CANCER RESEARCH & PANDORA'S BOX [7c]

CANCER RESEARCH & PANDORA'S BOX

7c. HIERARCHAL MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION & PARALOGISMS:

Mr. Steve Learmouth (Retail Health & Safety Manager)

1. The first timeline below provides the necessary background to the reply of 4th November 2008 by Cancer Research UK's Retail Health & Safety Manager to the author's recorded delivery letter of 22nd October 2008 — in continuing fulfilment of his statutory obligations under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 — wherein are "protected disclosures" — as defined in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 — regarding the multiple, prolonged, and recidivistic breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

{The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 states: "In this Act a "protected disclosure" means a qualifying disclosure [... which] means any disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker making the disclosure, tends to show one or more of the following —

(b) that a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject,

(d) that the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered,"}

{The Chief Executive's Health, Safety and Welfare Policy Statement states: "The Council of Cancer Research UK attaches the greatest importance to safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of all persons at work"; ... note the use of the superlative adjective in this phrase.}

5^th July 2007. Shop Manager (Ms. Amy Logan) in post 11 months.

5^th July 2007. Area Manager (Ms. Trish McIlhoney), following a formal shop visit in concert with the Shop Manager (Ms. Amy Logan) [see FSR no. 41827, headed "H&S Audit"], specifies in writing: "Fire drills to be implemented within two weeks" and "Step Ladder to be obtained with correct B.S. [British Standard]".

5^th July 2007. Area Manager fails to notice, during this same formal shop visit, the anomalies in completed Young Person's Risk Assessment Forms, the totally aberrant placement of the main Health & Safety Notice, a 4-month inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door in the shop's Health & Safety File, a 2-month unreported accident in the Safety Book, the de facto ornamental nature of the fire extinguishers, the total unsuitability of the fire evacuation point [†], the lack of provision for the safe temporary storage of broken glassware and sharps, the communal storage of food and shop cleaning chemicals, the lack of basic hygiene in the kitchen and toilet, exemplified by the antediluvian use of communal towels and non-functioning hand air-dryers, and the non-alphabetical ordering of the volunteers' health details in the event of an emergency; and, indeed, fails each informal visit hereafter.

[† One that requires the individual — regardless of his or her mobility — to walk some 30 metres up a very steep slope.]

12^th July 2007. Retail Health & Safety Manager (Mr. Steve Learmouth) — from afar — fails to ensure that there are no anomalies in completed Young Person's Risk Assessment Forms, no inactioned risk-assessments, no inactioned safety measures, and no lacunae in statutory safety provision and maintenance; and, indeed, fails each week hereafter.

{CR-UK's document entitled Our Approach to Discipline states: "Misconduct: • lack of proper care and attention to work;"}

20^th July 2007. Area Manager fails to ensure that her two specified safety measures have been actioned by the Shop Manager [see FSR no. 41827, headed "H&S Audit"]; and, indeed, fails each each week hereafter.

10^th Aug. 2007. Shop Manager starts two-week holiday.

11^th Aug. 2007. (New) Weekend Shop Assistant (Dr. Roger Peters), working alone, starts first day in post.

12^th Aug. 2007 (Sunday). Without prior warning, the Shop Assistant's duties unexpectedly include the sole supervision of a legal minor executing a Duke of Edinburgh Award — in a working environment replete with multiple breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

21^st Jan. 2008. Shop Assistant, on his routine day of volunteering (Monday), in the presence of an independent witness, formally expresses his disapproval to the Shop Manager of her (almost daily) placement of a «free box» immediately outside the shop, and requests — with particular reference to the safety of young children amongst the general public — that such boxes should not contain glassware, sharps, or small objects.

29^th Jan. 2008. Area Manager fails to notice, during a formal shop visit in concert with the Shop Manager [see FSR no. 41828], the continuing anomalies in completed Young Person's Risk Assessment Forms, the totally aberrant placement of the main Health & Safety Notice, the 10-month inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door in the shop's Health & Safety File, her two 6-month inactioned safety measures specified on the preceding page of the Formal Shop Report Book [see FSR no. 41827, headed "H&S Audit"], the 8-month unreported accident in the Safety Book, the lack of provision for the safe temporary storage of broken glassware and sharps, the de facto ornamental nature of the fire extinguishers, the total unsuitability of the fire evacuation point [†], the lacunae in Portable Appliance Testing, the communal storage of food and shop cleaning chemicals, the lacunae in COSHH assessments, the lack of basic hygiene in the kitchen and toilet, exemplified by the antediluvian use of communal towels and non-functioning hand air-dryers, and the non-alphabetical ordering of the volunteers' health details in the event of an emergency; and, indeed, fails each informal visit hereafter.

