows how to ressucitate on a poster.

It used to show chest compressions in inches and in cm.

Now it only shows cm.

I wrote to HSE saying that if someone tried doing it without completely knowing metric then they could mis-imagine an imperial coversion and do injury.

Apparently those posters are only *meant* to be read by trained health staff - who will have done practicals.

Eh?

I don't know who published this health and safety document, but I would doubt that it was the HSE.

Of the many HSE documents that I have seen relating to the construction industry none have contained anything other than metric measurements.

Another example of Tony carefully choosing his "examples" ?

Quite possibly