[HappyHippy]

I'm a bit late to this thread and just wanted to pick up on the bit you said not being able to access grants Sandy. Down here (South Lanarkshire) there are small business grants and match funding available through the councils funds (I think, because it was someone from the council who came and explained it all to me), aimed at helping small businesses (whatever they may be). This scheme also operates in other areas, I know someone in Dumfries who's used it and folks in Aberdeenshire. So I'd go back to your council website and have a look around in the business section - there might actually be something fund wise which could help you, but you just haven't found the right person to talk to (as is often the case with councils  )

I'm not even going to start on health and safety  , planners  or the demise of our high streets  because I've not got the time or energy. I have to go and construct some farrowing pens for our pigs who are due in the next few days 

[happygolucky]

I think the H&S thing is more about being sued, like schools closed when there is just a hint of snow, i also remember no Taxi would pick up children in care if there was ice around.
As for shopping, the internet is the best way for most products but not for some, I think the service shops, like dog grooming, phone mending, hairdressers, nail bars, tanning stations etc are doing well as are the cheap shops where postage would make the item too expensive. 
A women I spoke to wanted to open a dog day care center in our town, she had the ideal building and all was agreed but the local council planning kept stopping her, now how bad is that? she now has one in Stirling and its doing great...I would love something like that and there is obviously a need, (sorry if Mr or Mrs planner for our area is on here but if they are I would love to know the reasons?)
We wanted to open a tea room but the planning was a bit too expensive and we gave up, then a take away little shop opened across from us and its doing very very well, we could kick ourself as the chap who owns it asked US if we wanted it and we said NO, also all the young people at the youth club also asked me to open it up...talk about missed opportunities.
Anyway, I think it must be hard to be truly self sufficient unless you have a fall back income, something like a skill you can sell......I am off now, as I am not clever with words, I know what I want to say but cannot seem to make any sense, things move on and change and that's how it goes, anyone with forward thinking ideas needs to grasp them and get them up and running.....seize the day!!

[Lesley Silvester]

I think you made sense there, HGL.  Having run a small craft business, I wouldn't do it again.  I was fed up with constantly living below the poverty line and having to say no to my children every time they wanted something.  I also recently ran a tutoring business but that was in conjunction with my 'proper' job.

[mab]

I think it's insurance companies rather than HSE that are the problem; for eg: -

a company takes out insurance in case someone gets injured, then when they come to make a claim (say for someone injuring themselves with a screwdriver), the insurance try to weasel out of paying by asking if the person injured was qualified to use handtools - saying they don't have to pay up unless said person has been on a workshop tool safety course.

hence you end up with councils saying they can't clear rubbish out of the pond 'cos they don't have anyone 'qualified' to use wellies and the like (that one might be a urban myth though).

[Marches Farmer]

If HSE have to investigate a farm safety incident now they charge an hourly rate of £120!  Is anything to do with the Government going to take less than two weeks to sort out?  This charge isn't covered by our NFU insurance.  I have a farm safety document, No Smoking signs and my son and husband have been on a chainsaw course but what else can you do?  I once heard girls' voices when I was checking the sheep and a couple of teenagers were at the top of a very steep, icy 15 metre bank above the waterfall at the end of the field we'd closed off for turnout, so no-one would've gone down there for weeks.  There's no footpath on the farm and they just didn't understand they weren't supposed to wander around fields at will.  You can't legislate people into having commonsense, alas.

[deepinthewoods]

i think they repealled alot of the legislation for the self employed tho. like working on ladders was illegal on your own for a while...

[plumseverywhere]

If HSE have to investigate a farm safety incident now they charge an hourly rate of £120!  Is anything to do with the Government going to take less than two weeks to sort out?  This charge isn't covered by our NFU insurance.  I have a farm safety document, No Smoking signs and my son and husband have been on a chainsaw course but what else can you do?  I once heard girls' voices when I was checking the sheep and a couple of teenagers were at the top of a very steep, icy 15 metre bank above the waterfall at the end of the field we'd closed off for turnout, so no-one would've gone down there for weeks.  There's no footpath on the farm and they just didn't understand they weren't supposed to wander around fields at will.  You can't legislate people into having commonsense, alas.

