When is a seat dangerous?
When our old friends from the health and safety Gestapo tell you it is.
It seems that even a well designed, solid seat is dangerous in the eyes of the health and safety Gestapo if it is placed in a setting for which it is not "authorised".
Allow me to elucidate.
My local leisure club recently installed some new benches in the changing rooms. Without a shadow of a doubt these are utter crap.
-They are too small.
-They have no back, and as such are not suitable for chilling out on after exercise.
-They are uncomfortable.
-They are unstable, and wobble alarmingly when you sit on the.
Everyone in the club hates them!
As such I did my bit for humanity, and looked around on the web for something a little more suitable.
I came across a rather nice wooden bench that is solid, comfortable, reasonably priced and would withstand the day to day usage in the club. A picture of said bench is shown above.
I passed it on to the powers that be, confident in the knowledge that they would buy a couple and ditch the other benches.
Stupid, stupid me!
I hadn't bargained on the health and safety Gestapo.
The club will not be buying my suggested benches.
For why?
These are made by a garden furniture company, as such they are for the garden not a changing room.
The fact that a seat is a seat, is a seat does not matter to the health and safety Gestapo. What matters is that the seat must come from a leisure furniture manufacturer, not a garden furniture manufacturer.
The fact that the product is of good quality, ideal for the changing rooms, safe and perfectly serviceable/reliable does not come in to it.
Only products "authorised" by the health and safety Gestapo can be used, even though the current benches are unsafe/unstable and the ones I suggested are perfectly safe.
Another avenue of commonsense and freedom of choice closed off by the health and safety Gestapo.
By the way, this is the same club that banned fresh fruit this time last year on "health and safety" grounds.
I am thoroughly sick to death of the health and safety Gestapo.
Perhaps one of these days the health and safety zealots will do us all the favour of banning themselves on the grounds of being a severe threat to our (mental) health and safety.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, that would mean "all change" from their Pullman gravy train.
Perhaps not.
Pete
lets face it, Nanny wants us all to be as uncomfortable and miserable
ReplyDeleteas possible.
This report about the seat (or bench) doesn't surprise me in the slightest: this particular dictat was probably issued by the same type that installed a seat (or bench) at a bus stop, following requests for one but, on 'health and safety' grounds placed it facing inwards i.e away from the road!! Alas, I cannot see any hope of common sense returning because, as Wildswimmer Pete so rightly observed, there are far too many involved in 'health and safety' on a nice little (or rather not so little) earner.
ReplyDeleteKen,
ReplyDeleteDoes this 'leisure' centre offer any post-leisure leisure facilities?
A bar for example - probably coffee rather than alcoholic these days I would guess?
If so why on earth would they want to encourage people to chill out in the changing rooms.
Apart from that you do realise that 'leisure' is very bad for your health don't you?
Grant
post-leisure facilities?
ReplyDeleteCome on!....Guys 'n' Gals..."chill out time" is certainly not allowed in the new nanny state
only feelings of absolute misery & complete, total despair VILL be allowed
submit! conform! obey!....yah de yah de yah