Conkers At Dawn - IOSH Versus Parliament

In a bid to show health and safety never has ‘banned’ conkers, MPs gathered on the leafy green, in Westminster, for their own charity conker shoot-out, last week.

A dozen MPs put their conker skills to the test outside the Houses of Parliament (on Wednesday 14 October), with their match fees helping to raise funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind (a charity supported by the World Conker Championships).

This crack conker challenge was staged by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) as part of its ‘Stop taking the myth’ campaign. The campaign seeks to remind us that health and safety isn’t a killjoy conspiracy to ban people’s fun but a necessary safeguard against injuries and possible death. Too many pastimes have been reportedly ‘banned’ in the UK with health and safety taking the rap… like children being told to wear goggles to play conkers by an over-cautious headteacher, for example, and other such bogus ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ nonsense.

IOSH, the Chartered body for health and safety professionals, believes this risk-averse approach is storing up problems for the future:

“Cancelling or banning things is so often driven by the fear of being sued, the cost of putting on an activity or the misguided belief that what is required is simply too complicated,” said IOSH President Nattasha Freeman. But there’s a real danger that this short sighted approach to risk distracts people from the real truth around deaths and major injuries. Health and safety decisions can end up being ridiculed, which jeopardises the risk management process that is so essential to preventing future accidents and fatalities,” she added.

“It’s time to stop health and safety being used as a convenient, catch-all excuse and appreciate that it’s there to be used to save lives, not ruin them.”

Conkers were brought in on the day by the organisers of the World Conker Championships, held in Ashton, Northamptonshire the previous weekend.

And Westminster’s king of conkers? A hugely chuffed Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester, took home the trophy. 

“Health and safety is a very important subject, but you don’t have to be afraid of it - embrace it, enjoy it, there’s nothing health and safety does that prevents people from having a good time. Unfortunately, health and safety gets blamed for lots of things which health and safety officers have had nothing whatsoever to do with,” said Bob.

“Health and safety people are not there to be killjoys, but to stop people being killed and injured. The serious message behind this bit of fun is that we have to be careful in society, in the workplace and indeed in the home.”

Source: IOSH

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services