Take a look at these top 10 Health & Safety Myths.
Health and safety is key in any business or organisation. The fact of the matter is, sometimes it sounds a bit like health and safety gone mad! Doing your best to keep the people around you safe is very honourable, but sometimes, you might want to check that you’re not just a killjoy or a jobsworth.
Below, you’ll find some health and safety myths and crazy stories that went a bit too far. Which one is your favourite of the top 10 Health and Safety Myths?
1. Kids Must Be Given Goggles To Play With Conkers
Conkers are a huge tradition in many families and kid schools – going to find some great conkers and then bashing them against one another until one breaks can be a lot of fun. However, there have been instances in schools of kids being made to wear goggles and even padded gloves before playing with conkers! Some schools even banned them on the grounds of health and safety altogether. The truth is, conkers are very low risk and really nothing to worry about. If a child is hitting somebody with a conker hard enough to hurt them, then that’s an issue with the child, not with conkers!
2. Plasters Should Be Banned From The Workplace
Imagine cutting your finger at work, only to have nothing to cover it with because plasters were banned from your workplace. This is exactly what happened to one worker, who checked the first aid kit to realise that none were available. There are absolutely no health and safety regulations on plasters – and it could actually impede decent health and safety practices. It’s always a good idea to have them in the first aid box!
3. Christmas Should Be Banned From The Office Because The Decorations Are Too Dangerous To Put Up
We all put up our Christmas decorations at home, so what’s wrong with decorating the workplace? Apparently, this is work that must be done by a qualified person. Some suitable step ladders would be a great solution for employees to safely put up Christmas decs and get into the holiday spirit, but some businesses have banned their employees from doing it. There’s no reason you shouldn’t allow your employees to decorate the office at Christmas time – just make sure they have some sturdy step ladders and you need not worry.
4. Children Should No Longer Be Allowed To Play Pin The Tail On The Donkey
Pin the tail on the donkey is a traditional party game that has been played for years with no problems. However, it seems like parents are just looking for a reason to wrap their kids in cotton wool these days. Pin the tail on the donkey has been banned from birthday parties, having been deemed ‘too dangerous’. Providing the child is allowed plenty of room, and they don’t think that they themselves are in fact, the donkey, they will be fine.
5. Health & Safety is Expensive and Time Consuming
Health and safety does not need to be expensive and time consuming, not in the slightest. You can use Ohutu to generate all the paperwork you need in under 5 minutes for only £40. There’s no need to spend hours on paperwork, or ban your employees from touching Christmas decorations.
6. It’s Too Dangerous To Inflate Helium Balloons Bought Online
A customer decided to purchase a helium balloon from a card shop, but was perturbed to realise that the shopkeeper was unwilling to inflate the balloon for them. The trader would not fill the balloon bought online for health and safety reasons, and claimed that they were limited to filling only the balloons that were bought at the physical store. Inflating a balloon bought online or elsewhere is not a risk to anybody’s safety. The organisation’s manager eventually agreed to instruct staff to be honest about the real reason for not filling balloons – likely because the shop wanted to make more money and sell more balloons.
7. Hanging Basket Bans In Case Of Collapse
In the past, towns have been concerned with their hanging baskets – what if they fall and hit somebody, they wonder?
Fortunately, hanging baskets are low risk, and even if they did happen to hit somebody, it’s unlikely that the person is going to suffer an injury. They’ll probably just get a bit dirty.
8. Flip Flops At Work Pose A Risk
Flip flops are not banned by health and safety law, so if I want to wear them to work, then that’s my prerogative. However, they may not be suitable, depending on the kind of work you do. You probably wouldn’t want to wear flip flops if you had a lot of walking to do in your job, or if you had to care for other people.
There are other shoes that can keep your feet cool, however, what about a nice pair of crocs?
9. No Flying Kites at Bridlington Beach In Case Of A Collision
Kite flying was banned at Bridlington beach for health and safety reasons. The council were afraid that a flying kite could hit somebody, and cause an injury. As you can imagine, there’s a very, very low risk of this actually happening. Even if somebody did happen to collide with a kite, it’s unlikely to do much.
10. ID Must Be Shown Before Purchasing Christmas Crackers (Even if You’re 34)
In 2013, a 34 year old named Ben Meghreblian headed over to Marks and Spencers to purchase some Christmas Crackers for a party. Ben was then ID’d by a member of staff. They pointed out a sign that explained crackers could not be sold to anybody under the age of 16. Ben was understandably bemused, and the cashier went to verify something with another member of staff. Luckily, the other member of staff approved the sale and apologised. While the rule is in place for a good reason, common sense should always prevail when thinking in the interests of health and safety. This is our personal favourite of the top 10 Health and Safety Myths!