Councils and schools have been urged to use common sense when applying health and safety laws after a spate of ‘bogus excuses’.
In the last two years they have ranged from a Gloucester school banning girls from wearing frilly socks because they were deemed a trip risk to a council Scotland stopping dog shows in community halls.
Health and safety minister Mike Penning said schools and councils needed to educate their staff to ensure regulations are not ‘used as a smoke screen by jobsworths who have little knowledge of the law and who want to fob people off with an easy excuse’.
Around 300 members of the public have contacted the Health and Safety Executive’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel since it was set up two years ago to encourage people to highlight ‘daft decisions’.
Judith Hackitt, chair of the HSE, said: ‘I would urge all decision makers to take a step back and ask themselves whether a decision made in the name of health and safety, is actually just an excuse for something else. Real health and safety is about protecting people in the workplace from life and health threatening risks – it is not about stopping a child taking a baby chick into school, or banning indoor dog training.
‘Own up to the real reasons behind the decision, don’t just reach for the easiest excuse.’
Click here for 'Sensible Risk’ guidance for local authorities.
