To change a lightbulb…

health and safety madnessI was in the UK last week, in Horsham (West Sussex, England), and came upon what can only be described as the biggest fookin’ waste of money and manpower you could imagine.

A classic example of a brain-dead local council’s woefully wasteful practices, totally oblivious to the need for streamlining and efficiency, at a time when the government is making such swingeing cuts in the public sector.

What we had, basically, was a man servicing, or cleaning, or changing bulbs in the street lights. Something that should have entailed a cherry-picker, a couple of operatives and a line of cones.    Continue reading