At last! An end to the elf 'n' safety madness .

by Digger Sat 02 Oct 2010, 12:10 am

Health and safety zealots blamed for creating a ‘national neurosis’ are finally to be reined in.
Meddling officials who attempt to ban events or activities on the grounds that they breach red tape will themselves be threatened with huge fines under Government plans.
And emergency workers, teachers and office workers are to be freed from the compensation culture where someone must be held to account for everyday mishaps and accidents.

At last! An end to the elf 'n' safety madness . Article-1316983-02AA1E5F0000044D-117_468x564

At last! An end to the elf 'n' safety madness . Article-1316983-02AA1E5F0000044D-117_468x564

Too dangerous: The annual cheese rolling in the Cotswolds
Margaret Thatcher’s former trade secretary Lord Young, who has drawn up a string of proposals accepted by David Cameron, says a decade of Labour laws and regulations will now be torn up.
The assault on the excesses of the health and safety culture will form a key part of the Tory Party conference which begins tomorrow in Birmingham, and is seen as a potential vote winner.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Lord Young unveiled plans which include:
■ Local authorities who wrongly try to block events on health and safety grounds will be forced to pay large-scale compensation;
■ No-win, no-fee advertising encouraging personal injury claims will face a major crackdown;
■ Red tape that means many children never go on school outings is to be scrapped
■ People performing first aid or Good Samaritan acts are to be exempted from being sued.
Lord Young, 78, said ‘petty tyrants’ had been allowed to flourish under Labour.
He said he had uncovered extraordinary examples, including a restaurant that would not give out toothpicks for fear of injury, a headteacher who told pupils not to walk under a conker tree without helmets and a council that banned a pancake race because it was raining.
‘It makes you wonder what sort of world we have come to,’ Lord Young said. ‘It has gone to such extremes. What I have seen everywhere is a complete lack of common sense. People have been living in an alternative universe.’
Lord Young said he was particularly concerned about council officials who often claimed powers to stop village fetes, sporting events or other events when they have none. In one example, organisers of the annual Whitsun cheese-rolling down a steep hill in the Cotswolds cancelled it this year after pressure from police and local authorities.
In future those affected by wrong decisions may go to the local government ombudsman who will be able to insist that a council pays compensation.
Asked how much local authorities would be forced to pay, Lord Young said: ‘Whatever the loss is. I want officials to think twice and make sure they have the authority.
‘This sort of nonsense has come from the last government trying to create a nanny state and trying to keep everybody in cotton wool.
‘Frankly if I want to do something stupid and break my leg or neck, that’s up to me. I don’t need a council to tell me not to be an idiot. I can be an idiot all by myself.’
...AND A CRACKDOWN ON THE WAGES OF TOWN HALL FATCATS

Town hall bosses were ordered to take huge pay cuts last night in an attempt to stop them earning more than the Prime Minister.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will demand 362 local authority employees who are paid more than David Cameron’s £142,500 slash their salaries.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Pickles attacked the huge handouts as ‘ludicrous’ and said some councils ‘don’t get it’ – continuing to advertise lucrative and often pointless posts with six-figure salaries.
In his speech to the Tory conference next week, Mr Pickles will outline plans to demand an immediate 10 per cent pay cut for any council chief taking home £200,000 or more. Those earning over £100,000 will be told to cut their pay by 5 per cent – the same cut government ministers took.
He will then insist that all new appointments have their income capped at the same level as the Prime Minister. He cannot enforce a salary cap but plans to name and shame those who refuse to give ground.
He said: ‘You only have to pick up The Guardian recruitment advertisements to understand some people still don’t get it – it’s not their money. Some chief executives are earning enormous salaries that are not commensurate with what they are doing.’
He said bosses, who are in charge of staff facing job losses, should accept the cut ‘so they can look council workers in the eye’.

He said the Government, which has approved his report, due to be published later this month, would also implement a crackdown on ‘ambulance-chasing’ personal injury firms. There will be restrictions on the way they advertise their services and a limit to speculative law suits.
‘The last government allowed no-win, no-fee advertising and we have seen an enormous rush of it, on afternoon TV particularly,’ Lord Young said.
‘A lot of them aren’t lawyers - they’re claims management companies.
‘People are being paid for making a claim. Legal expenses are now two or three times the claim. The biggest cost to the health service is legal fees. That’s going to stop.’
Schools are to be freed from burdensome regulations.
Lord Young said: ‘Schools are not allowing pupils to go on days out because they are scared they will be liable if an accident happens.
‘That’s nonsense, and that’s not going to continue, unless a teacher is really negligent. In the ordinary course of events, accidents happen.’
The Health and Safety Executive enforces 202 primary regulations, a third of which were passed since Labour came to power in 1997.
Lord Young, who has an office in Downing Street, revealed that the Prime Minister has asked him to stay on to advise on turning public services into locally-owned co-operatives.
Baroness Thatcher once said of him: ‘Other people brought me problems. He brought me solutions.’
Taken from the Daily Mail.

At long last a bit of common sense.

by cockney Sat 02 Oct 2010, 11:13 pm

About time to. Trouble is it will take Guernsey at least 10 years to follow suit.

by Digger Sun 03 Oct 2010, 10:34 am

In Guernsey the law has not as yet been implemented , it is on the way , having said that the major company's like R.G Falla , Rihoy's and a few independents do use best practice which is good , I sat the NEBOSH H&S course there is shed loads involved in H&S unbelievable , i do not agree with all the rules & regs IMO it should be down to common sense , but as we are aware some do not process that quality . If is saves lives all good but some that we read about are plainly OTT .

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At last! An end to the elf 'n' safety madness .

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