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 Health
& safety gone mad
As health and safety officers, you might expect them to be more cautious than most when it comes to diving into sub-zero water.
But this team of council officials took the plunge in the icy waters of a the National Diving & Activity Centre.
Dubbing themselves “Health And Safety Gone Mad”, they are on a mission to convince us the nanny state is not stopping us being adventurous.
Roger Garbett, Keith Leslie, Haydn Brookes and Rhys Thomas, of the Forest of Dean District Council’s environmental health department, are fed-up with taking the blame for bosses who do not want to put up Christmas decorations or poor organisers who cannot arrange a pancake race.
So they want to prove to people that they do not expect them to stay at home wrapped in cotton wool.
By day they make sure local eateries are clean, that factories and events conform to the regulations.
But in their spare time they take part in activities ranging from bog snorkelling to chariot racing – and are even planning an Arctic expedition.
 After hearing health and safety officials were blamed for ending a traditional Christmas Day swim in Suffolk, Roger and Keith took a New Year dip at the National Diving & Activity Centre in Tidenham to prove to people they can still do it.
Admittedly they made sure there were people on hand with blankets and hot drinks in case they got into trouble, but they say there is nothing wrong with a few precautions.
“We want to show people health and safety is about saving lives, not stopping lives,” said Roger, 49, group manager of environmental services.
“People should stop using health and safety as an excuse. It’s all about being realistic, knowing your capabilities and taking responsibility for your own life.
“Of course there are lthings I would not do. Spending my life sitting on the sofa watching TV is one of them. Not taking exercise is more likely to kill you than doing exercise.”
The friends came up with the idea of their group to get rid of years of pent-up frustration at having people blame them for the ‘nanny state’.
 Things
came to a head for Roger when he heard complaints that a local pancake
race was cancelled for health and safety reasons. “There’s no law
in the land that says you cannot have a pancake race,” he said.
“Too often health and safety is used as a reason for inaction. It
is not about avoiding risky decisions but taking considered risk.
“If you believe some of the stories you hear, health and safety
is all about stopping any activity that might possibly lead to harm.
“Our approach is to seek a balance between the unachievable aim
of absolute safety and the kind of poor management of risk that
damages lives and the economy.”
Roger is the oldest in the team, with Keith, Haydn and Rhys in their 20s, 30s and to 40s.
On Saturday Jan 10 all four will take part in the Saturnalia Mountain Bike Chariot Racing event – wearing Roman costume – in the village of Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys, Wales.
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