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Posted By John Lewis
Hi Folks
There have been a few threads recently on sensible risk assessment, I thought I would throw my idea into the ring. Here goes;
In recent years there has been a definite trend toward reducing risk to young people as much as possible (bonkers conkers, banning bouncy castles etc). Are we not gently removing their in-built ability to risk assess a situation for themselves? If this is the case, then as soon as our children can drive, kayak or whatever away from their parents they will be killing themselves at an alarming rate, simply because they cannot risk assess the situation they find themselves in.
When I was a kid I fell out of trees, fell off bikes (regularly) fell into lakes, even briefly set fire to myself by accident (linked to the falling in the lake above). Maybe thats why I went into the Safety field, I've done the dodgy stuff and can talk from first hand knowledge. I wouldn't want my boy to do all of these things, but as far as I can I try to let him do "risky" things under some supervision. I await a call from social services.
What do you guys think?
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Posted By Calum R Cameron
I must say that I do agree with you. The drive is now towards "sensible" health and safety and that can only be a good thing in my view.
I find it mildly irritating that it is all too easy for us to go overboard and put ridiculous control measures in place-such as banning conkers etc. The risk assessment will be based on the assessors perception of risk so it will be influenced by past experience that they have had-so two people may assess the risks relating to a given hazard differently.
I think that you are correct in doing what you do within reason and I am all for a reasonable approach. SFARP seems to have lost something recently as measures get more and more over the top.
Anyway-enough of this I'm off on my hol's.
TTFN
Calum
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Posted By J Knight
Hi John,
Couldn't agree more. Kids need to take risk and learn boundaries. I'm not sure what the social roots of the current trend to coton-wool kids are, but looking at an archive of old public service broadcasting stuff on the net (can't remember where it was) they seemed guaranteed to make every parent spend thir entire lives fretting.
I spent my teen years (from about 13) out birdwatching every weekend. So what's so adventurous about that? Well, I would, in summer, catch a 5 am bus from Sheffield, and wander about on open moorland & in woods and by reservoirs until 10 o'clock at night. Some of the 'birdwatching' did involve wading in rivers, kicking balls about over heather moors and so on. In winter it got dark so we had to come home earlier, but we were out dawn 'til dusk. Sure my mother worried, a bit, but generally she regarded me as a fairly sensible child (it's amazing how we decieve our parents :-)) and let me get on with my own life. I can't see parents allowing this sort of thing nowadays,
John
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Posted By steve e ashton
John,
100% agree. Raising three myself (with my missus) - and yes, I allow (or have allowed when they were younger) them do a lot of things (inc play conkers / bouncy castle, walk to and from school, attend discos, slide headfirst down stairs, camp in the garden, swim in the sea, go fishing,shopping in the city on a Saturday etc etc) that have come in for some level of criticism recently as being 'risky'.
Like you, I recall doing these things myself, and like yourself I value the learning gained in the process. (Including impromptu first aid for stopping myself bleeding following my less successful efforts, and stoicism in the face of pain....)
We don't disinfect the bathroom door handle, or the telephone, we don't spray domestos around the kitchen every day... and yes, we have all had (minor) illnesses - but we have avoided all of the more serious illnesses (because of robust and well exercised immune systems?).
I don't think this makes us bad parents. The best news is that my kids agree with me - they have friends who are so insulated from risk they are unable to lead anything like a 'normal' life.... What chance they will grow into mature, sensible, self confident adults?
So when an employee complains that the organisation does not provide a keyboard disinfection service to protect his/her health - then I'm afraid I have very little sympathy and even less patience.
There appears to be a tendency (in the media at least) towards extreme views on risk aversion that we as an Institution must confront.
Steve
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Posted By stuart cross
I also totally in agreement with all of you, somebody once told me that children only know that it hurts to fall out of trees because thier parents tell them!!
However sometimes it's parents that need to think about safety as well, the kids where I live (7 - 12 year olds) ride their bikes in the roads like banshees without any due regard, surely parents need to share their knowledge with their kids (unless they are trying to reduce their family size :-)
Stuart
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Posted By Jim Walker
I agree.
However........... the world is a bit different now.
My parents whilst letting me "run Wild" knew that there was most likely an
adult (even a stranger)looking out for any kids who went too far, and would
send you home with a smack round the ear.
The railways were properly fenced.
Car drivers would consider other road users
Even the small village I lived in, had two coppers who prowled the village at all
times (not offices, Panda cars, or two by two)and I can't remember any "deeds"
I commmitted missing them.
In short, although I did not realise at the time, I and all my mates were
most likely "supervised".
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Posted By Kieran J Duignan
John
The way you frame the question about risks leads to answers that are incomplete.
By all means, cultivate judgment about risks - but also enable young people and others to develop understanding of the range of safe and healthy behaviours.
A repeated emphasis of questions on this Chat Forum concerns the boundaries of employer and employee responsibility. This unduly narrow and punitive perspective was dramatised in a recent question about whether employee absence should be included as a factor in choosing people for redundancy, even though the Safety Manager explicitly acknowledged that management problems in her organisation (which to some extent preceded her arrival).
Safety is likely to be respected as a contributor to value, both in business and the larger community, when safety leaders set out to generate safe, healthy behaviour of which risk management is only one face. They can break new ground by generally giving much more attention to issues of employee and management and parental motivation.
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