PLAYING IT SAFE [SEE NEW EDITION]: THE CRAZY WORLD OF BRITAIN'S HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS

by Alan Pearce

'Very entertaining.' Jeffrey Podger, chief executive Health & Safety Executive Imagine a world where you wellington boots come with a 24-page instruction manual, or council carers who are prohibited from making tea for OAPs in case they scald themselves on the job. Welcome to Britain in the 21st century, where the Jobsworth now lords it large, issuing edicts of mind-boggling stupidity that ruin the quality of people's lives all in the name of Health and Safety. Journalist Alan Pearce has compiled the most outrageous and hilarious (and unfortunately all true) examples of Health and Safety gone mad. They will make you cringe whilst crying with laughter. You couldn't make it up! * The author who was banned from selling his book in case it caused paper cuts. * The swings removed from a playground in case children were blinded by the sun while playing on them. * An international cycle race banned after worries about urinating cyclists. * The risk assessment needed before a local village hall could sell mince pies

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2007

Reviews

[Jen Wake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining but repetitive

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plain dumbness of some of these stories beggars belief. Whatever happened to common sense? Of course there's nothing we can do about it though, the government agreed to it all, so everyone must be treat like babies. One day books will be banned as reading them could give you ideas or hurt your eyes

[Andrew Fish · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is said that life is too short to take it seriously. Sometimes you just have to laugh at the stupidity of the world. Unfortunately, despite a subject which is ripe for satire, this book fails to hit its mark. The reasons are several, but fundamentally they come down to the perception that this is a book written more to make money than to entertain. The author appears to have done nothing more than trawl the newspapers, collect stories and repeat them verbatim, which means they are journalistic rather than satirical and tend to annoy rather than amuse. Compare this with Stephen Pile's Heroic Failures series and it pales in comparison. Perhaps this is being unfair and the author has rewritten the stories, but if he has he's done it in a dry, uninspiring manner which makes for a less than enjoyable read.

In collecting the articles, the author also appears to have been somewhat slapdash. Some stories don't even qualify as health and safety, falling rather into the category of political correctness or protecting children from predators. Whether the author didn't notice, didn't care or simply assumed that the target audience were too dumb to know the difference is unclear. At least one article has the wrong headline and several of them are perplexing because - unless you're someone who sees red at the very mention of health and safety - you rather think the authorities had a point. Why, after all, shouldn't fire crews be protected against ear damage from their sirens? Ultimately, this book feels like a poor attempt to cash in on a social obsession - I expect a volume of tweets which made headlines to follow shortly.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a couple of really heavy books, I picked this one up for a lighter laugh. I was not disappointed.

This little book is one of those comedy compilations, based around one subject, that I am so fond of. The stories are outrageous though, as they are all culled from press sources, you wonder how many are true and based on actual incidents and how many were made up to feed the outrage of newspaper readers.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guaranteed to send anybody with common sense into a fit of rage at the stupidity of the current obsession with compliance with "Elf and Safety" rules. Read it and seethe (providing you do it quietly and in the privacy of your own home).

[Anu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories in this book are INSANE, I can't believe how stupid some people are. *headdesk*

[Kim (Wistfulskimmies Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny. Some of the Health and Safety rulings are utterly ridiculous!