Work accident news
24/06/2009

IOSH dismisses over-zealous Blu-tack fears


Anti-work accident body the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health has been responding to a school survey undertaken by Teachers' TV, in which some teachers suggested that they had been told to wear goggles to avoid the dangers of using Blu-tack.

The IOSH website prints its letters sent to British papers including the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, which support the Health and Safety Executive's assessment of "cotton wool culture" as a result of schools' fear, rather than understanding, of the risks of accident injury and compensation claims that may result.

IOSH warns, however, that "If we carry on lapping up all these stories about health and safety gone silly - when really they're about a fear of being sued - then we run the very real risk of laughing at genuine risks."

On the same topic, the HSE points out that the survey covered less than 600 teachers, less than 0.2% of the workforce, and directs people to its statistics on work accidents in schools that suggest fears may be more potent than the risks should suggest.




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