Health and safety madness

[Kuffy]

I'm in a McDonald's restaurant, and a guy is installing steel retaining cables above each of the speakers. Apparently this is a health and safety ruling in case on of the speakers escapes, and falls on a customer. They are installed pretty securely, and it looks as if the speaker is actually larger than the installation hole. There have been no recorded cases of speakers falling down on customers in any British McDonalds. What a stupid waste of money that is being forced on food retailers that are facing new economic challenges in a changing market place.

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[CristianOff]

Well, we don't have to wait for something to happen in order to take action. It's just a preventive operation taken by the company which goes unnoticed and
should be appreciated.

[Cnut237]

I'm in a McDonald's restaurant, and a guy is installing steel retaining cables above each of the speakers. Apparently this is a health and safety ruling in case on of the speakers escapes, and falls on a customer. They are installed pretty securely, and it looks as if the speaker is actually larger than the installation hole. There have been no recorded cases of speakers falling down on customers in any British McDonalds. What a stupid waste of money that is being forced on food retailers that are facing new economic challenges in a changing market place.

First I would argue that this H&S ruling isn't directed specifically at McDonalds, but is applicable much more widely. Whilst a big multinational such as McDonalds probably already has processes in place to ensure that any work is carried out safely, and a team dedicated to H&S, the likelihood is that for much smaller businesses and independent traders the standards can be much lower, and legislative intervention is needed to ensure that the public are reasonably protected. McDonalds installing a speaker can be very different to a random shopkeeper with a screwdriver and a penchant for DIY trying to wedge something in above a doorway.

Second I would say that because H&S standards are so broadly applicable, it is easy to find individual cases that seem absurd. The general trend however is a different matter. In the UK, the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) is the basis for current H&S, and is an important milestone. Let's look at recent trends:

Number of fatal injuries to employees
(RIDDOR and earlier reporting legislation, Great Britain)



Rate of self-reported workplace non-fatal injury
(LFS, Great Britain; estimated rate per 100,000 workers)



Rate of employer-reported non-fatal injury
(RIDDOR, Great Britain; rate per 100,000 employees)

https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/history/index.htm


The first chart is the most illustrative of the overall pattern, as it covers the full period from introduction of the Act, and shows a very clear trend. However, if we look at the other charts, particularly employer-reported non-fatals, we can see that the pattern is still, even now in the age of 'health and safety gone mad', a reduction year-on-year.

So I would argue that whilst certain individual instances of H&S requirements may appear ridiculous, and whilst I'm sure the industry has its share of petty jobsworths who delight in enforcing regulations, H&S as viewed overall is still tremendously important and does improve health and does improve safety.

[franky1]

its not a business or customer financial negative

imagine a law suit fanatic who loves suing companies (you know the type, them ambulance chaser lawyers with their 'have you been in an accident thats not you fault')
in one example case in america for something petty with no lasting injury someone got millions
heck in the uk someone got 10;s of thousands for getting a shaving cut from them disposable bic razors
point being spending say £/$1000 each on say 1000 stores is cheaper than costing millions on one accident case

so in most ways business save money doing this stuff.. else they wouldnt even bother to waste man hours planning parts, labour and schedules to begin the work months before

[palle11]

Well, we don't have to wait for something to happen in order to take action. It's just a preventive operation taken by the company which goes unnoticed and
should be appreciated.

I think this simply answers to the reason and thought of the installer or team so that a law suit can be likely avoided. This is even a nice thing to avoid an accident that could be eminent. If more restaurants and managers of public places can take such preventive measures, the better for the world.

[odolvlobo]

... There have been no recorded cases of speakers falling down on customers in any British McDonalds. ...

And before the first 737 Max fell out of the sky, there were no recorded cases of that happening either. Then it happened twice.

Anyway, why should I trust your opinion on this? Do you have any real facts to support it? Of course, if you are correct about this, then it is yet another example of how regulatory overreach is wasteful. But if you are not, then it is another example of someone looking for situations to support their biases.

It is common for a person to believe they are an expert on a subject, when they are actually uninformed. It's called the Dunning–Kruger effect. In order to avoid that, I try to understand why someone believes they are correct before I tell them that they are wrong.