Originally Posted by
hfly
Considering that the vast majority of countries have no such H&S concerns on this matter, and many have more restrictive bodies, assures me and others that one industry has been on a tear these recent years, namely the H&S industry (as its obviously convinced many here including yourself that these are regulations rather than reccomendations!)
The UK's H&S laws are (rightly or wrongly) very onerous though - personally I'm convinced they have proliferated in tandem with all the quangos and non-jobs the labour government created. All those people had to fill their days with something after all, so so they dreamt up new problems of danger and hazards everywhere - and many are rightly ridiculed.
Following an HSE type external audut, our company actually had to produce a formal procedure on crossing a road (our offices are either side of a road in a town so some staff have to cross this during their working day). Each staff member even has to be annually assessed as "competent" in their ability to safely cross the road
