A traditional pancake race was scrapped this month, apparently as a result of health and safety regulations. Every year, children and choristers take part in the Shrove Tuesday race in Ripon, North Yorkshire. The event was revived ten years ago and is usually started by the ringing of Ripon Cathedral's ancient Pancake Bell. However this year the event was shelved, with organisers blaming the mountain of risk assessments that must be carried out before children can take part.
Organisers were told they had to pay £250 to Harrogate Borough Council to close Kirkgate Road, where the race takes place. They would also have to hold insurance risk assessments and pay to have medical staff on hand in case of any injuries or accidents. As a result, it was difficult to find volunteers to carry out the procedures. Bernard Bateman, Councillor for Ripon North said, "The main problem is the health and safety aspects. There is a bureaucracy that goes into holding any event these days, the policing, the risk assessments, and it has a cost factor and takes a lot of time."
However, Health and Safety Commission (HSC) Chair Judith Hackitt has issued a vitriolic response to the "health and safety gone mad" brigade. Speaking specifically about the incident, she stated that there was no reason or rule to cancel the event on grounds of health and safety or risk assessments. "Given that this is an annual event, a straightforward risk assessment should have been done several years ago. Therefore all anyone needs to do is review that assessment to check nothing has changed. If the event has been held for many years without incident or injury, there will be a wealth of evidence to back up the assessment and show the event can be held safely."
She continued, "For an organisation that exists to prevent loss of lives and serious injuries in the workplace, it is deeply frustrating that health and safety continues to be used as an excuse to hide other less convincing reasons, which others would prefer not to give. Please stop devaluing the important work on real health and safety."
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