Review "turning point" for health and safety

A Government review could mark a "turning point" for health and safety in the UK, the profession’s largest international body said.  IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) said it broadly welcomed Lord Young’s recommendations, which include a clampdown on "absurd" applications of health and safety legislation and measures to make it easier for teachers to organise school trips.

IOSH Chief Executive Rob Strange said:- "We warmly welcome this review. We are sick and tired of hearing of misinterpretations of health and safety laws which end in the cancellation of perfectly safe activities.  Lord Young is absolutely right: The standing of health and safety has been lowered by ridiculous applications of the rules. This has to end.  We think this review could see a turning point for health and safety in the UK by turning the focus away from daft decisions about conker competitions and hanging baskets and back onto saving people’s lives in genuinely hazardous areas of work and public life."

Lord Young said the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act remains an "effective framework" and had brought about the lowest number of non-fatal accidents and second lowest number of fatal accidents at work in Europe. But health and safety had been given a bad name, said the former Government minister, by misinterpretations of the rules.

Lord Young is recommending controls on no win-no fee lawyers, the simplification of risk assessments for some businesses and the accreditation of health and safety consultants.  He is also advising the Government to cut red tape for school trips, apply extra scrutiny of councils which ban events on health and safety grounds and to ensure the emergency services are not at risk of litigation for acts of heroism.

Mr Strange said:- "It’s a little early to comment on the specific recommendations made by Lord Young, which have been made public only this morning. But we do think the Government is broadly on the right track and we will support it in whatever way we can."

Jason Anker, 42, of Farndon, in Nottinghamshire, was paralysed in 1992 when the ladder he was on slipped and fell between two buildings. He has had an 18-year-struggle to get his life back on track, including lengthy spells in hospital, the collapse of his marriage, drink and drug problems, and compensation issues which were only resolved in 2007. 

Jason is backing IOSH in raising awareness about the dangers of poor health and safety.  He said:- "Health and safety does have a bad image because people presume it’s about rules and restrictions. At the end of the day, it’s about saving lives and preventing accidents at work.  If the laws in 1992 were as tight as they are now I would be standing, not sitting in a wheelchair, saying this today."

MOTHER KNOWS BEST WHEN IT COMES TO THE NAME GAME

NEW research shows that 40% of dads don’t even get a look in when choosing the baby’s Christian name as they are often forced to back down in the name game and let mum have her own way.

The study of 3,000 parents, conducted by Bounty Parenting Club, also revealed a third of couples fall out in a big way over one of the most important decisions they’ll ever make. It also emerged the average couple seriously considers 12 names before selecting their favourite but one in four of couples don’t make their final decision until AFTER the baby is born.

Faye Mingo, spokeswoman for bounty.com said:- “The name game is a debate which often lasts the whole 9 months of the pregnancy and causes the most upsets as couples fail to agree on the best name for their new born. It’s understandably one of the hardest decisions mum and dad will ever have to make – largely because we do judge a person by their name before we’ve even got to know them. As well as finding a name both partners like there are still loads of other factors parents have to take into consideration when choosing a name - like nicknames, what they will be called in the playground, how the Christian name will sound against their surname, and so on. All things considered it’s unsurprising that something as important as choosing a name leads to a lot of heated discussion!”

The poll reveals 15% of couples argue every single day of the 9 month pregnancy about what to call their tot. And for these indecisive new mums and dads, the new arrival remains nameless for an average of 11 days.  70% of new parents struggled to choose their baby’s name because they wanted to select something which didn’t clash with their surname. The same percentage wanted to avoid bad nicknames, and 42% didn’t want any name associated with a celebrity.  33% of parents wanted their new baby to have a really original moniker, while 21% didn’t want the name to be shortened or changed at all. Incredibly, 10%of parents ended up drawing names out of a hat, and a further 14% tossed a coin as a final decider.

Interestingly, 25% of men and women are just as likely to consult their work colleagues about baby names as their partners. And when it comes to the final decision, 20% of new parents named the baby after their favourite colleague or friend, while 37% included a family name.  40% of Brits took into account names approved by the grandparents, and 52% avoided names of all friends and their children.

Faye Mingo continues:- “There are often so many more people involved in the name game than just mum and dad. In fact, if mum and dad are the only ones involved they are lucky – as most couples have input from friends, family members, work colleagues and even strangers in the hospital waiting room!  Quite a large percentage of our respondents – 25% – actually settle on the name they have wanted to call their baby since they were children. But 16% of others are so indecisive they even change the name of the baby a few days after naming it – showing even if you have managed to agree on a name you may not feel it suits your child in the end.”

But the good news is that 90% of parents now love the name of their child – the bad news is that the name game can cause major arguments between both partners and friends.  21% of people who had their hearts set on a particular name since they were little fell out with a partner who didn’t like the same name. 15% of mums have fallen out with a friend after they copied or stole a name they liked, and another 15% admit the fall out was because they chose their friend’s favourite name.  Incredibly 17%of couples fell out after choosing the baby’s name, only for one of them to go and register a different name. And another 17% of mums and dads agreed on a name, but one of them misspelt it on the birth register.

PARENT LINE PLUS OFFERS FREE ANTI-BULLYING PACKS

PARENTLINE Plus is offering parents a series of free family friendly leaflets throughout Parents Week (18-24 October), that help address and tackle the problem of bullying.  Titles include: ‘Bullying – Prejudice and Difference’, ‘Bullying – Via Internet and Mobile Phones’ and ‘What can I do if my child is being bullied’.

