Shaun Halfpenny was the headmaster who was behind the classic ‘health and safety gone mad’ tale about conkers. However, as reported in The Guardian, the conker story was actually made up.
Mr Halfpenny explained:
“I never banned conkers; I allowed the game to take place. Most of the children in my school had never actually touched a horse chestnut, let alone played the game. We were on a school trip (risk assessments completed) when we collected pocketfuls of the nuts. It was a child who actually asked if they could wear goggles.”
The banning of playing conkers story was widely reported in the popular press. It was held up as an example of a health and safety culture that had spiralled out of control. Hence some prominent politicians have adopted it in their anti-regulation discourse. This has led to the importance of health and safety being partly discredited in the eyes of some of the public. However, with personal injury being a danger at school or at work, there is a need to base public policy on facts not anecdotes.
If a personal injury is sustained at school or in the workplace, compensation claims may follow. However, there has to be a balance between protecting children and workers from personal injury and restricting their activities excessively. The reality is that children do not benefit from being injured unnecessarily, any more than they prosper if they are stopped from participating in activities on school trips. Risk assessment, however boring, is essential to safeguard pupils and employees alike.
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