A blind schoolgirl has been asked to stop using her white cane in school due to health and safety concerns. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook Head teacher Jo Dent said: "The pupil has not been banned from bringing in their cane, we have simply asked them to not use it around school as a temporary measure until we have the chance to meet with the parent and discuss the situation. What is there to discuss? The girl needs the cane end of story. I really want to slap people like this head teacher.
This is just over-enthusiastic application of what some people see as health and safety rules, but isn't. As the HSE guy at the end of the article says, there is nothing in HSE guidelines that stops people from being able to use sticks or canes. Most of what we hear as "health and safety gone mad" and the "nanny state" is nothing to do with government or the Health & Safety Executive - in 99% of cases it's all down to people applying what they think is H&S without really understanding it. Health and safety regulations are there to ensure people's safety and stop them doing something harmful or stupid; it's not there to stop people doing everything
The schools mobility officer......lol We had 2 classrooms, 3 teachers and a headmaster at my primary school all those years ago. Too many jobsworths.... And as Pink Floyd once said........."hey teacher, leave those kids alone".
My dad was the health and safety manager in cov and he HATES things like this. It's nothing to do with safety, but antilawsuitism. The school are scared that some other kid will trip over her cane, break their wrist and the parents will sue the school. The sad thing is that you could see it happening; all the injury lawyer adverts on tv, cold calls about 'that injury you had'. It's not h&s gone mad, it's public liability prevention gone mad! If I or my dad sued the school every time I had to go to a&e from school I'd be a rich man. Or at least one who owns a house.
This. I heard this from a few other sources too. The funny thing is that getting sued over these things is not nearly as common. The no win/no fee arrangement is only when lawyers are very confident in winning a settlement. And even then, I presume the school has public liability insurance anyway.
I agree with you point that being sued for any and everything is not as common as some would have us believe. As for the 'No win no fee' merchants they are very selective on the cases they will take on and I speak through experience when medical blunders during my cancer treatment meant that I am no longer able to eat solid food. These people did not want to know as it was a complex case though to give them their due they were pretty honest about it.
