Posted By Kenneth Patrick "Commit to debunking myths around health and safety that trivialise the impact of injuries, ill health and deaths on individuals and their families" This is one of the points in the Pledge that HSE have advertised and are asking all to sign up to. Has anyone ever come across "health" myths as opposed to "health and Safety" ones?

Posted By John Allen I have no problem with debunking myths but I’ll not be putting my name to any pledge that refers to the use of “common sense”. I had written to the HSE suggesting they remove this nebulous term but obviously 'Daily Mail speak' rules. Unfortunately IOSH spokespersons use this term regularly as well. I’m also disappointed that the HSE have not sought to actively involve government agencies responsible for safety in other sectors such as aviation and marine. At present their pledge is only towards health and safety in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland) and in industries the HSE regulates. Oh, and not occupational road risk either. Not joined up thinking at all. The discussion document put out by the HSE was also silent on the issue of professional advice, perhaps its most significant omission. I’ll leave it to others to decide whether they want to support such muddled thinking.

Posted By Pete48 Surely common sense is only a common sense way to describe pragmatism. Whether we like it or not, language changes for more quickly today than it did even 15 years ago. I think anyone involved with H&S would understand that pragmatism is a sensible approach to most work related Health & Safety. It would seem to me that dismissing a complete campaign on the basis of one "jargon" phrase is far from common sense. A personal judgement as to whether this is a complete elephant or just the toenails would I guess provide widely differing opinions as to whether HSE thinking is muddled or not. Why that would dissuade someone from signing up however escapes me. I am not enamoured with the use of the word pledge since I do not see the campaign needed anything quite as binding as a pledge. However, if it attracts the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and several other media companies to sign the pledge! They have duties just like any other employer, so why not join and show the way to change? How big a step forward would that be and then how effective would this campaign become?

Posted By John Allen Perhaps I put my ideas in the wrong order. The HSE strategy is primarily misguided because it fails to involve safety professionals, and fails to join up with the “non-HSE” sectors. The use of a nebulous term which has no place in the vocabulary of safety professionals is of secondary importance in comparison. Nevertheless “The Pledge” is a result of muddled thinking that has failed to address the real issues; the choice of language merely confirms this fact.

Posted By David Gault One example of a health myth springs to mind: a lot of people seem to believe that having a groove in the ear lobe indicates a serious heart problem. It is simply not true. One TV programme last year used it to suggest a Roman Emperor (I have forgotten which one) had such a heart problem because a bust of him shows the groove in his ear lobe. Showing that even well intentioned people can be mis-informed.

Posted By Chris Packham Unfortunately 'common sense' only works when allied to adequate knowledge. In my particular field I see lots of 'common sense' solutions that have not worked and in many cases have actually contributed to a health problem. What appeared to be common sense looked quite different when the person who made the decision was made aware of some of the factors that should have influenced their decision. I always stress the concept that: "The danger arises when you don't know that you don't know." Chris