French elves, foreigners do queue, spinning names

My thanks to Trevor Gay for Rambling in my absence collecting material for the next couple of weeks wandering around the business world.

‘Elf and safety mate’ increasingly seems to be the reason that we are expected to accept that something isn’t possible when common sense would suggest otherwise. Of course, how the H&S legislation is written and how individuals or local authorities and other bodies choose to interpret it may well be two very different things.

In many cases it appears to be used as a ‘cop out’ to avoid taking responsibility or any kind of risk. This isn’t entirely unexpected in the increasingly litigious society in which we live. It is interesting to note that the same approach does not appear to exist just 22 miles south of Dover. Uneven pavements, potholes, missing manhole covers and other hazards are still manifest in La Belle France. I just have this feeling that turning up at the local council to complain about an injury sustained as a result of such an obstacle would be greeted with ‘désolé’ (sorry) and a shrug of the shoulders. Any suggestion of further action would probably draw a puzzled look.

Whilst there I witnessed workmen renovating the exterior of a house. Scaffolding had been erected but the working area comprised single planks without any guard rails to prevent gravity from taking over in the event of a misplaced foot, or indeed anything else from falling onto the heads of passers-by.

I know not the H&S legislation in France but I would have thought that a bit more concern for life and limb would not have gone amiss. But there again, maybe it was a simple case of ignoring safety for reasons of expediency. Britain has very tough laws on Health & Safety but nevertheless there has been a 28% increase in the number of deaths on building sites over the past year. Now Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain has stepped in to address the issue. Talking to the BBC he said, "77 people were killed last year and it was a big jump by over a quarter on the deaths the previous year. This is not acceptable and I am bringing together the industry, the Health and Safety Executive, governments, together with the trade unions to agree on a new action plan making sure that health and safety on all building sites is paramount. "

The impatience of French drivers is well known. They appear to have a pathological need to overtake even if it is complete lunacy to attempt the manoeuvre. Strangely, if they fail to kill themselves on the way to the supermarket, they will then stand patiently in a long queue at the checkout before resuming their suicide bid on the way home. If Tesco, Sainsbury’s or any other major supermarket only opened a couple of checkouts, hence guaranteeing a ten minute wait in line, there would be major complaints. The French seem to find this lack of customer care quite acceptable. I suppose that it’s because they have become used to spending 20 minutes in the post office or half an hour in the butcher’s while those being served socialise with those doing the serving. Indeed one boulangerie (baker’s) visited even had a sofa and rack of newspapers – now that is good customer care!

In the 15th August Ramble I discussed spin, prompted by a comment the previous week from Andy Scott of FiRST Marketing. Perhaps Andy has been offering a bit of marketing advice to the French authorities. Looking at my Michelin map I decided that we were in the Drôme Département of the Rhône-Alpes region. But the road signs, while agreeing that we were in the Drôme, claimed that it was Provence. The cynic in me couldn’t help but wonder whether some French marketing man had suggested that Provence was a more evocative label than Rhône-Alpes. If anyone knows differently I would be pleased to hear the explanation.

A bientôt,

David Wike