I was recently asked to work with a charity involved in organising a fireworks display. The event attracts over 8000 people and the 2009 X-Factor finalist Lloyd Daniels was billed to perform at the event.
The problem was the licence for the event was in jeopardy – the HSE had apparently ‘banned’ The X-Factor finalist. I was asked to help out and in reality all that was required was a revised risk assessment to be submitted and a licence for the event was soon issued.
This reminded me of the HSE ‘Myth of the Month’. This lighted hearted monthly campaign pokes fun at common Health and Safety myths which include:
- Children must wear goggles to play conkers
- Workers banned from putting up Christmas decorations
- Ice cream toppings banned for safety reasons
Many of the myths have come from actual letters received by the HSE or actual articles from the press that have resulted from some one putting in place control measures that were simply not required.
Take a look at the HSE Myth of the Month page. You can down load printable posters or applications for your PC here.
So does ‘Myth of the Month’ have serious message or is it just a bit of fun? Well it is fun but in reality Health & Safety often becomes trivialised by some ‘over the top’ control measures that take the importance away from some of actual risks.
So in the end, the HSE did not ban the X-Factor this time around although, to all the fans of the show out there and indeed the wider music loving public at large, some may argue that the HSE should consider banning current finalist Wagner under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations.