Royal Wedding celebrations given ‘health and safety’ green light

Royal Wedding celebrations given ‘health and safety’ green light

Communities in the North West who want to organise celebrations for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton are being urged not to be fobbed off by jobsworths citing ‘health and safety.'

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is concerned that ‘health and safety’ will be trotted out as an unfounded excuse not to hold local celebrations.

Minister for Health and Safety Chris Grayling said: "The Royal Wedding will be a great national occasion, and I want to reassure everyone that they can have street parties with friends and family and bring out the bunting to celebrate in time-honoured British tradition.

“There is no reason whatsoever for anyone to ban these celebrations on the grounds of health and safety. We are restoring common sense to our health and safety system, ensuring it is there to protect people at work not penalise people at leisure."

HSE Chairwoman Judith Hackitt said: “The Royal Wedding will be one of the highlights of the year for many people and we want to pre-empt the fun sponges who will try to use “health and safety” as an excuse to hide behind.

“Volunteers should feel confident to organise celebrations, taking simple measures based on common sense without having to worry about obligations under health and safety law at all.

“I want to encourage people to challenge those who tell you something can’t be done for health and safety reasons – it’s too easy an excuse to trot out.”

Hundreds of street parties are expected to take place up and down Britain to celebrate with the Royal couple on Friday 29 April. Health and safety is often invoked to disguise someone's real motives - concerns over costs or complexity, compensation culture or an unwillingness to honestly defend an unpopular decision.

Fourteen applications have been received to hold street parties across the Rochdale borough.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/55014/royal-wedding-fever-hits-rochdale