Barnard Castle Watercolour Signed Print - Ken Burton
Price:£29.00
The future’s orange... or so say health and safety chiefs
Jul 30, 2010
THE council has been criticised after a health and safety ruling led to workers at a traditional garage wearing bright orange t-shirts.
Jackson’s Garage, in Galgate, is one of the last service stations around to still have petrol pump attendants.
The garage has refused to bow to the rise of self-service forecourts and pay-at-pump technology, and the personal service remains popular with residents.
But people have recently been doing a double take after they noticed staff wearing bright orange vest tops.
Staff at the garage have declined to comment on the change, but the Mercury has learnt that it followed a briefing from a safety official.
The garage, which is opposite the town’s council offices, received a visit from a health and safety officer from Durham County Council.
It has been claimed that the officer advised the garage’s owner, Mark Elliott, to wear high-visibility jackets.
Faced with this, Mr Elliot, chose to clad his workers in orange t-shirts as an alternative.
County councillor Richard Bell said he was shocked to discover the change when he went to fill up his car at Jackson’s, which is officially called Speedbrand Ltd.
He said: “They had a visit from a health and safety officer who told them they needed to improve the visibility of staff.
“But my immediate reaction was if you cannot see someone stepping out in the road with a petrol pump, you should not be on the road.”
John Benson, the council’s safety and occupational health manager, said he visited Jackson’s Garage in April.
Mr Benson said: “We discussed with the operator the safety of staff working in areas where there is traffic.
“As a result of those discussions, we asked the operator to review the need for high visibility clothing to be worn during the day.
“The purpose of that request was for the operator to assess the risk to their staff and, if necessary, provide high visibility clothing.”
When asked by the Mercury, Mr Elliott joked that he chose the bright orange t-shirts because they showed off his suntan, but he declined to comment on the health and safety officer’s visit.
What do you think? Are you seeing red over the colour change, or does is the future orange?
Email us your views to editor@teesdalemercury.co.uk, or write to The Editor, Teesdale Mercury, 24 Market Place, Barnard Castle, DL12 8NB.