Be jubilant for Jubilee, not a killjoy

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published some top tips for organising celebrations as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in order to prevent so-called 'jobsworths' from jeopardising Jubilee celebrations by wrongly citing health and safety as a way to ban or restrict events.

The Government has said that the celebrations for the Jubilee should not be hindered by bogus health and safety restrictions. As a result, the HSE has published ten top tips online.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said, "The Jubilee is a great opportunity for communities from all walks of life to come together, and reinforce our shared identity and sense of Britishness. The Government has slashed back regulations on street parties, by reining back the complicated bureaucracy of forms, permissions and risk assessments - now councils need to do their bit to join in."

He added, "Unnecessary and irrelevant health and safety regulations should not be used as an excuse to prevent people to celebrate; the only red tape in sight should be the Jubilee bunting hanging in the streets."

So, if you are planning to join in with the Jubilee celebrations this summer by organising your own celebrations, some of these tips may come in helpful to ensure a safe, but unhindered, day:

• if you're going for a massive party, you might need to speak to your local council - things like charging for entry to your event, employing people by paying them, selling food or alcohol or wanting to completely close roads - these are the types of things that might need a conversation;
• if people are paying to come to your event, then you have responsibilities to your customers;
• whether it's just you or a group of people who are planning a celebration, it's a good idea to have a chat or have a think yourself about how to make your event run smoothly, deciding on things which might be an issue on the day, like children running about near traffic;
• stand up for common sense, and if someone says you can't do something for health and safety reasons, challenge them to find out exactly why - if there's a genuine risk, see what you can do to minimise that and still go ahead.

For more tips and advice from the HSE about your Jubilee celebrations, see the HSE Queen's Diamond Jubilee page at http://cedr.ec/8k.