Just another day at the office #356

Joe had been the company’s Health & Safety Officer for 11 years and his advice on all matters pertaining to staff welfare and safe working practices had been religiously followed by the workforce. Sadly some of his advice was not as accurate as it might have been, and in his time at the company there had been an average of 5 deaths every year and multiple maimings. Three weeks after he retired Joe died whilst repairing the family’s toaster in the tub.

People with issues #313

Steve & Janet were great believers in the use of sun block as a way to avoid any risk of skin cancer, although many of those around them tended to feel that they had maybe taken things to extremes unwarranted by the, frankly anaemic, Swedish winter sunshine.

Just another day at the office #214

Young Jao owed his appointment as the site’s Heath & Safety Officer more to his ability to demonstrate the correct way to loosen a wing nut, rather than any appreciation of the risks involved in upper-story construction.

Signage #165

In the countryside it is important to ensure that livestock does not get loose.

Just another day at the office #196

Jian was lucky to be appointed as the site’s Health & Safety officer – he got the hard hat!

Sorted #36

Pete’s decision to make young Rob’s trike safer for use on the local hills was commendable but unpopular with the lad himself

Just another day at the office #116

After this picture appeared on a blog protesting dangerous working practices, Jao was fined for not wearing his company-provided T-shirt.

View from a Rhino House: China syndrome

As the world’s most important political beauty contest reaches a climax, a few extra security measures have been put in place to ensure there are no problems & that the wrong image is not projected either internally or overseas.

Taxi drivers have been instructed recently by their companies to remove handles from rear windows. A driver surnamed Xu said a text message from his company also advised him to keep the windows closed when his taxi passes by Tiananmen Square.

Citizens with complaints have also been the subject of “advice” to taxi drivers, “We were asked not to take petitioners to government buildings, but we should take them straight to the police office instead,” said a driver, surnamed Han, adding he was told to avoid taking passengers with bags for “safety” reasons.

More than 1.5 million additional security, police & “advisory” staff have been temporarily assigned to the capital.

Censors are trawling though web sites to remove subversive content, this appears, for the moment, to have reduced broadband connection speeds to around the same as for  dial-up services.

Beijing police have banned residents from flying remote control model aircraft or launching balloons during the period of the congress, & following plenary session.

Windows of buses heading toward “political centers” must be closed to prevent the “throwing of leaflets & other issues”, according to the influential Caixin magazine, although what an “issue” is in this context is not clear.

Authorities have for the next month banned the words “death”, “die” or “down” from songs on television. Music composer Gao Xiaosong wrote on his blog the words were deemed “unlucky”.

The Beijing Homing Pigeon Association said in an online notice that two annual races, originally scheduled for the period of the congress, would be postponed until December. It did not say why.

I feel safer already.

Banged-up for the duration….