5^th Feb. 2008. Retail Health & Safety Manager — continuing from afar — fails to ensure that there are no anomalies in completed Young Person's Risk Assessment Forms, no inactioned risk-assessments, no inactioned safety measures, and no lacunae in statutory safety provision and maintenance; and, indeed, fails each week hereafter.

2^nd April 2008. Shop Assistant forcefully recommends to the Shop Manager, in the presence of an independent witness, to adopt diverse remedial safety measures.

7^th April 2008. Shop Assistant's first contact — in whatever form — from his Line-Manager (Area Manager Ms. McIlhoney) since before his interview in August 2007; ... i.e., 8 months after his appointment.

Summer 2008. Shop Manager fails to implement consistently the remedial measure recommended on 2nd April for the safe temporary storage of broken glassware and sharps [see plan of workplace].

1^st Aug. 2008. Area Manager fails to conduct a formal shop visit, despite more than 6 months elapsing since the previous one on 29th January; and, indeed, would not conduct one until 20th November.

5^th Aug. 2008. Retail Health & Safety Manager — continuing from afar — fails to ensure that there are no anomalies in completed Young Person's Risk Assessment Forms, no inactioned risk-assessments, no inactioned safety measures, and no lacunae in statutory safety provision and maintenance; and, indeed, fails each week hereafter.

4^th Sept. 2008. Training Development Officer (Ms. Debbie Bradley) signs the «perfect score» of the Shop Manager's Level Two Completion Review Form [see CRV]; ... the «topic» of Health & Safety is distinguished by its absence on this form.

8^th Sept. 2008. Shop Assistant, on his routine day of volunteering (Monday), forcefully recommends to the Shop Manager, in the presence of an independent witness, to adopt further remedial safety measures.

September 2008. Promotion of the Shop Manager to Area Relief Manager recommended by the Area Manager and approved by the Regional Manager (Ms. Julie Byard), who — from afar — fails to seek any verifiable information on their managerial competence regarding the implementation of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

6^th Oct. 2008. Line-Manager's first contact — in whatever form — with the Shop Assistant since 7th April; the former, Area Manager Ms. McIlhoney, conducts his first yearly Performance & Development Review (PDR).

6^th Oct. 2008. During the course of this PDR, the Shop Assistant draws the Area Manager's attention to the the totally aberrant placement of the main Health & Safety Notice; after the latter's initial expression of incomprehension, she states: "Well, if you don't like it there, put it somewhere where you do like."

6^th Oct. 2008. Subsequently, the Shop Assistant repositions the main Health & Safety Notice for the convenient eye-level reference of volunteers and employees [see sketch below].

Displacement of main Health & Safety Notice in favour of shop's Sales Target Notice.

6^th Oct. 2008. During the course of this PDR, the Shop Assistant also draws the Area Manager's attention to the presence of the inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door in the shop's Health & Safety File; she undertakes to address the matter.

7^th Oct. 2008. Area Manager fails to action this risk-assessment; and, indeed, fails each week hereafter.

{The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 state: "Every employee shall inform his employer or any other employee of that employer with specific responsibility for the health and safety of his fellow employees —

(a) of any work situation which a person with the first-mentioned employee's training and instruction would reasonably consider represented a serious and immediate danger to health and safety; and

(b) of any matter which a person with the first-mentioned employee's training and instruction would reasonably consider represented a shortcoming in the employer's protection arrangements for health and safety,"}

22^nd Oct. 2008. Shop Assistant, continuing the fulfilment of his statutory and contractual obligations, sends confidential letter — «bristling with red flags» — by recorded delivery to the Retail Health & Safety Manager.

[Address & Telephone No.]

rpeters@wissensdrang.com

22nd October 2008.
CONFIDENTIAL

Head of Health & Safety,
National Retail Centre,
3rd Floor,
North Point,
North Street,
Horsham,
West Sussex. RH12 1GX

Dear Sir,

The purpose of this letter is to ask you to consider, as a matter of urgency, CRUK's current method for ensuring, both in spirit and to the letter, the implementation of the Health & Safety Act.

During a period of over forty years — working successively in industry, academia, and secondary education — I have never observed such disregard for this Act as manifest at least three levels of management (shop, relief, and area) during the past twenty months or so; regarding, inter alia, fire safety, electrical safety, temporary storage of sharp objects, risk assessment, document[at]ion, and communication.

This disregard would appear to be attributable to ignorance, indifference, and hubris. Be that as it may, I am sure that you would agree on the value and importance of my aforementioned request.

Yours sincerely,

[Signature etc.]

