Health and safety in education

So in the cause of trying to make our lives 100 per cent safe, the regulators reduce our amenity, kill off village life, encourage us to take silly risks, and rob our kids of their childhood. Frankly, it's the regulators who should be wearing earmuffs, because the rest of us should be shouting abuse at them as loudly as we can.

I'm being sarcastic about the warnings,you know! I only posted them on for fun

Air is dangerous - falling through it, as from a cliff, balloon or aeroplane, particularly so. There has been much publicity in recent years about the dangers of inhaling pollutants produced by industry, motorcars and aeroplanes, but we take less well-known risks with every lungful - there might be a wasp in it, for instance. Using too much air is risky, too. This is called "hyperventilation" and can cause fainting, leading to involuntary collision with another of our targets, floors. No public body has so far been willing to shoulder the responsibility of pointing out to the public the dangers involved in their use of air. I believe there should be health warnings posted - perhaps suspended from tethered helium balloons - wherever people may wish to breathe. Every fifty metres would be about right, but the frequency should be increased in the country and at the seaside where people tend to breathe more deeply.

Clothes. It is an undeniable fact that virtually all the people who are injured in domestic accidents - and, if you think about it, all the people injured outside the home - were wearing clothes at the time. We believe that people should be warned of the dangers of wearing clothes. The clothing industry are ignoring this problem and it is plainly time for legislation forcing them to face their responsibilities.

Floors are particularly dangerous. They are usually quite hard, and tend to be so large that it is difficult to avoid hitting them in a fall. Hundreds of people - the elderly in particular - injure themselves on floors every year. We suggest that every floor should, by law, carry a red hatching every two or three feet to make it easier to see and therefore avoid, with the words "Danger, hard surface. Avoid when falling" in between.

Vacuum cleaners. Any hospital emergency doctor will tell you of the dire accidents that can befall people who use these for .... unusual purposes. Every vacuum-cleaner should come with a notice warning of the dangers of attaching the nozzle to the mouth, nose, genitals, rectum or budgie.

Every toilet bowl should carry a warning to the effect that users should beware of tripping and falling with their head in the bowl as this can lead to drowning or, at best, bits of crap up your nose. Most of the population did a certain amount of "potty-training" when young. No appropriate training course for adults exists, leaving most of us to learn our use of the toilet by trial and error. This is not good enough and I would like to see DfE introduce a new qualification at GNVQ level.

Knives are extremely dangerous. They should carry a printed warning advising that they be kept away from children, and that kitchen knives in particular can cut human flesh and should be used only by persons who are trained, experienced and who carry the appropriate certificate of competence.

Teacups should carry a warning, something like "Danger! This cup may contain hot liquid that can scald if dropped"

Thousands of people every year are injured or ki11ed in household accidents. In America, even car manufacturers fix little stickers to their products now, saying things like "Warning: cars are dangerous. Drive carefully." We think that in this country the government should do more to prevent domestic accidents, so I am starting a campaign to introduce safety warnings on more household objects. For instance .....

I'm fourteen right now and it's not only school that this happens with! On my road there were ten of us rangeing from 6(me) to 14(Jack) and every Saturday we used to go out once it had gone dark and we used to play Murder in the Dark. We soon learned that when you saw the person that was on we didn't barge into them, because that would get us hurt. On a Sunday we used to walk up this hill that was a mile long and really steep, we'd walk for about twenty minutes just so that we could roll down again. We soon learned that you had to plan out your path before you went. There was a wood surrounding our village and we used to go and play poachers, hideing in trees and under rocks. We soon learned to take a proper look at our surroundings before moving. At school there used to be about a hundered of us and we'd all play British Bulldogs for hours and hours. We soon learned the best speeds to run at depending who was behind or infront of you so you didn't fall and get trampled to death. Now the kids aren't allowed out after six, the field is blocked off by eight foot fences ans is the woods and British Bulldogs is banned in most schools across the country. It's rediculous! Also there was this teacher getting sued because he'd seen this little girl fall so he went oven and picked her up to carry her to the medical room because she was really crying and had badly cut knees and hands. The girl's parent are sueing for sexual harassment. We all have to give statements saying that all the man did was his job!

I remember when I was at school (aged about 5 or 6) they let me play with hammers, nails and bits of wood! I always remember I used to nail together the same 'house'! but now kids that age at my old school aren't even allowed to use scissors unattended! All the happened to me was I learnt to aim when I used a hammer! a few split nails and bruised fingers and I feel I came out better from it rather than hideously disfigured! I think kids are being wrapped up in cotton wool and its going to do more damage than good in the long run!
oh and just so you know, I was aged 5 in 1996- so this wasn't that long ago!

