Am I wrong to think you can't take children to work like this

[Namechange3828]

Pre-school aged child. Parent works at multiple different companies and sites. All construction/laboury type places. Not offices and schools but transport companies, waste removal companies, asbestos removal, scaffolders etc. Works outside in the yards where vehicles of all types are moving around, equiptment is left out etc.

Am I crazy to think this is not safe or legal or take a child to while you're working? How could the child be covered under the health and safety protocol for that site. How could they be covered under their liability insurance? Just by staying in their own vehicle the child could be injured by another vehicle colliding with it.

If they stay in their vehicle, in a proper seat belt, the kid is in no more danger than if they are driving to the circus, shopping, going to the doctor or visiting Granny.
I don't think it is ideal for a child to be at this work place full time. I have no idea whether it is legal. It could be legal if it is the parent's own business.
It is also a first world question. Other cultures could have situations where a child is always at work in/near paddy fields, in bakeries, forests, laundries etc.
Is this the only way the family can survive together?

Pre school so less than 5. How long are they being left in the car? I think that's the key bit. Stopping to collect paperwork not so worrying. 2hr meeting I'd be very concerned.

@user1492757084 a dispute between parents. One doesn't want the child going to these places and is available to have the child. The other parent wants to take them with them. Kid tells stories about being in these other vehicles so isn't staying in their own vehicle and car seat the whole time.

@CombatBarbie hours, while the parent is working in the yard.

When my friend decided to divorce her lorry driver H he suddenly became Dad of the year and wanted 50/50, probably to avoid paying her anything.
Kid ended up living in his Dads lorry when he was with him but the Courts agreed it was fine as long as he stayed in the lorry during unloading etc

Assume the parent in question is self employed and he’s (am I wrong?) bringing the child to his client’s sites? I would be interested to hear what their views on this would be. These sound like very dynamic working environments and in the client’s shoes I would be very concerned about the judgement of someone who brought a child with them, nevermind allowing them out of the vehicle to dander about. It’s an accident waiting to happen and they won’t have a leg to stand on if the child is hurt.

The whole thing seems like someone doesn’t want to pay increased maintaince but also doesn’t fancy paying for appropriate childcare either.

From a workplace EHS standpoint, it's exactly the reason there's a Health and Safety at Work Act.

Depends really. My brother and I spend loads of weekends and summer holidays going to work with my Dad. We loaded skips, swept up, learned social skills talking to clients and other employees, painting etc.
I could rewire plugs when I was still in primary school.

I honestly was taught so much, I do all the diy in my house now.

This is exactly what is happening. These are companies that have to have quite rigorous health and safety rules, that employees have to be wearing ppe and visitors often have to sign paperwork with health and safety rules and state that they understand and accept these rules. How's a preschooler doing that? How are they covered under the insurance for these companies? And with big companies, the person in charge of arranging these works, aren't the same people in charge of the health and safety rules of the company.

If it was private property while their parent does manual labour it wouldn't be as much as aconcern, but these are comercial sites with other employees who won't know there's a very young child around.

I work on similar sites (environmental regulation) and I'd be astonished if they are insured to have U18s on site in a non-business capacity.

We’re coming into summer now so staying in the car will have to stop anyway. Unless they’re going to be running the engine for air conditioning and that sounds even more concerning.