2. Please note: during the period from late-July 2006 to mid-September 2008 the workplace's volunteers included several legal minors executing the Duke of Edinburgh Award, two adults with severely compromised immune systems, several unemployed adults on temporary «work experience», one adult with Asperger's syndrome, and several senior citizens — including two with greatly decreased mobility.

3. The Retail Health & Safety Manager's reply to the Shop Assistant's recorded delivery letter of 22nd October.

Cancer Research UK
10 Cambridge Terrace
London NW1 4JL
United Kingdom

T 020 7242 0200
www.cancerresearchuk.org

[Recipient's address.]

4th November 2008.

Dear Dr Peters,

I understand that you have contacted the National Retail Centre with a complaint about the level of Health & Safety in your shop.

I have spoken to Trish Mcilhoney your Area Manager, however I need to know exactly what issues you are referring to before I can investigate fully.

I would therefore be grateful if you could write to me at the above address.

Yours sincerely,

[Signature]

Steve Learmouth,
Retail Health & Safety Manager.

4. Here follows a deconstruction of the above «reply». [...]

5. This second timeline provides the necessary background to the Retail Health & Safety Manager's letter of 9th December 2008.

5^th Nov. 2008. Safety Auditor (Mr. Jim Holyhead), at the conclusion of a formal compliance audit — partially conducted in the presence of an Area Relief Manager (Ms. Logan), formerly Shop Manager — gives a «score» of 44/51 [see extract of Health and Safety Audit 2008/2009 ("Area Manager: T. McIlhoney")].

5^th Nov. 2008. Safety Auditor fails to notice, during this same formal compliance audit, these outstanding safety issues: the 20-month inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door and the presence of an undated ex posto facto account of the cracked overhead-pipe in the shop's Health & Safety File; the lacunae in statutory maintenance; the Area Manager's 16-month inactioned requirement to obtain a step ladder with the correct British Standard, specified in the Formal Shop Report Book; the discrepancy between the retesting date (April 2009) on Elecheck's Formal Safety and that on their tested electrical items (April 2010); the de facto ornamental nature of the fire extinguishers; the absence of weekly portable fire extinguisher testing; the Shop Assistant's 6-month inactioned recommendation for a safer fire evacuation point for those of maturer years or with decreased mobility; the absence of fire evacuation drills for two long-serving volunteers; the lack of basic hygiene in the kitchen and toilet, exemplified by the antediluvian use of communal towels and the non-functioning hand air-dryers; and the non-alphabetical ordering of the volunteers' health details in the event of an emergency.

19^th Nov. 2008. Shop Assistant sends confidential letter — «bristling with red flags» — by recorded delivery to the Chairman of the Council of Trustees (Mr. David Newbigging) and the Chief Executive (Mr. Harpal Kumar): ... who fail to initiate an investigation into the letter's essential substance.

20^th Nov. 2008. Area Manager, during a formal shop visit in concert with the (recently promoted) Area Relief Manager [see FSR no. 41829 & no. 418230], writes: "Visit to go over compliance and H&S with Relief Manager."

20^th Nov. 2008. Area Manager fails to notice, during this same formal shop visit, these outstanding safety issues: the 20-month inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door in the shop's Health & Safety File; her own 16-month inactioned requirement to obtain a step ladder with the correct British Standard, specified in the Formal Shop Report Book; the discrepancy between the retesting date (April 2009) on Elecheck's Formal Safety and that on their tested electrical items (April 2010); the de facto ornamental nature of the fire extinguishers; the absence of weekly portable fire extinguisher testing; the Shop Assistant's 6-month inactioned recommendation for a safer convenient fire evacuation point for those of maturer years or with decreased mobility; the absence of fire evacuation drills for two long-serving volunteers; the lack of basic hygiene in the kitchen and toilet, exemplified by the antediluvian use of communal towels and the non-functioning hand air-dryers; and the non-alphabetical ordering of the volunteers' health details in the event of an emergency.

2^nd Dec. 2008. Retail Health & Safety Manager fails to notice, during a formal shop inspection in concert with the Area Manager and the Area Relief Manager, these outstanding safety issues: the 21-month inactioned risk-assessment of the swing-door and the presence of an undated ex posto facto account of the cracked overhead-pipe in the shop's Health & Safety File; the Area Manager's 17-month inactioned requirement to obtain a step ladder with the correct British Standard, specified in the Formal Shop Report; the discrepancy between the retesting date (April 2009) on Elecheck's Formal Safety Report and that on their tested electrical items (April 2010); the de facto ornamental nature of the fire extinguishers; the absence of weekly portable fire extinguisher testing; the absence of fire evacuation drills for two long-serving volunteers; the lack of basic hygiene in the kitchen and toilet, exemplified by the antediluvian use of communal towels and the non-functioning hand air-dryers; and the non-alphabetical ordering of the volunteers' health details in the event of an emergency.

