Excellent Timesonline article in defence of HSE

TIMESONLINE
April 21, 2009

Health and safety: a grave error of judgment
They have been blamed for banning everything from conkers to classical music, but alll the Health and Safety Executive is really responsible for is ‘topple-testing’ in cemeteries, its chairman says…
…
Judith Hackitt travels home to Oxford most nights by train. “There is hardly a week that goes by,” she says, “when somebody doesn’t come on the tannoy and say ‘we can’t bring the trolley round tonight because of health and safety’. And actually, no.”

No?

“No,” says Hackitt. “You can’t bring the trolley round because the aisles are stacked with people. Or, you can’t bring the trolley round because the trolley dolly hasn’t turned up for work. It’s one of the two. It sure isn’t health and safety.”

Judith Hackitt is chairwoman of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). People, she says, are always stealing its phrase. “It’s a good one to hide behind,” she says.  There is Health and Safety, you see, and health and safety. People are forever confusing the two.

…

Last year, 229 people were killed in workplace accidents. “But actually, that is a gross underestimate,” says Hackitt. “Add to that the 2,000 people who died prematurely last year because they had been exposed to asbestos at work, the several thousand who had been exposed to other harmful substances. There are 100,000 people in Britain who have been injured at work, 28,000 with amputations. Two million off work, half of whom will never work again …” The fuss about health and safety, she says, makes it so much harder to promote Health and Safety. Forget about conkers and gravestones,” she says, “and let’s focus on the real problems. If I find all of this rubbish demoralising, imagine what it’s like for our inspectors. They’re the ones who visit families after someone has died. And to be called the Health and Safety Taleban? It’s horrible.”

I’ve only provided a couple of clips from this excellent article…
Give it a full read — see the Comments, and copy it to people.

TIMEONLINE article.

There are two seperate issues. Health and Safety and the ‘Sue’ culture. The first is use some sense and understand risks. The second came about when a certain government decided that solicitors could advertise.
- S G Robinson, Harlow, UK

Journalism feeds on negativity. In the case of safety this encourages accidents, because it discourages the necessary change in thinking that is required to reduce the level of accidents and illness created by doing ones job. Typing for a living can give you some quite painful industrial injuries.
- Karen Leader, Orpington, Kent

Rename the HSE the Occupational HSE (OHSE). The Legal fraternity, Magistrates and Judges have a lot to answer for us becoming such a litigious society and perhaps it is they who need a dose of Common Sense training. Don’t forget the insurance industry who can be just a silly and of course councils.
- Tony Horsfall, Caversham, England

Totally agree with Judith Hackitt – lets deal with the compensation culture, solicitors advertising no win no fee and employers who still see health and safety as getting in the way, while their workers are injured or worse – media – get some perspective. Well done the Times – an objective piece.
- Keith Allen, Rudgwick, UK