This one just about takes the cake, biscuit or any other edible substance. Poetic, even.
The chief executive of one of Britain’s biggest health and safety watchdogs, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, has pleaded for a return to ‘basic common sense’. And his name…Tom Mullarkey. Which about sums up what ‘elf ‘n shifty’ have been up to in recent years.
Chief executive Tom Mullarkey now believes that people should be able to get on with various everyday activities which councils, fearful of costly lawsuits and under guidance from his own watchdog, have banned or severely restricted. These include mowing the lawn, collecting firewood, playing conkers, tag, football or British bulldog, carrying a remembrance day flag and numerous other pursuits.
Mullarkey was speaking at a charity dinner and spoke about the need to inform people so they can decide for themselves whether to take part in a particular activity, using their own judgement. He said that a change was necessary to avoid accusations of Britain being a ‘nanny state’. Bit late for that, and he should be telling this to Mr Bean, not a bunch of diners!
He went on:
The application of common sense and balance is much more reasonable than the seeking of mindless increments towards ‘absolute safety’, a destination which is neither feasible nor, in all probability, desirable, since it would come at such cost to our freedoms.
Accident prevention involves so many technical, legal and ethical issues, ultimately defining life and death, that there is no simple shorthand for explaining how the whole thing works for the benefit of the 60 million people who rely on it.
Whether walking in the hills or mowing the lawn, people need to be able to get on with it themselves, ideally armed with the tools of knowledge and experience.
There are areas where strict health and safety rules are needed – for example, in the nuclear, chemical or aviation industries. But in other areas of life, people should be provided with sufficient information to determine their own health and safety.
Cynics might see such a radical speech as a way to try and appease the public in the wake of an upcoming recession and a means of securing a rather large number of cushy jobs when the crunch comes.
Optimists will see it as a glimmer of hope in the battle against the seemingly unstoppable lunacy epidemic.
Realists might expect Mr Mullarkey to be out of a job beforetoo long if he keeps on spouting common sense.