I have made mention of safety in a previous column.
I’m personally all for it but not the way we are going about it.
One of the founding principles of the NZ way of life was the “we can do it” No.8 wire mentality.
This grew out our isolation, tucked away in the depths of the southern latitudes and having to make do with what we had or could make. Many very successful New Zealand companies have been founded because someone had a good idea and was willing to give it a go and take some risks.
But, with the deluge of health & safety legislation being passed or being considered we are, in my opinion, in danger of losing our ‘can-do’ spirit because people are afraid of the consequences.
Are we breaking some law or what will happen and who have I offended and so it goes on.
Are we legislating away our creativity?
Sure, we have taken risks in the past, but these were calculated with a great deal of common sense and we all know common sense unfortunately passed away and has been banned from public use!
The amount of red tape we are creating for ourselves confounds belief. It may be good for the paper manufacturers but Greenpeace must be having fits at all the reams of extra paper that are now required for all the new forms.
So, let’s all stop and take a look at where we are going and try to resurrect some common sense before we are afraid to leave the house lest we break some safety law.
It is difficult to legislate against stupidity, and there will always be those folks who are subject to ‘Darwin’s Law of Natural Selection’, but that is just the way it goes.
