HSE Press Office: Putting the record straight

Letters to the Editor
The Guardian
119 Farringdon Road
London
EC1R 3ER

30th March 2005

Dear Sir/Madam

I read with interest your Football Diary item on Saturday 26th March on Mr Roy Webster and his difficulties with Wroxham Town football club. I was concerned that Mr Webster, having been banned from the ground, should be expected to report games from a ladder. Standing on a ladder, notebook in hand, for 45 minutes each half would be far more than could reasonably be required under the Work at Height Regulations that come into effect on 6 April. So I was delighted to see that in time for his 72nd birthday he was supplied with an "elaborate scaffold" on which he can now more safely report these games. A victory for sensible risk assessment.

Yours faithfully

Timothy Walker
Director General, Health and Safety Executive