H & S
Since mentioning to some biker mates that I had started studying health and safety I have experienced a backlash of verbal abuse from some who see all involved in health and safety as the authoritarian enemy that must be defied and discredited at all opportunities.
Most comments seem to come from a reinforcement of prejudices from sensationalist media coverage of the extremities such as why didn't health and safety inspectors stop that artist from killing people with the inflatable maze (the rules were in place to stop him, but you still have to be present to catch idiots and the government doesn't pay for all that many inspectors) or why do safety inspectors stop kids playing conkers (they don't, in fact this myth has gone on so long that the institute for occupational safety and health sponsored and entered a team into the conker world championships just to prove the point), most of it is sensationalism to sell news papers and the bits of truth tend to be greatly exaggerated to stress the journalists point.
I have about 15 years experience as an outdoor sports instructor and as such I have a lot of experience of looking after the safety of kids and it requires some common sense. I have lost a job when I destroyed climbing ropes and pulleys because a centre would not take them out of service when they were obviously badly worn-out and failure would cause death or injury to a climbing child. I don't care about the odd graze to fingers or knees when I take kids climbing and don't bother protecting them with knee pads and gloves (some centres do as they are scared of being sued by parents or to reassure school governors) on the whole the kids don't care about the grazes either, in fact for some of the boys it's a mark to show off that they tried very hard to get to the top of a cliff.
So I am happy to see this common-sense article in the Manchester Evening News of an interview of Judith Hacket the chair of the Health & Safety Executive.
Most comments seem to come from a reinforcement of prejudices from sensationalist media coverage of the extremities such as why didn't health and safety inspectors stop that artist from killing people with the inflatable maze (the rules were in place to stop him, but you still have to be present to catch idiots and the government doesn't pay for all that many inspectors) or why do safety inspectors stop kids playing conkers (they don't, in fact this myth has gone on so long that the institute for occupational safety and health sponsored and entered a team into the conker world championships just to prove the point), most of it is sensationalism to sell news papers and the bits of truth tend to be greatly exaggerated to stress the journalists point.
I have about 15 years experience as an outdoor sports instructor and as such I have a lot of experience of looking after the safety of kids and it requires some common sense. I have lost a job when I destroyed climbing ropes and pulleys because a centre would not take them out of service when they were obviously badly worn-out and failure would cause death or injury to a climbing child. I don't care about the odd graze to fingers or knees when I take kids climbing and don't bother protecting them with knee pads and gloves (some centres do as they are scared of being sued by parents or to reassure school governors) on the whole the kids don't care about the grazes either, in fact for some of the boys it's a mark to show off that they tried very hard to get to the top of a cliff.
So I am happy to see this common-sense article in the Manchester Evening News of an interview of Judith Hacket the chair of the Health & Safety Executive.