Health and safety helps countless people all over the world every day. It helps people to stay safe at work, in public places, and even in their own homes, and it ensures that those who put the safety of others at risk don't get away with it. Health and safety is an important and useful industry with a vital role to play in the modern world.
Sadly, as we've seen time and again, many people seem to think that health and safety's primary purpose is to serve as an all-purpose excuse for any occasion. The latest manifestation of this attitude came just yesterday, when a hotel in Llangollen, Denbighshire closed down without notice and pinned the blame on - you guessed it - "health and safety concerns" (source). The Wild Pheasant's management have cancelled all bookings, including wedding receptions, and placed the business into the hands of administrators, but no explanation appears to have been given beyond the one token mention of H&S.
This sort of thing is incredibly damaging to the health and safety industry, and especially to public opinion thereof. Many UK citizens are already far too sceptical of health and safety measures (or 'red tape'), and stories like this don't help at all. The closure of the Wild Pheasant will no doubt cause a good deal of disruption to numerous people's plans, and those individuals will now have to seek refunds and entirely reorganise their holidays or even their weddings. It's not hard to see how the people in that position might end up resenting the "health and safety concerns" that we're told led to this closure.
So, business owners of Britain, it's time to make a pledge: please do not blame health and safety for problems that have nothing to do with measures that, at the end of the day, are only there to protect people. And if you do genuinely feel that H&S is somehow the root of your troubles, at least give a more specific explanation than 'we're closing due to health and safety concerns'!
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Photo by Josie Campbell (geograph.org.uk)