To quote from the authored text : "educational establishments are now so over managed with fearful middle managers (kept awake at night by worries that they will be sued by some angry parents for letting little Joe or Josie walk into a door) that education is suffering". You see health and safety has very little to do with it! As a health and safety practitioner and amember of the two largest health and safety organisations I deplore what is done and said in the false name of health and safety. The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOS) even sponsors the World Conkers Championships to prove health and safety is not about spoiling peopels fun and enjoyment. One of our number, who is blind has taken part in a Sky dive, abseiled down a crevice and taken part in white water rafting!! He does this after a risk assessment has been made and safety controls put in such as having a sighted partner to alert and guide him if any hazards occur that have not been visualised before hand. Do not blame health and safety for the silly and stupid edicts of jobsworths or the cost cutting bureaucrats or couldn't be bothered to conduct a risk assessment so called it off brigade. I have recently seen a topic in a newspaper that said swings and roundabouts had to be removed because of health and safety even though no one had received an injury in 40 years. Not true the fact is the council removed it because of fears someone may be hurt. This is not health and safety but councils not wanting to pay the insurance premiums or have an officer check out that the playground equipment is still safe and is being maintained. Health and safety is about stopping people being ki11ed and/or maimed not about taking the risk out of life. We all need risks to be present to be able to grow intelligently. No need for goggles to be worn and workers gloves to play conkers bruised knuckles are all part of growing up.

When my youngest son was at infant school, we always had a long talk all the way home about how school was, and all he got up 2. One day he came out of school busting to tell me about a project to build something out of cardboard. He had his mind already made up that he wanted to make a tank for his action men. When we got home, we went all around the house looking for things to use that was made out of cardboard. We put them in a bag ready to take to school.
Talk about break his heart...he wasn't allowed to use the loo roll tubes, kitchen roll tubes, or tissue box, because of the germs they may carry. Egg boxes were not allowed either.

I completely and utterly agree. I am 17 years old and hoping to get into University this september to become a primary school teacher, and I can honestly say that one of the things that I am dreading is 'health and safety'. It seems that all a child has to do these days is trip over in a playground and all of a sudden the school is getting sued. It's pathetic. How can these people not realise that when a child trips they learn from their mistakes and carry on.

Toby; you have no idea how much your post has cheered me up!

It is wonderful to hear so much common sense and criticism of the nanny state from someone your age. Perhaps there is hope after all!!

Just don't change, please!

Hello, I'm 16, I now cannot do so many things that I could do just last year, e.g. have a BB Gun.
To be perfectly honest, in my eyes, political correctness and health & safety laws have sent this country to the dogs.
I am no longer allowed to climb trees without appropriate safety harnesses, which defeats the object of climbing the tree. I fell out at 5 metres once, I now check to see wheher or not the tree is rotten first. Common sense.
I am not physically allowed to have fun without having to take out risk assesments. I cannot run up a hill in case I slip, which then means I ought to go home and change my shoes.
I cannot carry a knife in order to whittle wood, as I used to when I was about 10, in case it slips and I cut my finger open, I haven't cut myself since.
I cannot fire an Air Rifle towards anything other than authorised boards of whatever they are, in case the pellets ricochet or cause damage.
I cannot play around with a torch playing "tag" near a road at 10 p.m. because it's too dark to play. I cannot run around playing "Hide & Seek in the dark" at 10 p.m. either, because we might not be able to see a wet patch on the ground. Playing "Hide & Seek in the dark" at 11 a.m. kind of defeats the object of running around throwing glow-sticks at each other.
I cannot ride a push bike without an 'audible warning system', I mean, honestly, how man cars are going to hear a 'ting' as oppose to me screaming at the top of my voice?
Stupid, isn't it.

Hello, my name is Lydia. I am only 14 & still at school. I came across this forum when researching interesting topics for my national public speaking competition on Monday. I have 3 days to highlight all of the worst points about health and safety these days (e.g how chikdren are so mollycoddled they may aas well walk around in bubble wrap, unlike the 'old days' when people learnt from their mistakes). I don't have much time, but if anyone can think up any more ideas, like those listed by everyone else, I would be very grateful. I speak as a child myself, when I agree that health and safety rules and regulations have come to an almost fanatical point, when children are discouraged from doing so many things that used to be the norm only a few years ago. my life so far has been prety short, but even I can remember times when children were allowed out in the near-winter months without being slathered in sun cream lotion! All of your comments have helpeds me immensley, and are all very valid in my opinion! Thank you!

Whatever happened to learning by experience do they think we are unable to "risk assess "for our own safety the HSE has gone bonkers the Government with them
Kids need a little danger and risk in their lives Yes some will end up badly hurt but when they survive like we did they learn as do the people there when it happened you can't teach children by just saying Don't do that Think of your reaction to the sign Wet Paint I still have to see if it is don't you ???
Then having got paint on my hands I have to solve the problem of how to get it off I don't scream and shout for a wet nurse
I am sure that this is a lot of the frustrated anger and silly annoyances that youngsters get up to today is caused by they have no excitement or danger or risk in their lives only the imaginary ones they play on their X box or whatever once again they are being trained in theory where the war games can't hurt the car crash doesn’t break your leg the war game doesn’t Kill
How can they learn about the fact's like this ??????
There is No substitute for experience and never will be life can hurt and does!
that’s the way we learned and have survived through history

All the electric cables are safely tucked away in out Educational Office to make sure no 'little precious' falls over them BUT NO!!!!

All cables need to be exposed to have Poxy little stickers on them to say that they are not about to blow you into Orbit.

This also needs to be done every year in case your Ipod Lead turns evil and decides to assasinate.

H&S GONE BONKERS