Health and Safety Rant

The recent helicopter crash in central London – just across the river from Health and Care HQ – has brought the issue of health and safety to the forefront of people’s minds at a time of general public hostility to regulation encroaching on people’s lives. So what is appropriate, what is reasonable?

A helicopter crashing into a crane in foggy weather will inevitably raise questions on whether enough was done to mitigate risks on both sides such as ‘Should helicopters be flying at all in fog?’ ‘Should cranes be better lit?’ Yeah. Sure thing. However, what are reasonable precautions to be taking in more normal workplaces than in a crane atop a skyscraper or flying a helicopter?
Some people (probably those will vendettas against builders) may now be vehemently demanding that all cranes be dismantled as soon as bad weather rolls in and spouting all that ‘it’s worth it if it saves a single life’ nonsense.
Similar knee-jerk prone reactions can be found in all workplaces - you probably know someone just like that. Really, I simply make a plea. For people to be reasonable, for people to dig out some common sense and to accept that sometimes, it happens.