Tag Archives: mythbusters

HSE – “stop blaming health and safety for poor or over-the-top decisions”

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The Health and Safety Executive wants businesses that provide customer service to turn over a new leaf and stop blaming health and safety for poor or over-the-top decisions.

The regulator launched its 40th anniversary year with a call to stop the culture of blaming anything and everything on non-existent ‘health and safety’ rules.

Retail and leisure businesses feature prominently in new research (published today) by the University of Exeter, which reveals half of all cases put to HSE’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel came from shops, cafes and leisure centres.

Traditionally January is a time when people want to get fitter, healthier, or take advantage of the sales. However, customers are being left increasingly frustrated by ridiculous decisions made in the name of health and safety, more often than not to cover up what is simply poor customer service.

 Imagine bagging a bargain in the sales only to be forced to pay a £30 delivery charge, wanting to up your fitness in the pool but are refused the use of floats or goggles, or being told you can’t return an unwanted Christmas present because you unwrapped it to take a look!

These are just some of the many examples submitted by bemused customers to the challenge panel, which was set up to refute inaccurate or over-the-top decisions made for ‘health and safety reasons’.

The research which also looks at perceptions and understanding of health and safety regulation in society, found the fear of being sued, cost avoidance and lack of training were other key reasons behind the use of the health and safety myth.

Department for Work and Pensions Minister Mark Harper said:

“The Health and Safety Executive has done fantastic work over the past 40 years to keep working people safe.

“Elf n safety’ myths get in the way of what the law is for – saving lives, not stopping people living them.

“No employer or worker should hide behind the health and safety excuses, if they act in a sensible way. If you hear of a bogus health and safety myth, report it to our panel.”

Judith Hackitt, Chair of HSE and the Myth Busters Challenge Panel said:

“HSE wants to encourage everyone, especially those working in leisure and retail, to make a resolution to stop using the health and safety catch-all excuse.

“Give the real reason for the decision you take. We want people to be honest – giving health and safety the blame is lazy and unhelpful.

“Customers are at the heart any business. Getting rid of over-the-top decisions blamed on health and safety will improve the service customers receive and enable the business to prosper.”

The HSE Fight Back – Part 1

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The HSE fight back and respond to an article in The Morpeth Herald – ‘Health and Safety Madness Risks Lives’. 

The original “news” story:

‘RIDICULOUS’ health-and-safety rules could be leaving children’s lives at risk, a councillor has warned.

The Herald revealed in June that hundreds of children at Chantry and Newminster Middle Schools were being left to cross the busy Mitford Road without an attendant. Parents and teachers were told in December that a lollipop man was due to start soon, but he never showed up for duty and there continues to be no school crossing patrol in place.

Now Morpeth Town Council has learnt that teachers and parents are unable to help show youngsters safely across the road without having appropriate training or insurance. Coun Alison Byard told the Planning and Transport Committee last week: “I went to the schools to have a look to see what was happening at home-time.

“They did have a teacher on duty, but what I didn’t realise is that the teacher is 10ft back from the road and out of sight of the cars. They can’t even let the cars see them. All they can do is ensure the kids don’t run towards the road.”

The committee suggested approaching local Police Community Support Officers to fill the gap until a crossing attendant is appointed. But it dismissed calls from Coun David Clark for the community to take on the task, saying any volunteer could be at risk of legal action if an accident occurred.

Coun Clark said: “I find it hard to believe that the head and teachers can’t form a rota. These health-and-safety rules are madness. It just seems crazy.” After the meeting, he said: “It seems as though we are putting ridiculous health-and-safety rules and fear of litigation before the safety of our children. The world has gone mad.

“I think parents should don high-vis vests and take matters into their own hands as Northumberland County Council seems unable to resolve this.”

The HSE’s response was as follows:

Sir,

Your report (Morpeth Herald online, 23 January, “Health and Safety madness risks lives”) suggests ‘health and safety’ is the reason for teachers not helping children to cross a road.

Whatever the reasons for teachers believing they are not allowed to see youngsters safely across the road, we at the Health and Safety Executive would like to be clear that it is not because there is anything in health and safety legislation that prohibits it.

We see hundreds of stories each year in which health and safety is blamed incorrectly for an unnecessary or overzealous restriction. So much so that we’ve set up a panel of experts to help people challenge daft decisionshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/myth-busting.htm

‘Health and safety gone mad’ is something we hear too much about, but we should keep our minds on what health and safety legislation is really there to do – ensuring everyone can return home to their families, safe and well, from their day’s work.

Yours

John Rowe, Head of Operations Yorkshire & North East

HSE Mythbusters – Junior School is to ban children bringing a snack of fruit or rice cakes

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A Junior School is to ban children bringing a snack of fruit or rice cakes to school on the grounds of “health and safety”. Their reasoning is that this is a health and safety risk to children at school with food allergies.

Whilst schools need to have procedures in place for managing pupils with food allergies, they should not misquote ‘health and safety’ as a reason for justifying a disproportionate ban on all snacks. Various guidance by other organisations than HSE make it clear that schools need to have a policy and an action plan in place to manage the risk of allergic reactions. A complete banning of all snacks seems a thoroughly disproportionate response which goes against some of the stated principles in the guidance of helping food allergic pupils to learn to take responsibility for their own allergy – an important life skill given that the world cannot be made nut/allergen-free!

More mythbusting cases can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/myth-busting/index.htm