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There is a serious question that needs to be asked: Are video-sharing websites such as YouTube increasing the risk of work-related accidents to employees and is this something that employers in the UK should be taking into consideration?
The digital age is making it increasingly easy to communicate with people who you haven't seen in a while. There has been an avalanche of social net-working websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Friends Reunited where you can catch up with people that you've lost contact with since school or, if you're anything like us, you will chat to the person just across the desk from you online.
You can even upload photos and pictures of yourselves on sites like Facebook so that mates can get even better pictures of each other's lives. However, if viewing videos is your thing, then log onto the mother of all video-hosting services, YouTube www.youtube.com.
YouTube by definition is a website where people can share videos among friends and family, both new and experienced videographers can showcase their material and fans can look up clips of TV gold.
Having become one of the fastest growing online brands in the UK over recent years, YouTube has sealed a takeover from internet giant Google and seen 3.6 million visitors to its site during 2007. What makes it even more popular is that it doesn't cost a penny to create a YouTube account, meaning you can post and view material to your heart's content.
So whether you are looking for Lilly Allen's additional appendage (the most viewed YouTube clip of the past month), you are gagging to see your favourite band's latest music video or you want to giggle yourself silly with a clip from a Japanese game show, YouTube's the site for you.
However, there is a new craze of putting videos of work-related accidents on the internet to provide amusing entertainment'. Many videos posted are reminiscent of You've Been Framed slapstick comedy and are putting the wellbeing of workers at serious risk for a cheap crack.
As more and more jobs become confined to offices, workers are becoming increasingly restless with the monotony that is synonymous with sitting at a desk day-in, day-out. As a result we have become a nation intrigued by satirical films such as Office Space, which portrays the toils of those who work for a software company and addresses themes familiar with all office workers. One scene depicts an office worker going to wasteland and smashing his computer to smithereens in pure frustration. Since the release of this feature film, re-enactments of the wasteland scene have featured heavily on YouTube.
While this kind of scene communicates a lot to those who empathise with the office worker who has been driven crazy by his job, those that create tributes and post them on YouTube are clearly not considering the health and safety implications. For example, a featured video clip showing an office worker ripping out the computer from his workstation and hurling it across the office may be comical for its shock value but it is clear that the filmmaker has not considered that accidents at work could result from such irresponsible behaviour.
It would be easy to assume that it is the younger generation taking part in such tomfoolery, data, however, has revealed that 42% of YouTube users are over 35 years old. What's more, it isn't just office workers recording for YouTube visitors.
One of the most regularly discussed clips in regard to health and safety breaches is the one involving a fireman from the Greater Manchester Fire service being spun in a tumble dryer at the station where he was supposed to be on duty. Not only were the fire-fighters involved in this staged event putting the star of the video at risk of sustaining serious personal injury in a work-related accident but they were also putting the lives of the public at risk by not taking their duties seriously.
Workmen have also been filmed while up to no good on the job, with one diving into a container full of wet cement and others setting fire to their colleagues' helmet and shoes. All these acts are just asking for trouble and the problem is that even if their employers were unaware of this behaviour, they may be held accountable in the event that a personal injury compensation claim was made and an investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive http://www.hse.gov.uk.
It is a recognised fact that an employer cannot be aware of absolutely everything that goes on in their workplace unless they install CCTV cameras everywhere, Big Brother style. But, when it comes to health and safety law, even if they had no input when it came to making risk-provoking videos, there is a strong possibility that they would be held responsible if a hoax resulted in work-related injuries or worse. Not only could they face prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 but employers also run the risk of having to go up against a highly skilled personal injury solicitor in a work-related accident compensation claim case.
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