Season's greetings - with 'silly' health and safety stories

At Corporate Risk Systems (CRS), we know what season it is by the nature of the silly stories that appear in the press. Each summer, we read ‘elf n safety bans donkey rides on the beach. In the summer, it’s health and safety which imposes all manner of draconian rules on what can and can’t be worn as part of school uniform – our regular readers will remember the ban on mini-skirts for health and safety reasons.
For many, the countdown to Christmas is measured by the number of contestants left in Strictly or X-Factor, or by how soon we hear Slade and The Pogues.  For we HSE folk, it’s measured in seasonal silly stories and it’s already well and truly started; fairy lights that can’t be put on lamp posts (not only silly it’s actually a recycled story –remember the one about the bunting when the Tour de France was in town)?
Sometimes stories do arise because some Scrooge-like character somewhere has decided to opt out of the season of goodwill, but rather than give the real reason, it’s much easier to hide behind the easy excuse of health and safety.
But Christmas and ‘health and safety’ now seem to go together like presents and gift wrapping. Stories which are clearly about something completely different get wrapped up with a health and safety headline to grab attention. The easy excuse for the jobsworths has now become the easy headline for the lazy sub-editors.
So as you countdown the days to Christmas, here’s a little game we will be playing in our offices and you’re all very welcome to join in:

• How many seasonal stories in the press mention health and safety as a reason for something being cancelled or restricted?
• Did the people in the story mention health and safety or did the sub-editors simply use it for ease in the headlines?

For a bit of fun, we’ll be keeping our own tally, and if you spot any yourself please do let us know. We’re waiting for someone to tell me that Santa’s heavy sack is a health and safety risk. It hasn’t happened yet – but then there are still two weeks to go!
Season's greetings from all of us at CRS