Posted By Michael Hayward Morning all anyone seen the article on page 3 of the Guardian this morning - "safety last - Britons urged to cast off cotton wool and rediscover their spirit of adventure" Its all about a report issued by the "better regulation Commission" (who are they? - do IOSH have a seat on it?) They call for a national debate of risk and who should bear it Any thoughts out there? Cheers Mick

Posted By Merv Newman Actually it's not too bad an article. It might hlp us get away from the conkers bonkers and give more encouragement to decent risk assessments. Merv

Posted By gham andy don't tell me they have banned jogging down your way too!

Posted By Jay Joshi The Guardian use of the heading "Safety Last" is misleading. I have had a quick read of the report and it is worth reading--I hope that the government and other stakeholders respond to it. The report is not about "safety last". The report recommends a public debate about the management of risk involving individual citizens and the media but specifically calls for clear and unambiguous leadership from government to: 1. Change our national approach to risk: Emphasise the importance of resilience, self–reliance, and innovation; separate fact from emotion; balance necessary levels of protection whilst preserving reasonable levels of risk 2. Empower individuals to take more personal responsibility for risk: Give the responsibility for managing risk to those best placed to manage it; embark on state regulation only as a last resort and when nothing else will work; examine areas where the state has assumed more responsibility for people's lives than is healthy or desired 3. Provide high quality training in risk management for Ministers and senior civil servants 4. Establish FARO (the Fast Assessment of Regulatory Options) an independent, ad hoc panel for expert, dispassionate, evidence–based examination of urgent calls for government intervention 5. Launch a 2007 campaign against regulatory inconsistencies and absurdities The report is at:- http://www.brc.gov.uk/do...ads/pdf/risk_res_reg.pdf You can comment on the report at:- http://www.brc.gov.uk/publications/risk_report.asp

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Sagalout, I took it to be a reference to the 1920's film starring Harold Lloyd. Not withstanding the above, the headline does somewhat fail to get the proper message across.

Posted By Mark Drury I thought the article made some good points when you remove the media hype. Just a few points I would like to make. As a Father of two (10Yr & 7Yr)I regard there safety as paramount and have always used booster seats when they are travelling in my car. Regulation came second to common sense. Cathedral Camps "Health and safety rules increasingly restricted what they could do and insurance costs soared, despite no injuries to volunteers in 25 years". In my experience it is the increase in insurance costs which bring about restrictions and increased health and safety rules. Risk control should be about controlling significant risk. And I wouldn't consider drinking coffee a significant risk. Lastly cars are much safer today than back in 1967, but average annual mileage of todays cars is much greater, so maybe annual MOT's are still a good idea. Mark