12/02/2026
Common Sense Health and Safety
With over 25 years experience working in health and safety, I am well versed in receiving a “slagging” when I’m asked what do I work at and I tell them “Health and Safety”. I then patiently listen while I’m told their nonsensical experiences of health and safety. And, unfortunately, I have to agree in a number of instances and say “I would not have taken that approach in that situation”.
What it boils down to is a lack of common sense displayed by some (not all) persons in charge of health and safety in the workplace. In the UK, the “jobsworth” attitude has resulted in the phrase ” ‘elf ‘n safety”.
How to bring back a touch of common sense to health and safety
A few simple questions before starting a task or implementing a safety management system:
- What are the hazards? (A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm)
- What is the risk? is there a risk of fatality, an injury that requires medical attention and/or hospitalisation or a minor injury
- What is the likelihood of an injury occurring? Is it high (very likely), medium (likely) or low (not very likely)
- What control measures can be put in place that reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable? i.e. reduce the level of risk to an acceptable level, one that allows progress of work but still offers enough protection of the safety, health and welfare of the employee.
Reasonably practicable
This is the 1 million dollar question. It is important to be able to show how you came to this point. Risk assessments that are recorded in writing and demonstrate the identification of hazards and risks, the considered determination of the level of risk and control measures that are common sense easy to implement and provide a high level of protection are required.
Lack of Knowledge
Sometimes a lack of knowledge leads to situations in the workplace that could be avoided. I have always worked on both sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The CSR card is recognised in the Republic of Ireland but I have had workers in Northern Ireland tell me that they were refused entry on to site in the South and had to book and attend a SOLAS Safepass Card training course. This caused unnecessary delay in the progress of works plus additional cost.
Insisting on closing the stable door after the horse has bolted
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a worker who fits blinds. When he heard what I work at, he immediately said “oh no, you’re not one of those ones!” I let him tell me his experience and I had to agree with him, I would have been very annoyed too if I had been in his situation. He had been working on a construction site in Dublin and the job was 30 minutes away from completion.
The Health and Safety Officer for the site came along, saw him standing on a stepladder and said that he had no certificate to use a ladder on the site. He had to come down off the ladder and attend a 1 hour training course so that he could complete the remainder of the job.
It is important to bear in mind, that his employer had to tender for the job on the site and as part of that tender, they would have had to submit their health and safety documentation (safety statement, site specific risk assessments and method statement and training certificates). The Client then had to assess the competency of the company and either award the contract or not. Site Inductions should have taken place prior to allowing the worker to commence work on site.
Use of Personal Protective Equipment (P.P.E)
I have come across blanket rules for PPE wear. What I mean by this is that all forms of PPE have to be worn on site at all times, not when they are specifically needed to provide protection. This actually increases the risk of injury rather than increasing the level of protection.
For example, glove wear being insisted upon where there is no risk of irritation to the skin, and in fact, the gloves pose a risk of entanglement. Such a situation can occur when using power drills.
Use of Protective glasses being insisted upon when there is very little risk of an object hitting the eye, but the glasses are continuously becoming misted and fogged up and actually obstruct the clear vision of the worker.
These two examples are clear situations where a proper risk assessment is not being carried out (identification of hazards, risk , level of risk assessed and common sense control measures implemented).
If you need some common sense health and safety advice, please get in touch.
