O.H. & What?

Given how ‘nanna-state’ our OH&S laws can be in Australia, you need to adjust your expectations and just close your eyes at what you see overseas sometimes… for you own sanity at least.

I just have to write this one because I constantly come across this in my travels. I saw so much of this travelling through south east Asia, and was reminded again here in Croatia and Bosnia that our laws are somewhat stricter than those of other countries when it comes to Occupational Health and Safety or just traveller safety in general.

I am sure no one will be surprised to read any of the below examples and no doubt you all have your own experiences of these, but this is just a few tales of how, in some countries, you can get away with anything. I wonder though, just whether our travel insurance would have covered us in any of the circumstances if we needed to claim.

• Bosnia
  • As I was walking past the spot where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot (igniting the start of WW1), I looked up and saw a couple of guys looking to install an air conditioning unit to the outside of a building.
  • With one guy holding the ladder, the other had the unit perched on his shoulder and gingerly climbed the stairs and then wobbled a bit at the top, I suppose figuring how he was going to unload from his arms and into the brackets. The guy holding the ladder left unexpectedly to look for something for what seemed like an eternity leaving his mate hanging for a while, till he returned.
  • I couldn’t watch the end. I could only see the air con unit falling onto a pedestrians head. And so I continued (as chance may have it) to the statue of Nikola Tesla just around the corner – the man who invented electricity. (or so they tell me over there – I believe there is debate about whether it was Tesla or Edison.)

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• Thailand
  • Three friends and I were in Thailand and were headed out for a ‘relaxing’ day sailing on the waters to and visiting a few different islands. I will say that we did see above mentioned islands, but not before we thought we were going to die getting there!
  • The swell on the water was so rough that at times the boat was completely surrounded on all sides with water. You could not see land if you tried. The waves were a good couple of metres above the roof of the boat. How we didn’t get swallowed up and dumped to the bottom of the ocean is still a mystery. We were all looking at each other with some grave concerns at one stage. Luckily we were all at the back of the boat and could escape easily if we needed to. Question was, did we have life vests to grab on the way out? Guess we’ll never know.
  • Of course I don’t have a photo of the waves surrounding the entire boat, we were kind of hanging on for dear life at that stage, but the images remain very vivid in my head.

• Bali
  • Another sailing conundrum. Again, way too many people on the boat than my ‘event manager risk assessment’ brain thought was appropriate. Plus we were sailing into the rain.
  • John had to tell me to ‘stop working’ – and just enjoy the trip, they’ll sort it out if need be. I wonder when they decide that bad weather means we should not sail? Hmmmm.
  • Turned out ok in the end – of course. It seems to always work itself out. I guess when no one is stressing things just work. Maybe there’s something in that.

• Greece
  • Just have to mention the John Cleese event at the theatre in the Acropolis again. So very steep from the bottom to the top, uneven steps and nothing to hold onto on the way up or down.
  • Perhaps when you don’t think about it you don’t need it. Out of sight, out of mind. Except for my brain of course. Damn it.

Travel is the best – if somewhat very dodgy at times.