Posted By Peter John Scott
Has anyone seen the article taht appeared in the Spectator Magazine on the 6th of December titled "When Safety Kills"
If you have I would appreciate any comments you may have.
If not and you are interested please let me know and I will send you a copy.
Thanks
peter.scott640@ntlworld.com

Posted By Sean Fraser
It is the same article.

I must say, I was so perturbed about this particular item that I was almost moved to write to the Spectator, but I've had a night to ponder it and the maxim "respond in haste, repent at leasure" (apologies) holds true - what I was wanting to say was possibly going to add fuel to the charge of "humourless kill-joy".

So I stepped back from the subject of the article and examined the substance. There wasn't any. This 'article' was only opinion - not fact. It was supported by analogies and aprocryphal statements. It was simply the opinion of the journalist involved - which demonstrated an obvious lack of understanding of the subject matter, ostensibly through a failure to adequately research the subject and present a balanced picture. And let us not forget the typical readership of this particular tome who would possibly lap this piece up in support of their already heavily prejudiced views - these are the kind of people who were often demonised by the trade unionists of old for being the slave driving profiteering scoundrels who would work their employees (and their kin if they could get away with it) to an early grave for the sake of the almighty Pound.

And with attitudes like the one expressed in the article, it isn't hard to see why such rhetoric continues to be so difficult to eradicate.

About the only saving grace in the piece was the (statistically supportable) statement that "Employees are safer than they used to be 30 years ago, which is good news". Shame she followed it up with "They also have a wonderful excuse to stop going about their job if the don't feel like it". She then goes on to imply that the safety conscious are "work-shy", albeit implied and not overtly stated.

Unfortunately, this article is only one of many where ill-informed and ignorant pontification by columnists has replaced educated and well-researched journalism - the latter is simply too time consuming to complete against punishing deadlines and hardly worth the effort in these days of sensationalism and exageration (Johnny Wilkinson was in a chauffered car which entered a ditch but was reported in a next day headline that he "cheated death"!). It is easier to spout off about something they know little about than to bother checking facts or even putting it into context or proportion - one wonders who it is that is work-shy now?

As a consequence of such a proliferation of these so-called articles triumphing over the continued decline of decent journalistic talent, the whole profession has fallen into disrepute in the estimation of the public. So perhaps we have one crumb of comfort - even if we aren't as respected as we believe we should be, we'll always out-do the journos in any popularity poll!

Posted By Hilary Charlton
Read it and forget it - life's too short to be worrying about what a biased reporter or two say.

If you think you do a good job and your boss continues to employ you and the workforce are better protected because of the actions that you take - then have a little faith in yourself and don't get stressed over what cannot be changed.

Most importantly, have a good holiday season, whatever your faith, and make sure you keep the kids away from the Christmas pudding when you set light to it!

Hilary