'Elf and Safety Gorn Maad!?

How 'crazy' new Health and Safety rules on ladders could add £1,000 to home repairs.

Children must wear protective goggles to play conkers!

Certain sections of the press delight in running headlines like these whenever there is a slow news day. They usually heap scorn on organisations like the Health and Safety Executive or "Europe" for ridiculous regulations which add unnecessary expense and treat people like idiots.

But a closer examination of these stories usually shows that the headlines don't quite match the truth.

The first headline above comes (you might have guessed) from the Mail Online. In 2008, it said that the building industry is "being forced to change its working practices" to comply with HSE regulations. The article says that workers are not allowed to stand on the top three rungs and must keep three points of contact with the ladder at all times (both sensible advice). But the crucial sentence comes next: "Many firms are so worried about being taken to court...that they have stopped using ladders".

The crux of the problem is not that HSE have issued guidance, which after all is its purpose, but the fear of litigation. It is no coincidence that the increase in warnings (peanuts "may contain nuts", coffee "may be hot") comes as we are all bombarded by text and on TV with no win no fee ambulance chasing lawyers' adverts.

Since the introduction of Health and Safety legislation in 1974 there have been 75% fewer deaths at work. Britain is one of the safest places to work in the world, due in no small part to the Health and Safety Executive. But that doesn't make for such fun headlines.

The truth is that most (89%) employers who have had dealings with the Health and Safety Executive say the experience was helpful.

"Red tape" is often claimed to be stifling industry, but each of us deserves to work in a safe environment. Employers have nothing to fear from health and safety legislation provided they take reasonable steps to identify and address the risks in the workplace.

Put cost before safety and you end up with horse meat lasagne.


Joelle, Sterk Systems