Health and safety is of course vitally important. But it is also incredibly frustrating at times as well. We can all see that health and safety rules are necessary, such as in the workplace or at certain attractions (such as theme parks etc).
However health and safety rules sometimes seem ridiculous and this had lead to numerous people commenting that we are a society that has gone “health and safety mad”. When you contrast the workers of previous decades to the workers of today, you can see how things have changed. Obviously a lot of changes such as having protective clothing, hearing protection, hard hats etc have been welcomed and rightly so.
Health and safety rules have recently surfaced in the press again. In fact the BBC published an article on the 10th September 2012 regarding ministers’ plans to exempt thousands of businesses from health and safety inspections.
The article noted that under new rules to be introduced in April 2013, checks will no longer be routinely carried out on premises considered to be low risk, such as shops. It is further noted that health and safety inspections will still apply to areas considered high risk, such as construction sites. The plans have been met with a mixed reaction. While some supporters of the plans say that it will remove an unnecessary burden from some businesses and save companies millions of pounds, others say that it risks the safety of employees and customers.
Under new plans businesses will only face health and safety inspections if they are operating in areas deemed to be higher risk (such as construction and food production) or if they have a record of poor performance. Business Secretary Vince Cable was quoted as saying “We’re determined to put common sense back into areas like health and safety.”
Under current rules businesses must carry out risk assessments of any hazards. They must then create a policy to deal with such hazards. Businesses should record and report accidents, often in a form of accident report book. There are specific environmental health and safety rules which include things like disposing of waste and avoiding being a statutory nuisance such as through the production of excessive noise, fumes, light etc.
Health and safety rules are required; there is no doubt about that. One of the main problems is the amount of paperwork and expense concerning health and safety, especially for small businesses. In terms of big businesses such as construction companies or power stations, they would expect stringent health and safety rules and procedures covering all eventualities. However in the current climate the rules do seem to place an unnecessary burden on the small companies such as a small corner shop.
We all want health and safety rules, but we also want common sense to apply. Otherwise we may as well walk around in a bullet proof suit with a gas mask on, just in case. We don’t want to be health and safety mad. There are some quite funny examples of health and safety gone mad – the decision not to use pins to stick on Remembrance Day poppies just in case someone may horrifically stab themselves, the recent decision at the tennis whereby fans were prevented from watching Andy Murray’s match on ‘Murray Mount’ because the grass was wet and they might slip. How many times does health and safety have to ruin the fun?
