Hello all
This topic has been the subject of many conversations over the years with other business people. Whilst there are rogue business people around who simply do not care about the consequences of their actions, I have found the majority of business owners are extremely concerned with safety at work, butunfortunately are let down by their staff who should know better. With this in mind I do not see how a director can be held directly responsible for all occurrances.

There is also a general lack of understanding of what an accident is. For example, an unsupervised worker who decides not to wear goggles for grinding and gets some metal in his/her eye - was that an accident? I say certainly not - it was bound to happen!

The biggest cause of accidents these days is caused by undue pressure and information overload. This is mainly due to the legislation heaped on us by ill-informed idiots who not not operate in the real world. The workers/managers/directors who are usually precise and level headed are too busy worrying about things that statistically will never happen and they become inefficient and mishaps occur.

This is equally noticeable on the road- councils putting in road calming measures that nearly rip your wheels off and make you swerve in to the path of oncoming vehicles - by the time the average driver has coped with all of that they just did not see the child crossing ahead.

This phenomenon is fueled by the fact there is a massive industry profiting from H & S, in the form of inspectors and consultants, roles generally occupied by people not capable of operating at the "producer" end of commerce.

On a larger scale, surrounding people with the concept that nothing will happen to them if they do xyz and convincing them that it is somebody elses problem to look after them anyway, JUST ERODES COMMON SENSE AND SELF PRESERVATION THAT EXISTS IN ALL ANIMALS. I will say it again. COMMON SENSE AND SELF PRESERVATION!!

This comes from a businessman / motor racer / pilot who is used to making continual risk assessments due to SELF PRESRVATION. Stop filling peoples heads with rubbish and let them get on with simple guidance.
Yours
Alan Young