OSH Madness
March 28th, 2004 at 12:22 pm by David FarrarNow this is just barking mad. The SST reports that they are banning couches from the Basin Reserve due to OSH requirements.
Couches at the basin have been a great tradition, and to claim that suddenly they might hinder egress from the ground, or create a fire risk is politically correct madness. How the hell does a small couch on a very big bank block things anymore than all the chairs, and people there. And if couches are likely to self-combust let’s ban them form homes also.
Incidentially I’m pretty sure the Tui couch pictured is one I know well and have spent many a Friday night drinking on, in Molesworth Street.
In more OSH madness a kayak race has been hit with the ever growing OSH bureaucracy, as have school camps.
Not long ago I saw a family faced prosecution for not getting a building permit for a tree fort!! What is this country that spawned Edmund Hillary coming to.
No tag for this post.
March 28th, 2004 at 3:01 pm
Having read the article, the true crux of the issue isn’t the fire risk the couch presents, but the fact that it could hinder egress. In that respect, I understand the ban and sympathise with David Gray, the Basin’s Chief Executive.
However I’ve also never been to the Basin to watch a cricket test….so maybe there isn’t a necessity to eject loud, obnoxious, drunken idiots with a couch in tow….in which case the ban could be seen as punitive, but hardly “political correctness gone mad”.
Vote:March 28th, 2004 at 3:14 pm
I have been to the Basin often. It is impossible to think a couch could hinder egress as they are placed ion teh middle of huge banks, not by exits. In fact it could even aid egress if the main exits were blocked.
And it is equally wrong to assume that people who bring a couch to the cricket are “loud, obnoxious, drunken idiots”. I know a few of the people concerned and they are not obnoxious or idiots. They can be loud but only when the Umpire gives a daft ruling (to which the whole crowd supports them).
You seem such a killjoy, next you’ll tell me that we should ban streakers from rugby and cricket matches.
Vote:March 28th, 2004 at 3:26 pm
I took “egress” to mean the ejection by match officials of some loud, obnoxious, drunken idiots. I didn’t mean to imply everyone who sat on the terraces at the Basin was such a person! If “egress” means the emergency exit, or the ability to access it, then the edict by Gray seems a little out of order.
Time to read the dictionary…….
Vote:March 28th, 2004 at 3:36 pm
The great thing about the cricket matches at the Basin is they are very friendly, and the incidence of obnoxius drunks is minimal. There is no correlation between them and couch sitters. In fact if you have a nice couch with you, you are less likely to misbehave and get kicked out in case you lose it.
The couches are a long standing fun tradition. They post absolutely no safety risk.
Vote:March 29th, 2004 at 9:54 am
It has all gone down hill since they stopped the burning of couches at Carisbrook. I remember the days when as the afternoon sun began to set smoke would billow (unfortunately across the ground) and much cheering and enjoyment by all would ensue. No longer. As for streakers, given the high incidence of naked men, perhaps banning streakers is not such a bad idea?
Vote:March 29th, 2004 at 9:59 am
But who is Kerry Clark??
Vote:March 29th, 2004 at 11:35 am
Well, I actually spent the day at the cricket yesterday sitting with the terrible people who wanted to bring a couch into the ground earlier in the test. They are all very responsible lads and weren’t even drinking yesterday. They would have added great character to the crowd with their full Hawaiian shirt garb and the Tui couch.
The thing that seems so weird to me is that couches, large cushions and duvets had been allowed into the Boxing day test… but someone changed their mind this time. Very strange. Yesterday was family day at the test and it was a gorgeous day with people of all ages enjoying the day. I didn’t see one person even ejected from the ground.
This had to be a case of bureaucracy gone mad!
Vote:March 29th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
Part of the issue is that when the Basin was rung, those fine gentelmen were told that couches could not brought in because of OSH regulations.
Then, while the photo was being taken outside, three couches went in.
Went the Tui couch went to go in, the guards refused it saying it “would have to go over the fence round the side”…
Well, if a couch is an OSH hazard (and they aren’t) all the couches should have been refused.
Not just my couch… I mean their couch…
On the upside, it is very comfy watching the cricket on a couch.
Millsy
Vote:March 30th, 2004 at 5:03 pm
Oh no, not more cringingly politically correct nonsense from the state paid nannies-for-ninnies, the safety nazis at OSH. If I ever have any dealings with this lot I intend to tell them to fuck off in no uncertain terms. Perhaps if more NZ’ers did likewise, we wouldn’t have so much continual government interference in our private lives. Kiwis are becoming a government cossetted bunch of wimps as a result of this kind of interference, unable to define or judge what is acceptable risk for themselves.
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