As part of its service to the health and safety community, HSE set up a myth-busting panel to put paid to ‘reasons of health and safety’ being used as a lazy catch-all.
In the last three months, here are the top five myths busted by HSE:
1. A local pub can’t replace a fried egg with scrambled as they can’t use a microwave due to health and safetyOn ordering a cooked breakfast in their local pub, the enquirer was told they couldn’t replace fried egg with scrambled egg as this would involve using a microwave which can’t be done due to Health and safety.
HSE panel decision:
This is a cracking excuse! Health & safety at work legislation does not prohibit the use of a microwave oven to make scrambled eggs. The company concerned acknowledges that it does not serve scrambled eggs because it has a centrally-determined menu. Instead of explaining this, “health and safety” has been given as the excuse, irritating the customer and leaving the company with egg on its face.
2. A lady fainted in a shop and staff could not give her a glass of water because of health and safetyWhile in a shop recently, a lady fainted and the enquirer immediately went to assist. The enquirer heard the lady ask the very kind staff in the shop who had given her a comfy chair to sit in, for a drink of water. She was told sorry we can’t give you one – health and safety rules. The enquirer was wondering if this is a true ruling by H&S.
HSE panel decision:
Refusing the lady who had fainted a drink of water after she came round and was sitting up was a bizarre and ridiculous response. The panel is at a loss to understand why anyone could possibly think they could not do this for “health and safety”. There is no such rule and it would have been quick and easy to accommodate the request.
3. Students banned from attending school on their last dayA media article carried a story of a school banning sixth year students from attending on their last day, citing health and safety.
HSE panel decision
Health and safety law is being used as a convenient catchall here to hide the real issues. Muck-up days happen in lots of schools up and down the country and are about having fun. Boundaries to the celebrations should be set in advance and clear expectations set on what and what will not be allowed so that leavers do not blot their copy books on the last day. The school should rely on normal school discipline arrangements and not use health and safety as an excuse for banning students from having a memorable last day.
4. A charity shop refused donation of baby bath due to health and safetyA local charity shop refused the enquirers donation of a plastic baby bath because ‘health and safety’ meant that the new purchaser could sue if their baby were injured after slipping in it.
HSE panel decision
There are no health and safety rules that would restrict charity shops from accepting items like baby baths for resale. It’s also hard to imagine circumstances in which their fear of litigation might manifest itself. They are of course at liberty to set their own policies on what goods they will or will not accept but they can’t wash their hands like this and simply point to non-existent “health and safety” rules.
5. Pub would not allow customer to open their champagne bottleEnquirer bought a bottle of champagne in a pub and was told by the member of staff that he was not allowed to open it himself “because of health & safety”.
HSE panel decision
This is a corker! Health and safety at work regulations do not prevent people opening bottles of champagne. The pub chain is more likely to be concerned about the potential for spraying the decor and if so, the real reasons should have been communicated to the customer rather than using health and safety as an excuse to be party poopers.
I think that the Houses of Parliament should be closed down, since the building has been declared unsafe, and under the Health and Safety Act the electorate would be responsible for any MPs’ injured or incapacitated as a result. Since they elected those
honourable members to sit in there on their behalf.
What an appalling state of affairs we have when colleagues in the HSE have to create a whole website to bust myths about H&S issues and lies.
We can thank politicians, especially David Cameron and our UK mainstream media of all types (written – visual – audio – digital) for the lying manipulative lampooning drivel the UK population are fed about ‘elf-n-safety’ just about every single day – so it must be true – mustn’t it?
Inariably “elfansafety” is used as an excuse for obscuring the real drivers behind these ridiculous “rules” (often made up on the spot), which is based on common law liabilities and the “duty of care”. None of this has any basis in statutory law such as HASAWA. The vast majority of myths are propogated by inadequate (and often extortionate) liability insurance policies and actuarial assessments based on incomplete or totally ignored data. The Elfansafety resons for moving “Occupy” from the steps of St.Pauls was actually inadequate Public Liability Insurance. The ridiculous “No Win no Fee” law suits (cited by the PM… Read more »