As The IOSH frequently challenges media reporting about occupational health and safety, it is equally necessary to appreciate factual, empathetic accounts in newspapers of complex incidents.

Today's issue of The Guardian includes two.

Steven Morris ('School reported woman to police for aiding boy left in tree, 25 March) and Helen Carter ('Teachers suspended over asthma death') provide examples of informative, factual reporting about important public issues.

Too often, the safety and health o the public and of young people and adults at work (for schools are workplaces for both) are the focus of shrill media crossfire and, on occasions, of distorted or inaaccurate accounts of complex situations.

I suggest that it would do The IOSH no harm if the Director were to applaud Morris and Carter: they deserve acknowledgement of stories about health and safety at work that are not only compelling but also moderate in tone, displaying ampathy for the diverse interests of people enmeshed in the incidents reported.

Thank you for taking the trouble to acknowledge the point raised, Yossarian.

No harm to write a letter to The Editor of The Guardian applauding these reports; a couple of letters might actually ensure a little space in the sun....:-)

Interestingly, while both the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the accompanying ACOP and HSG65, 'Successful Safety and Health Management', both emphasise the significance of communication about health and safety, it's not unusual for managers to literally not know what is on the safety noticeboards they pass by every day in their own workplaces.

When doing an ergonomic presentation to a management team not long ago, I was invited to conduct an ergonomic exercise with them. As my M Sc was in 'cognitive ergonomics', I simply asked any of those present to state any message on the safety noticeboard' and was greeted was by silence.

As you can appreciate the issue worth raising is: what criteria should we educate the public to use in evaluating media reports on safety and health at work? (If you would like to collaborate on an article for SHP on this matter, just get in touch).