The leader of a London council who refused to wear a hard hat while visiting a re-development site in his borough has defended his decision, saying "people should have a choice whether to wear them or not."
Stephen Carr, head of Bromley Council in south-east London, was visiting the Pavilion leisure centre which is being re-developed in a £5 million project by Higgins Construction. According to reports in local papers, Mr Carr said he informed the site manager he wouldn't be wearing a hat and that the manager could refuse him entry if he had concerns. The visit went ahead. Mr Carr denied it was a vanity thing, saying he "just doesn't do hats."
Higgins Construction responded by saying, "The safety of our supply chain and others who may be affected by our undertakings is of paramount importance. This unfortunate situation was caused by this particular individual applying peer pressure to our site manager and insisting that he would not wear a hard hat. Our site manager at the time decided not to upset the client, and he therefore carried out correct company procedure by carrying out a full risk assessment. The councillor and the rest of the team were escorted by the site manager at all times and walked a safe route where there were no overhead or underfoot hazards, and at no time did they enter any work areas."
They went on to say, "It is extremely disappointing than an individual with such a standing in the community acted in this manner, as he should be leading by example. This incident has been dealt with internally and our minimum PPE requirement has been reiterated to the appropriate personnel within the business."
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