HEALTH and safety law is very important in and out of the workplace, but have we all become too conscious?

The Health and Safety Executive has published a list of the top 10 health and safety myths – to clear their name and remind us that there are some very silly decisions that are blamed on health and safety.

It’s hard to tell where some of these ridiculous and baffling myths originate, but they all have one crucial thing in common – they are not required by health and safety law.

To mark the launch of the new Myth Busters Challenge Panel, HSE has published its top 10 worst myths, and stated: “We want people to work with us to challenge these myths – the time has come to end the madness!”

l Children being banned from playing conkers unless they are wearing goggles – Realistically the risk from playing conkers is incredibly low and just not worth bothering about. If kids deliberately hit each other over the head with conkers, that’s a discipline issue, not health and safety

l Office workers being banned from putting up Christmas decorations – Most organisations including HSE and local councils manage to put up their decorations, celebrating the spirit of Christmas without a fuss. They just sensibly provide their staff with suitable step ladders to put up decorations rather than expecting staff to balance on wheelie chairs

l Trapeze artists being ordered to wear hard hats – Hard hats do an excellent job of protecting building workers from falling debris, but they have no place on a trapeze

l Pin the tail on the donkey games being deemed a health and safety risk – Not trusting children with drawing pins seems a little overprotective to the HSE. After all, millions of children have been playing traditional party games like this for years without any problems

l Candy floss on a stick being banned in case people trip and impale themselves – Is the traditional form of this sweet disappearing because it is easier to mass produce and store it in plastic bags? Who knows, but it certainly isn’t health and safety leaving anyone with a bad taste in their mouth

l Hanging baskets being banned in case people bump their heads on them – Back in 2004 a town did briefly take down its hanging baskets over fears that old lamp posts would collapse. This was an overly-cautious reaction to a low risk

l Schoolchildren being ordered to wear clip-on ties in case they are choked by traditional neckwear – Simple precautions such as removing the tie during laboratory work or around machinery make sense, but if the concern is really about children fighting, while clip-on ties may help, the real issue is discipline

l Park benches must be replaced because they are three inches too low – It seems that the story originated from a decision by a facility manager and has no basis in health and safety law at all. There are no such bench height requirements and the HSE will definitely not be sending their inspectors around measuring the benches!

l Flip flops being banned from the workplace – However, slips, trips and falls do account for about 30% of all workplace accidents and what you wear on your feet can make a difference. So, if you work somewhere where the floor can’t be kept dry or clean, then wearing shoes that fit well and have a good grip would be a better choice than flip-flops

l Graduates ordered not to throw their mortar boards in the air – The chance of being injured by a flying mortar board is incredibly small and, when the concern is actually about the hats being returned in good condition, it’s time to stop blaming health and safety