These headline-grabbing myths have appeared as stories in the national press in the last few years, and have been repeated by moaning and mis-informed television celebrities as well. This kind of media reporting ("health and safety gone mad") has a drip effect and undermines the importance of health and safety provisions that make workplaces healthier and safer. It also undermines the important work done by Health & Safety Reps.  Reps should be aware of these myths and the answers to them, in order to be able to deal with issues raised by employers, and others in the workplace who may repeat the myths and raise similar objections.

These myths have been examined by the TUC, and explained and exposed for what they are: inventions and misrepresentations.

"The long term effect of these myths being circulated is that the 'brand' of health and safety gets diminished. People see 'health and safety' as stupid rules and barriers, rather than as a framework for protecting those most vulnerable in society. People begin to identify the Health and Safety Executive with draconian regulations, despite the fact that none of the stories the TUC looked at involved any action by them, and they remain one of the bodies most respected by those who deal with them. In fact 89% of all employers who have had contact with the HSE have seen it as a 'helpful' organisation." -- TUC


Myth 1
Health and safety regulations now ban the use of ladders.  FALSE
This story reappears regularly. In fact there is no ban on ladders so long as they are used safely. There are regulations aimed at ensuring that people do use ladders safely. This is to reduce the number of workers seriously injured or killed falling off ladders every year. Each year an average of 13 workers die this way and 12,000 are seriously injured. However there is no ban on ladders so long as they are secured and used appropriately.

Myth 2
School children aren't allowed to use egg boxes in craft lessons on health and safety grounds.  FALSE
This relates to a decision by East Sussex County Council to issue a circular indicating that there were in fact no problems in using both egg boxes and toilet rolls as long as they were clean looking. This is standard guidance within education and makes perfect sense.

Myth 3
Employers are 'risk averse' and are overly cautious because of the fear of regulations.  FALSE
There is no evidence that employers are being 'risk averse'. The fact that over a million workers get injured every year and 25,000 people are forced to give up work because of injury or illness caused by work shows that employers are very much taking risks with their workers health. Most of these injuries could have been avoided if employers had implemented proper safety procedures, but research has shown that around half of employers have not even done a simple risk assessment (a legal requirement).

Myth 4
Firemen's poles have been banned on health and safety grounds.  FALSE
This seems to have arisen from a case in Devon where it was reported that, to avoid the risk of injury when sliding down poles, a new fire station had not been equipped with a traditional pole. The truth was that the reason the fire station did not have a pole was because of space restrictions. There are no regulations banning the use of poles in fire stations.

Myth 5
There are now more regulations and red tape than ever.  FALSE
In actual fact there were more than twice as many health and safety regulations and laws 35 years ago than there are now. The legislation that remains is now generally simpler and easier to understand.

Myth 6
A local authority ordered the removal of St Georges' flags from outside shops on safety grounds.  FALSE
This story originated in Liverpool, however Liverpool council did not ban St Georges' flags or ask anyone to remove them. It did require one shopkeeper to properly secure flags after one fell onto the windscreen of a car causing an accident.

Myth 7
Small businesses are being strangled by over-inspection and over-regulation.  FALSE
The average small business is likely to be visited by a health and safety inspector around about once every 20 years. Even larger businesses, except for high hazards ones, are visited on average every 10 years. Small businesses are even exempted from some regulations. For instance while every employer has to do a risk assessment on their staff, if a business has less than 5 employees it does not even have to write the assessment down or record it. Hardly a major burden.

Myth 8
Trapeze artists will be forced to wear hard hats.  FALSE
This story has appeared several times over the past few years. Sometimes the ban is blamed on European legislation, other times on the new Work at Height Regulations. The claim is that these regulations will require trapeze artists to wear hard hats. This is of course complete nonsense. The reason that hard hats are worn is to prevent people being hit from falling objects. Not to protect you if you fall. They are completely inappropriate for trapeze artists and there are no regulations, or plans for any regulations, to introduce them. A related story is that the Work at Height Regulations would mean that safety signs would have to be erected on the side of Snowdon. Again there is no truth in this.

Myth 9
Health and safety regulations have fuelled a huge rise in compensation claims.  FALSE
The number of civil claims for compensation against employers as a result of accidents has fallen every year for the last 5 years. In fact despite the introduction of 'no win - no fee' claims the total cost of compensation cases in Britain has remained, in real terms, static since 1989. Britain also pays out much less in civil compensation, as a proportion of its economy, than any other major European country apart from Denmark, and a third that of the USA.

Myth 10
A church had to spend £1,300 to change their light bulbs because of health and safety regulations.  FALSE
The church in question was St Benet's in Norfolk. It was reported that because of new health and safety regulations electricians now had to put up scaffolding every time they wanted to change a bulb. In actual fact the electricians were not just changing light bulbs but replacing all the light fittings. The contractor said that the use of scaffolding was standard practice and had nothing to do with any new regulations.

Half-truth
Local councils have banned hanging baskets on health and safety grounds.
This probably relates to Bury St Edmunds where the borough did briefly remove hanging baskets because of concerns that some lampposts were unstable. As soon as they had checked the lampposts the hanging baskets were replaced. There are still hanging baskets in Bury St Edmunds.

Half-truth
Schools have banned conkers.
This story, more than any other epitomises the trivialisation of health and safety. In fact, two schools are known to have asked children not to bring conkers in on the advice of doctors as children had severe nut allergies. In addition one primary school head teacher brought in safety goggles for his pupils to play conkers. However he stated that the reason behind this was that he wanted to make a statement over the increased fear of litigation. This point seems to have been lost on the media.

