Full mental jacket

At what point does Health and Safety go from being a sensible precaution, to completely ludicrous?

Is it when a man playing Lord Nelson in an re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar is forced to wear a life jacket?

Or is it when a man playing Jesus has to stand on scaffolding during an re-enactment of the crucifixion during an Easter parade?

You may think I’ve made these examples up, but you would be wrong. It seems not only are no parts of our lives untouched by the Health and Safety brigade these days but they seem hell bent on justifying their jobs.

Mind I guess if I was on 60 thousand a year of taxpayers money with a car and index linked pension throw in, I might feel obliged to do something with my days.

But it seems that they haven’t even gotten started yet.

Word reaches me of a Royal marine who’s just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Based in Basra he was one day ordered to take a JCB a short distance from the base to dig a hole for soil testing.

Nothing too strange about that you might think?

But as he was about to leave kitted out in full-body armour and helmet, he was told he had to wear a high-visibility vest over the top because it was technically a construction site and normal British Health and Safety rules applied.

It would have easier to just paint a target on his back.