Taking the myth

By David Matthews on Jan 25, 09 04:54 PM

How many times do you read in the media about the 'health and safety brigade' spoiling our fun or of some absurd story banning an activity, usually accompanied with the words 'health and safety gone mad'?

Health and safety seems to be blamed for everything from banning fathers taking their children swimming to preventing school trips.

Behind the headlines though, you usually find that there is a rational explanation behind the story.

What upsets most people however is when petty rules stop innovation, stop learning and stop adventure.

This means that something has gone wrong somewhere and it is usually not down to health and safety legislation but by inexperienced practitioners who tend to err on the side of caution.

An experienced health and safety officer will always try to exercise pragmatism when carrying out a risk assessment, remembering that the law is there to help prevent accidents and fatalities.

My blog will aim to do three things:

Offering advice on relevant health and safety at work issues.
Comment on over-enthusiastic health and safety officers, whose interpretation of the law makes the news.
Comment on local and national health and safety stories, looking at:
- What may have happened?
- Why it may have happened?
- What could have been done to prevent it?

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health and safety at work

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