3^rd Dec. 2008. Shop Assistant sends confidential letter — entitled "Systemic Weaknesses Regarding Implementation of Acts of Parliament" — by recorded delivery to the Chairman of the Council of Trustees, the Chief Executive, and the Interim Director of Internal Audit (Mr. Bhavani Jois), together with a discussion document — «bristling with red flags» — which includes the following sentences.

"Young persons — i.e., those lads and lasses under 16 — represent one of the two vulnerable sections of CRUK's volunteer base (the other being senior citizens); and, as such, CRUK's duty of care must be beyond reproach.

[The] Safety Committee should accept, without delay and without qualification, my judgement that all the following are unfit for purpose: management supervisory practices; safety audits; formal shop visits; safety culture; and safety training."

3^rd Dec. 2008. Shop Assistant's copy to the Interim Director of Internal Audit attached with prima facie evidence of «irregularities».

6. The Retail Health & Safety Manager's letter of the 9th December. [... ...]

[Document in progress.]

________________________________________________________________________________

1. ACCESS & EGRESS : 4pp.

2. ELECTRICAL & FIRE SAFETY : 4pp.

3. DIVERSE SAFETY : 10pp.

4. DATA PROTECTION & HUMAN RIGHTS : 6pp.

5. VOLUNTEER CARE : 7pp.

6. HIERARCHAL BREACHES OF CONFIDENTIALITY : 11pp.

7. HIERARCHAL MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION & PARALOGISMS: Introduction : 12pp.

[Deconstructions — in progress (*) or in preparation.]

7a. Ms. T. McIlhoney (Area Manager; & Line-Manager, from 11th August 2007 to 1st December 2008) : 6pp.*

7b. Ms. D. Scott (Data Protection Supervisor) : 5pp.*

7c. Mr. S. Learmouth (Retail Health & Safety Manager) : 6pp.*

7d. Mr. David Newbigging (Chairman of the Council of Trustees) and Mr. Harpal Kumar (Chief Executive).

7e. Mr. Bhavani Jois (Interim Director of Internal Audit).

7f. Mr. Simon Ledsham (Trading Director), Mr. Kevin Thurlow (Head of Safety), and Mr. Bob Marston (Property Manager).

7g. Ms. Caroline Knight (Regional Human Resources Advisor).

7h. Ms. A. Logan (Area Relief Manager; & Shop Manager, from late-July 2006 to mid-September 2008) : 10 pp.

7i. Ms. Meta Lear (An Area Manager).

7j. Ms. Julie Byard (Regional Manager).

7k. Ms. Hannah Newton (Human Resources Business Partner).

7l. Ms. Jenny White (Associate Head of Retail Finance) and Ms. Hazel Bedford (LSF Regional Manager).

7m. Mr. John Macey (Human Resources Director) and Dr. Caragh Dewis (Organisational Development Practitioner).

8. PROFLIGACY : 13pp.; document in progress.

________________________________________________________________________________

[Notes]

1. Antiphrase: phrase conveying the opposite meaning to the one intended literally. Disinformation: falsehood(s) by omission. Duty: moral or legal obligation. Dysfunctional literacy: impaired comprehension skills; unwitting misuse of language. Ensure: make safe or sure; make sure to happen; secure. Functional illiteracy: inadequate reading and writing skills for ordinary practical needs. Investigation: searching inquiry for ascertaining (relevant) facts in context; detailed or careful examination. Misfeasance: inadequate or poor performance of a contractual duty. Misinformation: falsehood(s). Nonfeasance: complete failure to perform a contractual duty. Paralogism: illogical reasoning, the illogicality of which the reasoner in question is unware of. Platitude: trite or banal statement, especially one expressed as if it were significant and original. Remedial: designed or intended to correct or improve a deficiency in a specific attribute. Root cause: initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of importance. Systematic: marked by regularity. Systemic weakness: one that is judged to be a fundamental problem that requires corrective action through administrative, regulatory, legislative, or policy change.

2. CR-UK's Council of Trustees (2007-2010): Mr. David Newbigging (Chairman), Dr. Melanie Lee (Deputy Chairman), Professor Colin Bird, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, Dr. Philip Campbell, Sir James Crosby, Ms. Liz Hewitt, Mr. Roger Matthews, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, Dr. Keith Palmer, Ms. Leah Sowden, Professor Jeffrey Tobias.

Dr. R. Peters' Home Page.

[July 2010]