HSE criticises “bizarre bans” falsely blamed on health and safety law

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has blasted companies and local authorities for using health and safety rules as an excuse to unnecessarily ban low-risk activities, arguing that these cases “undermine people’s confidence in health and safety law.”

The watchdog says that organisations too often use health and safety regulations as a “convenient excuse” for making unpopular decisions. They have recently published a list of the top 10 most “bizarre bans” imposed on health and safety grounds during the past 12 months.

Measures such as banning kite-flying on a beach, sack races for children and the use of pins to secure commemorative poppies all make the list. More high profile cases include a ban on street parties to celebrate the Royal Wedding and the closure of “Henman Hill” as a viewing point for crowds during Wimbledon.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club took the decision to stop showing television coverage of a key tennis match on a big screen at “Henman Hill” due to concerns about safety conditions after hours of heavy rain. The HSE stepped in at the time to question the ban, while the Wimbledon authorities defended their decision as a result of advice from their own safety officials based on an assessment of the risks at that specific time and under those particular conditions.

A spokesperson for the watchdog said that these cases have “started to undermine people’s confidence in health and safety law and the work it does to protect people at work from serious risk.”

There are a clear set of established laws in place to regulate health and safety in the workplace, yet the HSE explains that “what other people choose to see as health and safety is quite vague and ill-defined.”

The law is designed to help people approach risks in a balanced and proportionate manner, using common sense to keep people safe from unnecessary harm.

An independent review of the current legislation is underway and due to report in October, with the hope that laws can be consolidated or simplified. However, experts warn that cases where genuine risks are overlooked are still all too prevalent.

Roger Bibbings, Occupational Safety Advisor for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: “Over zealousness about trivial risks gives health and safety a bad name but there are actually many more cases where people are under-hitting.

“People in authority, such as councillors and managers, need to be much more ‘risk literate’ or ‘risk intelligent’. And third partiers such as clients, funders or insurers, need to avoid requiring people to do things in the name lf ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ which are not actually required by law.”

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