And why has H&S gone mad? Because we have gone mad! At the slightest hint of anything happening to anyone, they sue. Sod Margaret bloody Thatcher and her 'no win no fee' idea, it's turned us all into the sort of people who want to be victims, and not to take responsibility.
If you got hit by a an RC car and someone said they could get you a few grand from someone else for nothing, would you say no? History says you wouldn't. So, the lawyer goes to court and points out to the judge that things that could have been done have not been done and before you can "payout" you are staring a mortgage in the face to pay the claimant.
If it cost the right amount of money to sue where there has been negligence or wilful recklessness then people would go after those who deliberately put us in the way of harm. As it is that change of Law means anyone can set up as a claims advisor and act on your behalf - it costs you nothing to get tax-free money. Surprise, surprise - people sue for anything because they have no skin in the game and it costs them nothing.
So, when the court says that not being easily visible is a contributory cause to the 'accident' then what happens? Everyone ends up in a hi-vis. Don't rail against the nanny state and the H&S madness because we, the general public, caused it.
On a more practical note, they do make it easier to see someone on the track out of the corner of your eye when they contrast against the background. As for the 'counting the marshals' bit - sorry, don't buy it. Before the hi-viz craze Race Directors counted bodies and marshal positions were marked. If there were nine in the last heat and you could only count eight people at the marked positions you were one missing!
When doing risk assessments against court decisions in previous cases, being 'invisible' comes out as a contributory cause of accidents. Result? - we get people to wear hi-viz jackets. Suck it up. The reverse of acting on court decisions is that if you don't you will not have a claim, however wilful or negligent the 'offender'. Don't wear a hi-viz and you have no leg to stand on making a claim if you are injured. And that is the real harm of all this - make one mistake in following the requirements and people will, one day, get away with murder.
|