The real danger

Expert calls for engineers to fight back against ‘jobsworths and killjoys’.

The Chief Executive of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has called for engineers to fight back against nonsensical interpretations of ‘Health and Safety’ law and insisted that safety management must be based on an understanding of real risks – not trivia.

Dr David Brown, speaking at IChemE’s Hazards XX conference in Manchester, cited the banning of Christmas lights and practical science in school classrooms as examples that could be putting lives at risk by the “jobsworths and killjoys” who hide behind health and safety legislation.

“Should the misreading of Health and Safety law continue, there is a ‘real danger’ that when a genuine hazard arises, those who draw attention to it will be ignored, putting lives at risk as a result,” said Brown.
“Engineers should protest loud, long and often against the abuse of health and safety by the jobsworth and the killjoy. The profession must reclaim balanced and rational safety management, based on engineering common sense.”

Hazards XX conference is a biennial event organised by the IChemE’s north-west member group, at which over 300 international chemical engineering and safety experts attended.
For more information visit www.icheme.org/hazardsxx.

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