I watched with interest ITV's Tonight programme entitled 'Health and Safety on the Frontline'. The programme discussed whether health and safety legislation was restricting or limiting the emergency services from conducting their duties. It outlined several recent incidents where the emergency services had made decisions whereby service officers were prevented from 'taking risks' in attempting to rescue members of the public, on the grounds of health and safety. They had also conducted a survey amongst emergency service personnel on whether health and safety was having an impact on their performance.

Whilst I agreed in part with the underlying message of the need to review health and safety legislation (which the government supports) to reduce the bureaucracy in health and safety (which I also support), I was a little disappointed that they consistantly blamed health and safety for the decisions that the emergency services had made.

My experience of working in health and safety (and with the emergency services on projects) is that often it is not the health and safety legislation that is to blame, but the misinterpretation of such that creates some of the bureaucratic decisions and policies that are constantly criticised. Coupled with the litigious socitey that we find ourselves in, the role of lawyers and the insurance companies, and the public that demand action when service personnel are killed,  I can understand, but not necessarily agree with, the reasons why senior emergency personnel make some bureaucratic decisions that they believe are in the interests of protecting their personnel (and albeit their own liablity if something was to go wrong).

I keep saying this, and will no doubt keeping saying it, its all about sensible, and pragmatic health and safety. I hope we continue to work with the emergency services and the essential public services, providing sensible consultancy advice and training, to try and bring this message home.