Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Nanny Bans Ladders
Oh dear, it seems that the health and safety Gestapo have struck again. This time they have forbidden firemen in the Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service to climb ladders.
Now I know and you know, and indeed the firemen know, that they are trained to climb ladders. However, the health and safety Gestapo have ruled that whilst it is an acceptable risk for them to climb ladders when dealing with a dangerous fire; they are not allowed to climb ladders to help clear Ampthill's bunting from a Gala day in July, or indeed help put up the Christmas lights.
In earlier years the local fire brigade has helped with the removal of the bunting. However, following one of Nanny's very "helpful" risk assessments (pass the sick bag someone) the health and safety Gestapo have said no to Gala bunting removal and Christmas lights erection.
The deputy chief fire officer, Graeme Smith, admitted it looked as if the world had "gone mad".
He said:
"One is a 999 job,
where in order to save lives
we will take calculated risks.
The other is a property maintenance job,
which is covered by standard health
and safety rules, which we would have to abide by."
Funny, I would have thought that is was far more risky to climb a ladder into a burning building than to climb a ladder to remove bunting.
I dare say that Nanny will soon ban firemen from rescuing people from fires, as the risk will be deemed to be to great!
Is anyone in this country ever going to stand up to the health and safety Gestapo and tell them to fark off?
Oh, and if you really have nothing better to do, here is a complete episode of Trumpton:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As one of the nominated (I'm not sure who nominated me but there you go) fire wardens for my establishment I have been informed I must attend an 'elf & safety course in the near future. Thus I will soon be able to confirm whether or not fire officers are allowed to enter burning buildings without completing a 44 page risk assessment and ensuring that the person(s) to be rescued meet their diversity targets. I will also be able to confirm the rumour that we are not allowed to rescue people using a rescue chair if we assess that doing so would be hazardous to our health due to them having had a few too many pies.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if some small minded health and safety obsessed idiot turns round and berates me for staggering from a burning office with a colleague over my shoulder they are likely to get a punch up the hooter!
" ...dare say that Nanny will soon ban firemen from rescuing people from fires, as the risk will be deemed to be to great! "
ReplyDeleteAnd why not - PCSOs here in Wigan aren't allowed to get wet trying to rescue a drowning boy. It was ok for a 63 and a 65 yr man to get wet trying, but not two young fit healthy (and damned well staying that way ta very much) plastic coppers.
Just a thought....I think that some of these local authority 'Elf n Safety departments make the Ministry of Silly Walks look sensible....and perhaps better value for money!!
ReplyDeleteKen, I'm a British ex-pat that managed to escape Nanny's "prison" 7 years ago. I'm a big fan of your site. I just wanted to thank you for posting the Trumpton episode. Brought back a load of great memories from when the country was still great and hadn't fallen into the clutches of Nanny's claws.
ReplyDeleteThe part in the episode where Mitsy falls down the manhole is a classic example of how such things *should* be handled by responsible and civilized folk. Keep up the good work!!
Just a thought: How did they get the bunting up in the first place?
ReplyDeleteIt's just another example of untrained people getting involved in health and Safety matters, it should be a crime for unqualified people to go near a risk assessment.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with health and safety, and all to do with untrained idiots getting involved with things they do not understand.
They see the word risk and rather than try to limit the risk they just ban the activity, which as every professional H & S person will tell you, is not what the game is about