The information contained within Parentline Plus’s anti- bullying packs are designed to strengthen families, improve family communication, increase parental coping skills and build on parental confidence whilst equipping adults with a clearer understanding of bullying and the reasons for it whilst promoting self-confidence and self-esteem.

Jeremy Todd, Parentline Plus Chief Executive said:- “Bullying is a real concern to families and parents of bullied children often find the situation traumatic and difficult to manage. Now that the school year is a few weeks old, the signs of bullying may be beginning to show. Some families may find it difficult to help a child who is being bullied and we believe our anti-bullying pack will empower and equip parents to find individual solutions to their own particular problem. Concerned parents should contact Parentline Plus or visit our “Be Someone to Tell” website if they need support.”

Parents who wish to receive the free pack can email or telephone our 24 hour helpline:- 0808 800 2222 with your postal address.  Additional bullying tips, including:- ‘If your child is being bullied’, is a bully, cyber bullying and bullying’, can all be found on the Parentline Plus website.

Appeal for Merseysiders’ memories

AN appeal has been made to Merseysiders to come forward with their memories of an iconic landmark.  The Jubilee Tower, the monument on top of the 1,820 feet high Moel Famau, across the Mersey in North Wales, is a familiar site to hundreds of thousands of Liverpudlians.  It can be clearly seen from the city and has been a favourite weekend destination for people from Merseyside for many years.  But this month they will see it as it’s never been seen before – as it is lit up by an extraordinary display for its 200th birthday.

Organisers of the celebrations on Sunday, October 24, want Liverpudlians to relate their memories and anecdotes about the tower on a special website set up to commemorate the occasion.

The centerpiece of the event by artist Chris Oakley will be a soaring beam of light rising from the peak of Moel Famau and visible from Liverpool.

It will continue through the hours of darkness for a week and will be powered by a generator running on recycled bio-fuel which will produce 2 kilowatts to 7 kilowatts, roughly the same range as required for a lighthouse.  This will be like the one planned for Liverpool 2012, that will be on a far bigger scale.

On October 24, 1810, work began on the monument to mark the golden jubilee of the reign of King George III and it has survived an over ambitious and over budget project, dodgy builders, delays – and a spectacular collapse.  And generations of Merseysiders have climbed the steep slopes of Moel Famau to gaze back at their city from the summit of the Clwydian Range – many of them as wartime evacuees or on stays at Colomendy School at Loggerheads, owned by Liverpool City Council and used to give city children a taste of the countryside.

“We want to hear from young and old because we know that the tower means so many different things to different people.” said David Shiel, Senior Countryside Officer for the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty who are championing the event and managing it with support from rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd and Flintshire and Denbighshire County Councils and the Forestry Commission.  “We are also appealing for photographs to create a visual montage of people’s links with the Jubilee Tower.” David added.

Among those looking forward to the festivities is Rita Sharp, from Aigburth, in Liverpool, who was a boarder at Colomendy School, Loggerheads, in the 1950s.  Now 67 and suffering from arthritis, she doesn’t think she will make it to the summit on the 24th but is hoping she still has a good vantage point to view the procession and laser display from the summit.  She has many happy memories of visiting the tower and the surrounding area.

“The boarders always used to go up Moel Famau on the last day of term – there could be up to 100 of us - and first-timers were always told that there was a chippy at the top.  There are an awful lot of people on Merseyside who think of the tower with similar affection,” Rita added.

“That is exactly the kind of thing we want people to contribute via the website,” commented David.

The close Liverpool connection is underlined by the existence of a Moel Famau Avenue near the promenade in Otterspool.

Over the next few weeks lantern-making workshops will be held in primary and secondary schools in Flintshire and Denbighshire and the children will be asked for their comments on the tower.  The lanterns will then be carried in the procession up to the tower on 24 October 2010, and walkers will be accompanied by samba music, which is the subject of other workshops in the area.  Some walkers will be raising money for charity.

To mark the occasion a book is being launched detailing the history of the tower. The research has been carried out by former Flintshire archivist Chris Williams and Tony King, from Maeshafn, who is a volunteer with Denbighshire Countryside Services and a member of the Clwydian Range AONB Joint Advisory Committee.

“The amount of material and images they have unearthed is remarkable and although there have been various attempts to cover the history of the tower in the past there has never been anything as comprehensive as this,” said David.

The work of preparing the book for the launch has fallen to Lorna Jenner, of Cilcain, who was responsible for another book on the links between Liverpool and Loggerheads.

John Butler from Buckley plans to film the celebrations on 24 October 2010 and he is one of those who have already contributed to the website set up for people from far and wide to tell what the tower and Moel Famau, which lies on the border between Flintshire and Denbighshire, means to them.  His tale is of the sense of achievement when his young grandson Joe accompanied him to the summit, to be greeted by applause by other walkers.

The £28,000 in funding for the 200th anniversary celebration comes from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) through the Welsh Assembly Government’s Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007 to 2013.

The summit of Moel Famau now attracts 200,000 visitors a year and the planned festivities have captured the public’s imagination.  Hundreds people from across North East Wales and Merseyside have already registered on the Jubilee 200 website, with many sharing their own personal memories of the Jubilee Tower.

Anyone with tales to tell or photographs to show should click onto:- www.jubileetower200.co.uk.