Time to end the epedemic of Health and safety excuses

The British Safety Council wholeheartedly supports Chris Grayling’s efforts to highlight the needless application of health and safety laws to ban or restrict day-to-day activities.

Alex Botha, the chief executive of the British Safety Council, pointed out that the “reality is that bans are often based on ignorance or cost and the law is misrepresented and used as an excuse to avoid criticism.”

He goes on to say: “We need to think in terms of sensible safety and dispel the harmful myths that have grown up and which trivialise a serious issue through the banning of perfectly reasonable and low risk activities. We should be able to enjoy ourselves at work or at play without being tied up in red tape and unacceptable bureaucracy; and without sweeping away regulations that are there to make our schools and our workplaces as safe as necessary. 

“A start would be for us all to understand risk better and that it is neither possible nor desirable to eliminate it from our lives. This approach underpins the work of the British Safety Council in helping thousands of schoolchildren a year gain a free health and safety qualification and our Speak Up, Stay Safe campaign aimed at empowering young people to identify workplace hazards and inform supervisors of any concerns.

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“Stories about bizarre bans only muddy the very serious message we are trying to get across. Our work with members and the wider business community demonstrates that good health and safety really is good business and it’s this positive message the British Safety Council will pressto help bust these myths once and for all.”