subject: The False Perception Of Health And Safety [print this page] There have been many interesting, and extreme, health and safety stories doing the rounds over the last few years. There have been over the top health and safety rules and regulations, and businesses and other organisations making strange decisions due to being frightened of health and safety. Often this has lead to people being scared of doing perfectly legitimate things in case they face the consequences should something go wrong.
Below are some examples of things that have been banned for health and safety reasons:
In several schools children have been banned from playing conkers or told to wear protective goggles. This, apparently, is because it has the potential to cause injury, especially eye injuries.
Some clock winders have been banned from climbing church towers due to the danger of them falling.
In some cases children have been banned from playing on monkey bars at playgrounds, including at school playgrounds.
There have been some bans on childrens sack races. Presumably this is because they could get trapped in the sack.
The hill at Wimbledon was at one stage closed this year. Why? Because it was raining.
There have been many stories of situations where people and organisation have been frightened of health and safety, under the misconception that they could get sued should something go wrong. The most publicised example has been where shop owners have been afraid of clearing away snow outside their shops as they could be sued if someone slips on the ice that is left. At some schools children have not been allowed outside when there has been snow, or even in some cases when it has just been raining. This is due to the fear that parents might sue should this result in injury. The reality of these situations, though, is that they could not be sued. If someone attempted to take legal action they would fail. Accidents do happen and there is not always someone to blame.
Looking at the funny side, there have been some over-the-top and unnecessary warnings on things, especially food. Some examples are below:
On hot food: contents may be hot
On a packet of peanuts: may contain nuts
On meat: not suitable for vegetarians
On a pack of carrots: Ingredients carrots
On a box of ice cream: may be cold
On a packet of peanuts: instructions open packet, eat peanuts
There is a funny side to some of the health and safety stories above but it has become problematic. The truth is that many so-called health and safety precautions are way over the top and completely unnecessary. People dont need to be told that peanuts contain nuts and that ice cream is cold. Organisations, from shops to schools, are often frightened of being sued for things that they could not possible be sued for.
Health and safety has often been criticised, but health and safety itself is not the problem it is the perception of health and safety that is the real issue. People have a distorted view of how it works. The reality is that health and safety laws are not as strict as many believe them to be.
Health and safety is important if done in the right way. There are genuinely potentially dangerous situations that have to be protected against and laws that are necessary. So they are important but the perception, and over cautiousness, has got out of hand due to people being unnecessarily frightened of the law.
