Performing Arts.

This shiny metal cut-out of Charlie Chaplin is the only piece of non-martial art in Chatham. Isn't it a marvel! It marks the sport where Chatham Theatre Royal stood from 1899 – 1955. Looking at the list of people who performed there it is quite apparent that it was a small variety theatre. Yes Charlie did perform there and so did one or other of Laurel and Hardy, but not both. Also Norman Wisdom. So that's that.

Waste management splits logically into two main streams;
Recyclables (glass, metal, paper, plastics) and
Residuals (stuff which cannot be recycled and so is either burned, buried or composted)

The Drawing Office provides drawings for all the various disciplines across the business so you might expect us to be a central resource in the same way that HR, IT, Payroll, Training, and Occupational Health are. But we are not. We produce far more drawings for landfill sites than any other facility because they are in constant flux, and so our team comes under the patronage of Residuals/Landfill.

Work involves sitting at a desk in an office with a computer and lots of screens. Sometimes it is helpful to share screens with a client so that they can watch the drawing evolve and correct any misunderstandings as they occur. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by a video-conference involving a camera pointing at me.

Today I received an email inviting me to a three-hour online training session for manual handling, asbestos and the avoidance of slips, trips, and falls. I am included on the list because it is a requirement for operational staff, and as I mentioned earlier, the drawing office comes under that banner despite the fact that we come no closer to asbestos than any other office-based staff. The invitation suggested that a webcam was an essential part of the online training.

It stands to reason that real operational staff are not working from home, so other people on the training course would not have their privacy invaded, a webcam would reveal only their site-hut, not their private residences.

I told Training Procurement that if a webcam was an essential part of the course then my training could wait until I was back in the office and not working from home. I am pleased to report that there was no wheedling or cajoling. Boundaries are accepted.