The report, 'Health and safety myths', shows that popular examples of 'health and safety gone mad' are not down to bad safety law but are either untrue or down to the way that local schools or councils interpret the regulations. It also claims that employers will also often use 'health and safety' as an excuse for not doing something which they didn't want to do anyway or to save money, says the report.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Myths about 'killer conkers' and banning ladders undermine the whole concept of health and safety in the public's eyes. They perpetuate a false picture of Britain as a risk-averse country wrapped in cotton wool with a compensation culture gone haywire.

"Some employers, and others, are using health and safety as an excuse for making stupid decisions, but health and safety regulation in the UK is not out of control.

"The UK today has sensible and practical health and safety laws and we have half as many as we did 35 years ago. But because too many employers are ignoring them and not taking proper care of their staff, two million people in the UK are suffering from ill-health as a result of their work."

Myths
The TUC reports the following myths and truths:
Myth:Small businesses are being strangled by over-inspection and over-regulation
Truth:The average small business is likely to be visited by a health and safety inspector around about once every 20 years. Even larger businesses, except for high hazards ones, are visited on average every 10 years. Small businesses are even exempted from some regulations. For instance while every employer has to do a risk assessment on their staff, if a business has less than five employees it does not even have to write the assessment down or record it. Hardly a major burden.

Myth: there are now more regulations and red tape than ever.
TUC truth: there were more than twice as many health and safety regulations and laws 35 years ago than there are today. The legislation that remains is now generally simpler and easier to understand.

Myth: health and safety regulations ban the use of ladders.
TUC truth: there is no ban on ladders but there are regulations aimed at ensuring that people use them safely. This is to reduce the number of workers seriously injured or killed falling off ladders every year. On average, 13 workers die this way each year and 12,000 are seriously injured. However, there is no ban on ladders they just have to be secured and used properly.

And the old chestnut - the banning of conkers:
Half-truth: Schools have banned conkers
TUC truth: This story, more than any other epitomises the trivialisation of health and safety. In fact two schools are known to have asked children not to bring conkers in on the advice of doctors as children had severe nut allergies. In addition one primary school head teacher brought in safety goggles for his pupils to play conkers. However he stated that the reason behind this was that he wanted to make a statement over the increased fear of litigation. This point seems to have been lost on the media.

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Susie Hughes © Hardhatter 2006
The Editor