Health & Safety gone MAD!!

[Tinkstheminks]

Did you see the news last night about the elderly lady who has been tending a flower bed on a road traffic island for over 6 years?
The local parish council have NEVER raised any complaints or issues surrounding H&S but suddenly - this week she received notice to stop all activity until the council has done a risk assessment!! The lady was very bemused & disappointed that she has been stopped doing something which is not harmful to the environment, dangerous to the public and something she enjoys doing for free!!

This 'BRITISH' nation has become unable to think, work, rest or play without a government body giving its official seal of approval!! We can become criminals over night and we are all so apathetic that I can't see where it will end!!!!!

 

[Kirstie]

There was a feature on the today programme this morning about a clown (name, Barney Boloney) who has been told not to use modelling balloons in his act in case somebody is allergic to latex, on the grounds of health and safety of course.

They interviewed someone for IOSHH (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) who said the decision was ridiculous and clearly was made by an incompetent manager (paranoid about being sued). So, the argument was that it's not necessarily health and safety professionals that are to blame.

Apparently IOSHH are sponsoring the world conker championships this year just to prove their point!

 

[Arch]

Apparently IOSHH are sponsoring the world conker championships this year just to prove their point!

Fantastic! Someone has a sense of humour!

Yeah I heard the balloon story and banged my head on the desk..

And that gardening lady. I think she should just carry on, and resonable folk from all over the country should turn up to help. It could become a traffic island to rival the gardens at Hampton Court Palace...

 

[Melvil]

I wonder what would happen if all the people in health and safety did go mad? Would they run around with very slow automatic weapons that fired soft cushions in a safe environment?

 

[Twenty Inch]

It all makes perfect sense from the point of view of a council's legal team trying to reduce their potential liabilities for injury claims through negligence.

It will end when the "I've hurt myself, someone's at fault and they owe me" culture ends. When the likes of Claims Direct have been executed by firing squad, when insurance companies pay up without being sued, and when a little more personal responsibility is called for in our modern life.

It will end when people don't get big payouts for scalding themselves by drinking hot coffee, and when people like me can fix a neighbour's bike without wondering "will he sue me if he falls off?"

UNtil then, expect H&S to crawl over our lives and our public space until we are unable to leave the house without taking out public liability insurance or enter anyone else's without signing a waiver.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

in the botanic gardens, edinburgh, you used to be able to buy peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons (something enjoyed by kids for generations).

then along came "peanut allergy" so now the shop sells some sort of seeds that no squirrel in its right mind seems to want.

waste of time really, as all it means is that folk stop at morrisons on the way in for a bag of monkey nuts.

 

[Kirstie]

I wonder what would happen if all the people in health and safety did go mad? Would they run around with very slow automatic weapons that fired soft cushions in a safe environment?

I like the sound of that...

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

So if it's litigation the Council are concerned about, just get the nice lady to sign something saying she takes full responsibility for her actions and that she has been suitably warned/made aware of the *risks*.

Bloody H&S - just another reason for a bunch of anally retentive characters to feel important by bossing others around about (sometimes) stupid little things.

 

[Melvil]

in the botanic gardens, edinburgh, you used to be able to buy peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons (something enjoyed by kids for generations).

then along came "peanut allergy" so now the shop sells some sort of seeds that no squirrel in its right mind seems to want.

waste of time really, as all it means is that folk stop at morrisons on the way in for a bag of monkey nuts.

...or crisps! Those squirrels at the botanics must be the tamest squirrels in the entire world. I literally had one eating out of my hand! I took a photo when he was a little way away:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/semi-detached/366168022/

 

[alecstilleyedye]

in the botanic gardens, edinburgh, you used to be able to buy peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons (something enjoyed by kids for generations).

then along came "peanut allergy" so now the shop sells some sort of seeds that no squirrel in its right mind seems to want.

waste of time really, as all it means is that folk stop at morrisons on the way in for a bag of monkey nuts.

...or crisps! Those squirrels at the botanics must be the tamest squirrels in the entire world. I literally had one eating out of my hand! I took a photo when he was a little way away:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/semi-detached/366168022/[/QUOTE]
i could do entire evening boring people to death with pictures of squirrels and pigeons being handfed by the kids…

 

[TimO]

There was a feature on the today programme this morning about a clown (name, Barney Boloney) who has been told not to use modelling balloons in his act in case somebody is allergic to latex, on the grounds of health and safety of course.

I came across this recently, and it seems to be a bigger issue in the US (big surprise). You can get non-latex modelling balloons, but they don't work nearly as well, harder to blow up, not as flexible (and normal modelling balloons are an absolute bugger to blow up by mouth).

You could get children with latex allergies, who might be attending an event where a entertainer was employed to make balloon animals, but I'd hope that any parent who knew their child was allergic would be aware of this sort of risk.

So if it's litigation the Council are concerned about, just get the nice lady to sign something saying she takes full responsibility for her actions and that she has been suitably warned/made aware of the *risks*.

It probably wouldn't work, you generally can't sign anyway your rights like this.

Of course, it's really just some excessive little petty bureaucrat who doesn't have enough work to spend his time on, looking for things to create trouble, where the chances of a problem ever occurring are infintesimal.

 

[alfablue]

in the botanic gardens, edinburgh, you used to be able to buy peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons (something enjoyed by kids for generations).

then along came "peanut allergy" so now the shop sells some sort of seeds that no squirrel in its right mind seems to want.

waste of time really, as all it means is that folk stop at morrisons on the way in for a bag of monkey nuts.

Unfortunately nut allergy is on the increase, and it can easily be lethal, people may be unaware they even have the allergy until they feed the squirrels. I know it sounds over the top but I know 2 people with this and even the merest contact requires instant adrenaline injections to prevent probably fatal anaphylaxis.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

in the botanic gardens, edinburgh, you used to be able to buy peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons (something enjoyed by kids for generations).

then along came "peanut allergy" so now the shop sells some sort of seeds that no squirrel in its right mind seems to want.

waste of time really, as all it means is that folk stop at morrisons on the way in for a bag of monkey nuts.

Unfortunately nut allergy is on the increase, and it can easily be lethal, people may be unaware they even have the allergy until they feed the squirrels. I know it sounds over the top but I know 2 people with this and even the merest contact requires instant adrenaline injections to prevent probably fatal anaphylaxis.[/QUOTE]

i'm curious as to how a latent nut allergy in a child (let alone an adult) can stay undetected for long enough that the first time they encounter it is when they are old enough (by which i mean at least ambulent) to feed the squirrels.

would they be allergic to the outer shell of the money nut?

 

[Arch]

Unfortunately nut allergy is on the increase, and it can easily be lethal, people may be unaware they even have the allergy until they feed the squirrels. I know it sounds over the top but I know 2 people with this and even the merest contact requires instant adrenaline injections to prevent probably fatal anaphylaxis.

Yeah that's true, but if that's the reason, you have to ban peanuts from being sold loose in any shop, surely? Why just the park? If they are concerned that kids will pick the nuts up themselves, well the parents just have to watch the kid better or teach them never to pick up stuff like that.

I imagine nuts in shells are better value anyway, because you get to watch the squizzle opening it up...

Alecs, I'd like a ticket to your "Bored to death by squizzle pics" evening please... I know they're nasty immigrants, but oh, so cute.

 

[Keith Oates]

When I used to work in the UK the people that went into health and safety were the ones that were not very successful in their chosen profession!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!