Posted By Sean Fraser
I'm sorry, but this chap seems to have confused risk assessment with risk aversion. An assessment looks at the inherent hazards and seeks to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably practical, using a hierarchy of control as guidance on how to approach each step. Risk averse prevents getting anything done for fear of failure and possible consequences (real or imagined).

We "risk assess" everything we do every day, but how much of that is based on competency is open to question - competence being a mixture of knowledge, training and experience. "Common sense" is often a product of competence, not a natural gift that everyone automatically has at birth. So to rely on "common sense" is ludicrous. And it is easy to malign guidance that seems to state the obvious, but believe me, if you had to deal with some of the people I have had to deal with then it really does come down to that at times. And remember, just because you led the horse to water doesn't mean it will drink.

It's easy to take a pop at something like H&S (or parking enforcement) - but when something goes seriously wrong, these are the same people baying for blood and demanding heads roll.

Hypocrites of the highest order. And so, my fellow professionals, remember - even if we as a profession are maligned by the press and ignoramuses of this man's ilk, at last we will ALWAYS poll higher in terms of trust and integrity than journalists!

Posted By Peter Moran
Sean, I quite agree with your comments....appeals to 'common sense' are risky and often involve making potentially dangerous assumptions about someone's knowledge and general competence.

As for rules and petty regulations, another EU country, Greece, also has them in abundance albeit only enforcing them when it suits them! They seem to be created merely to keep as many people employed in their administration as possible.

Posted By Descarte
On a similar note as to the post above, note sure if it adds anything to the thread but in my experience the norweigens are far more litigeous and regulated than the UK.

But I guess this could be sector dependant.

Reading a document today 11 offshore accidents '01 - '03 7 were in the UK.

Did any one see the "human price of oil" documentary the other night?

Posted By BS
Kate,

If this link has anything to go by it was Einstein

http://www.brainyquote.c...s/a/albert_einstein.html

Posted By Chris Packham
Common sense cannot work without knowledge and experience. In my own field of prevention of damage to health from workplace skin exposure I see many situations where "common sense" has dictated action that has actually made the problem worse, simply because the person concerned did not have the knowledge on which to base the correct decision.

Posted By Max Bancroft
Was it Rousseau who recommended the open cut-throat razor method of teaching a child that sharp things were dangerous and possibly fatal. You can guess the technique - give a young child an open cut-throat razor and it would learn quickly not to play with it and use it carefully - if it survived, of course.

Posted By Tabs
Does said journalist really believe the H&S law is made on someone's silly whim?

Until the 74 Act, most of the law was made in response to major accidents or major impacts on health. Then came the preventative approach.

We still occasionally see reactive legislation (sports stadia, adventure activities, etc.,) - but the majority is now written using a very good knowledge of what people will do if left to their own devices, and the measures needed to get them to think about what they are doing.

Generally, people seem to be distracted by so many things in life, that having H&S enshrined in law and enforced seems common sense to me.

Baked Beans? Finger? Dent in can, no pain? Thruppence! (but then it's my turn to come up with a daft experiment).

Posted By jackw.
The problem with common sense is that it is not a shared phenomenon but individual to experience: we ain’t born with it.. we learn it.

Cheers