Inappropriate anti-correctness activity

An elderly lady knitted a selection of woollen dolls for our consulting rooms many years ago. These include a 3 foot high Gollywotsit.

Since then generations of kids of all colours and creeds have played with it on the floor of my room and not one single parent has ever batted an eyelid.

I guess offence is about context. If anyone disliked it I'd happily remove it but don't feel the need until then.

Bruce

In my view the soft toys are wholly inappropriate. The H&S joke is actually quite a good way of getting people to understand the importance, without feeling lectured. Adherence to H&S is of course essential in the scenario you paint

I agree, it's along the lines of, "Although there may be fifty ways to leave your lover, there are only five ways to get out of this aircraft."

Chris

The interesting thing about all this that for all the complaints by agenda-driven or not-terribly-reflective "commentators", neither "health and safety" nor "political correctness" really exist; they certainly aren't a problem.

It has been demonstrated time and time again that H&S has been used by bodies and corporations as an excuse to evade responsibility for decisions (or decisions not made), or else as an arse-covering exercise in an increasingly litigious culture (which all of us, incidentally, have helped to create). For example - the oft-reported and repeated stories about parents not being allowed to film or photograph their kids at the school nativity play are never (contrary to reports) about "health and safety" - there are no such regulations. A head teacher has the right to prevent filming on school premises if he or she feels fit; some do so, usually out of over-anxiousness, but then seek to evade responsibility by blaming nebulous H&S regulations. 

In fact, H&S regulations are to be praised, not excoriated - they have done much to improve the lot of all of us. Had a health and safety regime been in force at ,say, Bhopal, thousands of lives could have been saved.

As for golliwogs, I have asked my black friends and acquaintances about them. Some are deeply hurt or offended by them, others think them ridiculous, a relic of less enlightened times. But all are united in thinking that they have no place in the UK in the 21st century. I am not advocating that the world's extant gollies be destroyed, and the libertarian in me cannot accept a ban, but it seems a bit shocking that a publicly or charitably-funded body is selling these things in 2014.

Was in B&Q couple of days ago buying a couple of metres of plastic tubing. Looked around for the scissors (previously chained to the racking) to cut it off but to no avail. Asked one of the staff and was informed that the scissors had been removed for "health & safety" reasons". Another member of staff was called and he proceeded to cut off the tubing using a wholly inappropriate craft knife (the type with the snap off blades). All for H&S but in this case it had clearly significantly increased the risk of injury. Problem is that decisions being made on H&S (and indeed many other topics) are all to often made by those patently unfit to do so.

Willy.

The Advertising Standards Agency have prohibited Morrison's from any further broadcasting of a TV advert (link here) which 'condoned poor nutritional habits'.

Clearly one is no longer allowed to state the bleeding obvious that many children don't like vegetables and salad.

Stay healthy folks.

John.