BEWARE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY..

The tragic death of Simon Burgess in a model boating lake in Gosport has once more brought home the dangers of following Health and Safety Regulations.   Mr. Burgess was feeding swans when he had an epileptic fit and fell into the boating lake`s three feet of water.  The inquest into his death revealed that emergency crews who had been called and were at the scene were ordered not to rescue him, as they were trained only to `level one,` which meant they were cleared only to go into ankle-deep water, so they waited for a `level two` officer trained to go in chest high.   By which time it was all too late and Mr. Burgess was dead.

Now this is obviously a tragic case and there might be another side to the story but it has all the hallmarks of health and safety occurrences over the years.   Just last year, a young girl on a cross country run collapsed but paramedics refused to move her because the ground was too slippery.   In 2008 a woman fell down a mine shaft in Scotland but was left there for eight hours because, despite a winch being available, it was only to be used to save rescue workers.   And there are too many similar cases where the edicts of health and safety have turned drama into tragedy.

It`s almost as though the strict adherence to health and safety requirements has the potential of itself to endanger the lives of the very people it is supposed to keep safe.   Slavishly following the edicts of health and safety by hidebound myopic jobsworths can seriously damage your health and safety, it seems.   So what`s the answer?  How about seriously amending the legislation so that Health and Safety Regulations might be replaced by the introduction of the Application of Common Sense Regulations?