It’s not “making up” as such, but exaggerating and extrapolating. The Mail and the Scotsman seem to do it regularly.

I have one story unblogged (the Cemetary Benches height requirements) that I audit trailed – I’ll blog that in detail this evening.

Matt

(1) The over-zealous Jobsworth who uses H&S as an excuse.
(2) The “Compensation Culture”. It would seem that we are not suing any more these days but the perception is out there that you can sue easily.
(3) The insurance companies who, fearing claims for compensation, raise the cost of insurance to such levels that events from the egg-and-spoon race to a bonfire party are cancelled.

So, what level of “proportion” should be applied to these stories? If a school does cancel an event because of high insurance costs, that certainly is a “news story” because it ultimately affects us all. Anyone disbelieving the stories quoted in “Playing it Safe” only has to reach for the phonebook and check for themselves as the majority of people and organisations featured are not only named but exist in reality. I am also surprised that people believe newspaper editors actually make these stories up. Having been a journalist for over 30 years, not only have I never come across an Editorial Fiction Department, but have always found the biggest problem with running a newspaper is having too much material. Any reporter under my editorship would be swiftly out on their ear if caught making up stories.

* There may be a real issue
* But it often gets blown our of all proportion, even when it has been resolved sensibly.
* Often someone who is not a real H&S person will give H&S “advice”, that is different, more sweeping and less pragmatic than that that would be given by a qualified H&S officer. Sometimes someone not qualified will try and apply a universal measure, when it is not necessary.
* The sweeping advice will then get seized on as a “good story” and promulgate everywhere under “H&S Gone Mad”, and quite often
* That will then all get blamed on H&S, even though “real H&S” did not give the advice.

So the problem may be real, but the scope may be taken far beyond the reasonable by burocratic and legal logic.

My view, anyway.

>Who do you want to SHUT the hell up? Clarkson? or me?

It’s a good point – and I agree with you that they are usually myths. That’s why we did the series, and got the professional body involved.

The myths are usually down to people (Papers, bloggers) not checking facts.

>Neocons?

Clarkson’s a TV presenter who found an image that got viewers. Life is not THAT much dominated by conspiracy theories.

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