Darkness, regulations and total stupidity

Darkness, regulations and total stupidity

My local authority need to save money.  Ah, by what means shall they do this?  Cut bonuses for higher paid staff?  No.  Reduce bin collections to monthly instead of fortnightly?  No.  How about using the folks on community service to clear the foot high weeds from the gutters? No.  Unbelievably the decision has been taken to permanently switch off street lights throughout the county.

In my town we were advised (by a small entry in the local paper) that this would amount to every other light being deactivated.  In reality however, there are banks of three and four out in areas such as roundabouts, dark footpaths, road crossings and car parks.  A local primary school campaigned for months to have a zebra crossing installed outside the entrance after the lollipop lady retired after 25 years of service.  Petitions were organised, protests mounted outside the school, the local press and television were involved and eventually the council agreed to provide the crossing after initially only saying they would install it on a blind bend.........

Yes, you have guessed it.................the streetlight at the new zebra crossing has been switched off.  What planet are these people on?  These measures will doubtless lead to an increase in accidents, assaults, people generally feeling unsafe and of course a rise in pollution when folks drive rather than walk along unlit areas.

You couldn’t make it up.

I do love the way here in the UK we are obliged to follow excessive health and safety rules directed at us by the powers that be in Brussels.  No conker playing in schools; mountains of paperwork to be signed by parents before children can go on a 300 yard (not metres) walk from school to the library; manual handling courses to be completed before a box of staples can be picked up.......you know the sort of thing I mean. 

On my recent venture into mainland Europe I saw many examples of non-compliance in relation to ‘elf ‘n’ safety including a workman down a hole using a pneumatic drill (no visor, ear defenders or breathing mask), roofers wandering up and down the wooden struts (no hard hats or harnesses) and road workers wandering about on the carriageway without a care for oncoming traffic.

By far though, one of the funniest sights I ever saw took place in Belgium, yes home of the regulation making bigwigs, a few years ago.  In Bruges, a decorator was painting the wooden frames on the outside of a beautiful old building.  He was actually perched on a scaffold (hooray for regulations!)................however one side of the structure was on the pavement and the other on a barge on the adjacent canal......yes, you have twigged it.......half the scaffold swayed side to side with the movement of the barge.

How do they get away with it?  I am all for sensible safety precautions but we as a nation appear to be caught up in a never ending whirlwind of nonsense and act accordingly in fear of being brought to book if we do not comply.  As a childminder, I have to get parents to sign on their contract to give permission to apply plasters or use antiseptic wipes on their child.  What is the alternative?  Let the child drip blood all day and keep their grazes filled with grit, mud and whatever else they choose to fall over into?  The world has gone stark raving bonkers.

I am now off to take the small folk to the shops in the pushchair (a BS approved one of course).