Fluorescent Tape & Jackets: Taking the Thinking Out of British Health & Safety

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam
(c) Amanda van Mulligen

I recently returned to England for a couple of days and for the first time in many years I actually flew over. I was flying to Southampton with FlyBe and instead of parking the plane in the vicinity of the airport terminal the plane was parked in Rotterdam so a bus took us from the Schiphol departure lounge to the plane. (For those not au fait with the British sense of humour, the plane was not actually parked in Rotterdam..... but it was a little bus ride from the terminal. You won't believe the blank looks I get from non-Brits when I'm being sarcastic.)

We piled off the bus onto the tarmac and formed a semi-orderly queue to go up the plane steps. The plane was a little one. Well, not like a two seater little one, but it certainly wasn't a jumbo jet. The little plane had propellors, which were turning slowly for a little while as we queued to get onto the plane.

Surprisingly no one leapt from the queue to put their head in the way of the propellors, just to see what would happen. In fact, no one moved out of line and instead continued to shuffle forward to get on the plane. No deaths, beheadings, or slight mutilations. Common sense and self-preservation prevailed.

My return flight from Southampton a few days later involved us walking a few meters from the gate to the airplane steps. Same type of airplane. Same propellors but this time no movement from the propellors. Even if they had been moving no passenger was in any danger because a fluorescent green band placed strategically around the side of the plane ensured that we could not get further than the steps leading up to the plane. No chance of a confused pensioner heading for the back of the plane, no possibility that a tall Dutchman should bang his noggin against the wing and certainly no room for a freak accident involving a propellor and a curious passenger.

Planes in Britain are more dangerous than in the
Netherlands.......
(c) Amanda van Mulligen

And if we hadn't seen the fluorescent green tape lining the plane perimeter there were strategically placed people in fluorescent green jackets to ensure that there was no straying. In short, the only way any passenger was getting anywhere near the plane was via the steps and inside.

I've heard lots of expats in Britain talking about health and safety gone mad. I've heard lots of things from family, particularly when they are over here in the Netherlands and pointing out situations that would NEVER be allowed in Britain. They comment that the British are no longer allowed to rely on common sense to keep themselves out of dangerous situations - it's all done for them with fluorescent tape and men in fluorescent jackets.

What do you think: has health and safety gone crazy in Britain? What are health and safety precautions like in the country you live in?