The risk reduction surveyors should come out at least annually I believe, it will be covered in your documentation how often. They have to walk round the site with you and will identify any risks and explain what you need to do in order to reduce or comply. That way the incidents are really unlikely to happen (at least this is how they'll explain why they don't pay the HSE bill!)
Most people do their best to be safe on their farms but some of the stories my OH tells me after he done risk reduction surveys are just shocking - usually involving quads, tractors, slurry pits, children.... One farmer was quite aggressive "you don't wanna be coming here telling me how to be safe, we've never had an accident..." week later said farmer was killed outright in an agricultural accident     I know some apparent H&S legislation seems ridiculous, but the true safety side is there for a very good reason as we all know 
Some people (especially kids I guess) don't understand and do the daft stuff like the waterfall incident, that could have been a tragic accident and wouldn't have been your fault Marches but I would be just as worried as you if that had happened to me. Was worried enough yesterday with kids sledging down our steep hill - what if they break a leg and try to sue me?! 

[Fowgill Farm]

The real people to call in all this are the ambulance chasing lawyers, the where theres blame theres a claim lot, if they didn't advertise or exist a lot of the hassle would go away, easy money for folks to say they stubbed a toe on your doorstep and you're to blame because you didn't have a sign up warning them   and then they pocket £3k for the injury and trauma of it, gimmee strength
Mandy

[plumseverywhere]

The real people to call in all this are the ambulance chasing lawyers, the where theres blame theres a claim lot, if they didn't advertise or exist a lot of the hassle would go away, easy money for folks to say they stubbed a toe on your doorstep and you're to blame because you didn't have a sign up warning them   and then they pocket £3k for the injury and trauma of it, gimmee strength
Mandy

Totally agree. Horrible, unscrupulous people!!

[happygolucky]

we had some one here that investigaged farm accidents, the worse was some farmer cleaning his muck speader? or something, he got caught in the conveyer belt and ended up all over the yard....
Farms are always dangerouse, I think any difficult job I do I try to do with people around,  just in case, mind you, I often do things when alone and they you are stumped if you have an accident!!
 

[plumseverywhere]

OH did a talk to our goat society, I found it really interesting actually considering I hear about H&S more than most lol!
The stats (from memory!) showed that the highest incidents of farm related deaths involved...elderly & children and it emphasised how at risk lone workers are. There's only so much you can put into place really - carry a mobile, let people know where you are and when you'll be back in etc but if you are a truly a lone farmer in the middle of nowhere, its risky business!
If often wonder how long it would be before anyone here noticed I'd gone - probably when they started to get hungry

[oor wullie]

I am sure there is a load of H&S regulations that are fairly pointless and more trouble than they are worth (and there are a few that really annoy me) but it worries me greatly when people blame it for everything and the government says they are going to "slash regulation".

In the industry that I work in, sadly, people are killed and seriously injured too often.  The company I am working for just now had a fatality only last week and the unit I work on had a very close shave a couple of months ago when a helicopter ditched in the sea.  But the fact is the accident rate in different countries is related to how strict the H&S regulations are, even within companies (ie. a company which has operations in the UK and in the US will tend to kill more (usually about 4x more) people in the US where regulations are much more lax).
Whilst getting rid of H&S regulation might be a good thing in many cases can we trust those who are cutting the regulation to ensure the good rules are kept?

The current governments decision to cut HSE inspections and in some cases stop them altogether might sound good but it might also cost someone like me their life.

[Victorian Farmer]

WELL IF WE DIDENT DO ENEY THINK IN 2012 JUST SAT AND WATCHED TV WE WOULD BE THE SAME AS WE ARE NAW just broke even first time in 3 ya res .Just dont no which way to go geese turkeys made money chickins lost it grain made money wether lost it                Mad