Half-truth
During the Battle of Trafalgar commemoration, the actor playing Nelson had to wear a life jacket over his costume.
During an event on the Thames to mark the bi centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar an actor was dressed as Nelson. To get to the event he was transported using an RNLI lifeboat. This was a modern lifeboat and the RNLI asked him to wear a lifejacket during the trip. Given that he was in an RNLI lifeboat, and not HMS Victory, at the time it is unlikely that the lifejacket would have looked out of place.

Half-truth
A fancy dress festival in Wales was cancelled because the organisers were told they would have to employ an extra 60 stewards on health and safety grounds.
This relates to the Lleni fancy dress festival in Powys where the organisers simply misunderstood the regulations. There is no health and safety requirement for the organisers for events such as this to employ stewards. They could quite easily have used volunteers as they had in the past.

The Full Truth is that:
Britain is a better and safer place because of health and safety regulation. Since the Health and safety at Work Act was introduced the number of deaths caused by work have fallen by over 75%. The rate of fatalities in now one of the lowest in the world, and much of that is because of strong, sensible regulations.

Other Misconceptions and Dis-information

•  Health & safety is just common sense.  FALSE
A control measure that might have prevented an accident is always obvious after the event. Hindsight is a great thing and there is a tendency to call this 'common sense'. This kind of common sense is an excuse for not thinking. No amount of common sense will tell you if an electrical cable has a hidden fault or if ceiling tiles contain asbestos. Relying on common sense amounts to an 'accident waiting to happen' or, in other words, a foreseeable accident. Never assume anything about the hazards and risks of a task or a situation, because the result will make an 'ass of you and me' -- Don't 'ass-u-me'.

•  Complying with health & safety law costs employers money.  FALSE
There is a strong argument that investing in health and safety will actually save money in the long run. There are around 200 work-related deaths, over 150,000 workers injured and 2.3 million cases of work-related ill health resulting in 40 million working days lost each year on average in the UK. The costs associated with ill health and accidents, such as sick pay, fines, legal costs, and repairs, can be astronomical. Prospective clients are increasingly appointing only health and safety conscious contractors, a quality which also appeals to suppliers and insurers.  See DTI Consultation Paper Says Safety Reps Save Society Up to £578 Million Annually

•  We can't afford it.  FALSE
Afford what exactly? A £5,000 compensation pay-out? A £100,000 plus legal claim?  When two girls died 'gorge walking' on a Yorkshire school trip, there was a local instructor for the activity who could have been hired for less than £150. Instead of being employed to make the trip safe and enjoyable, he ended up having to join the search team to look for the bodies.

•  Only Chartered Members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH) are competent in health and safety.  FALSE

•  The workplace can't exceed a legal maximum temperature.  FALSE
The legal minimum temperature for most workplaces is 16C, but there is no legally enforced maximum. Employers, though, have a responsibility for employees' welfare and 'thermal comfort' in the workplace, which should be a 'reasonably comfortable temperature', considering the level of physical activity.

•  A fork-lift-truck license needs to be renewed every 3 years.  FALSE
A fork-lift license is similar to a driving license and technically only has to be passed once. However, there is no harm in making it "company policy" to have a refresher every 2-4 years, for several reasons such as long term illness, sickness absence, accidents or near misses, questionable competency, age-related hearing, sight or reflexes, and spatial awareness. Even trained and experienced fork-lift operators need to be re-assessed from time to time to ensure that they continue to operate safely.

•  It's easier for employers not to report accidents.  FALSE
Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, employers have a legal duty to report certain accidents. This includes all major injuries e.g. fractures, amputations or dislocations or any other injury which leads to an incapacity for work for more than three days. Failure to do so is a criminal offence for which employers could be fined up to £20,000. Information gathered from accident reports is essential in helping the enforcing authorities to advise on preventative action.  See RIDDOR

•  PAT tests need to be repeated every year.  FALSE
There is no direct law at present stating how often an item of electrical equipment should be tested. HSE Guidance Notes that advise regular testing are generally interpreted as a requirement for annual testing.However, the requirements are based on principles of risk assessment and reasonable practicability. The frequency of inspection and testing required will vary depending on the type of appliance, its location, and its use. There is a legal obligation under the several regulations to ensure that electrical equipment is safe - the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

•  It is illegal to work alone.  FALSE
Working alone is acceptable as long as special arrangements have been made for safety in relation to the types of hazard involved. This may include emergency first aid arrangements or assessing the danger associated with tasks. Precautions may include emergency panic buttons or two-way radios. As long as a safe system of work is implemented, there is no reason why lone working would be unacceptable.

•  The new fire safety regulations don't apply if you only employ four people.  FALSE
The Fire Safety Order applies to all buildings in use, except domestic premises and some kinds of premises that are a specific risk and where other regulations apply. The Fire Safety Order requires that a Risk Assessment is done, with the purpose of identifying fire hazards in the building and help determine what precautions might be needed (such as alarms, extinguishers and so on).

•  You cannot have plasters in a first aid box in case someone is allergic.  FALSE
Refer to the HSE booklet First Aid at Work: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg214.pdf.  It is good practice for a First Aider to ask if the person has a known allergy to a plaster, before they put one on.  Some people do have an allergy, but if the First Aider asks first, then they are "covered". This is asked in hospitals and doctor surgeries for the same reason.

•  First-aiders need to have liability insurance.  FALSE

•  The employer must provide personal protective equipment (PPE), but the employee can choose not to use it.  FALSE
Employers are responsible for the safety of their employees and others and, under The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, they must enforce the use of and properly maintain PPE. Employees cannot 'opt out' of using PPE and employers can be held responsible should injury occur through failure to enforce its use.

by Dennis Mac (IOSH accredited Unite Safety Rep, retired)
References: "Myth of the Month" - HSE - http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/index.htm;
"Health and Safety Myths - TUC Report":  http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-12556-f0.cfm