Health and safety myths in the news again

Last month, a health and safety “myth panel” busted a few misconceptions that seem to be going around the internet.  The fact that the safety and health myth panel is in the news again coupled with the many other discussions surrounding health and safety, some people are wondering if it is not overkill.  Are the regulations being set really as strict as they seem?  Is the HSE able to prevent workplace incidents with all the regulations in place?  When an incident happens, are things really resolved the best way?  Many of these questions are circulating and there does not seem to be a consensus on the answers.

The health and safety myth panel was designed to work on some of the public’s concerns and work on reducing the regulatory paperwork for incidents that occur.  For example, oil and gas offshore facilities do not have to send a report to the HSE until the incident takes seven or more days for the worker to recover.  It used to be three days.  The reports still have to be filed in the company, but unless there are clear issues, the HSE does not need to be made aware of the incident.  Things such as this have caused quite a stir considering it means the HSE will not see as many reports and they may be missing situations where dangers can arise because too many workers are being injured in the same way.