[Sean Williams]

Chris,

This whole situation reeks of a complete lack of proper management.

Every task you do should be risk assessed by a "competent person" - This could even be you - the risk of each task then needs to be graded for severity and likelyhood - any that score highly, normally on a 5x5 scale 1= Low Risk 5= High Risk, and the same thing for likelyhood.

Scores much above 12-15 suggest that the task needs reviewing and potentially adjusting to mitigate the severity or likelyhood.

Critically, there needs to be a record of training, if your employer has not trained you adequately, or they have not for instance used heat proof accessories in the vicinity of your "Hot Work" area then the onus is on them - if you do not have an appointed safety representative (for instance if you are a small company) then the onus falls to the managing director.

Unless there have been circumstances in the past that have called your conduct into question, the issue of a written warning is just not warranted - Your employer has failed to safeguard the health and safety of their workforce by not offering a safe system of work, in this case, adequate time for each employee to secure their workstation and ensure that any sources of heat have cooled, prior to leaving them unattended.

What a strange culture to work under?

Cheers
Sean
Who has to do this stuff on a daily basis......