Tag Archives: public policy

My letter of the month…

…in the September 2011 issue of Safety & Health Practitioner magazine, that is. Continue reading

What did you think of the riots debate?

Last night the BBC website streamed a live 3-hour debate about the recent riots, hosted by the producers of Today. It looked at policing, families/parenting and morality, using a lively format of 3 sets of panellists, and lots of audience input. Continue reading

World through a windscreen?

Today is Playday, the annual play celebration. I am going to take a step back from the festivals, the Council fun days and the PR campaigning, important though they are. Instead, I want to explore one of the reasons why so many children are losing out on the opportunity to play outside in the first place: the car.

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The outdoor child should be an ‘indicator species’ for London

pond dippingMy new draft report  Sowing the Seeds: Reconnecting children with nature calls for the outdoor child to be seen as an ‘indicator species’. The report, written for the London Sustainable Development Commission (the body that advises the Mayor of London on sustainability) argues that, just as with salmon or house sparrows, the presence of children out of doors should be seen as a measure of the quality of neighbourhoods, London Boroughs and the capital as a whole.

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3 things HSE must do to end the zero risk childhood

HSE web page Myth of the month - Egg boxes are banned in craft lessonsJudith Hackitt, head of the Health and Safety Executive, was right recently when she said that the muddle about health and safety cannot be laid solely at her door. To take one example: no credible organisation has ever advised that egg boxes and toilet roll holders should be banned from the classroom. The HSE itself has labelled the ban one of its ‘myths of the month’. Yet despite this, many early years teachers and childcarers are convinced that egg boxes are a biological risk too far.

However, the HSE remains at the very centre of the mess. Continue reading