Interesting Facts

According to the United States Fire Administration, in the USA there are 10,300 fires during the three-day period around Halloween.   These fires cause an estimated 25 deaths, 125 injuries and $83 million in property loss. (Most fires are down to the candles in jack-o-lanterns and costumes that aren't fire-retardent.)

Due to health and safety issues at a church putting on a nativity play in Neath, south Wales, has  meant that the child playing Mary will have to wear a hard hat when she saddles up for the donkey ride to Bethlehem. (Luckily she will be able to hide the head gear under her shawl. My favourite headline for this story, comes from the Metro - Yule never believe it!)

A restaurant in Oldham removed toothpicks from the tables over fears that customers would stab their mouths or dislodge fillings (A diner was told by a waiter that new health and safety rules had been applied, but he went on to complain to the Health and Safety Executive and it ruled in his favour. It said: “There is no health and safety regulation which stops toothpicks being handed out in a restaurant.” Toothpicks are now back on the tables. Misunderstanding about Health and Safety rules have got so out of hand, that an HSE Myth Busters Challenge Panel has been set up. They even have their own web site. "Who ya gonna call?") Source

PVH, owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and German retailer Tchibo have signed up to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement (BFBSA) which will require signatories to ensure suppliers' premises meet improved safety standards. (The drive for this follows the collapse of  the Rana Plaza, a building in Bangladesh.  Hundreds of people have been killed or injured and rescuers are still searching for survivors.   Simple Approach, a supplier to cheap fashion outlet Primark, occupied the second floor of the eight-storey building. It seems building collapses are common in Bangladesh, due to lax building regulations. 25 Nov 2000  A fire at the Sagar Chowdhury Garment Factory in Narsingdi, 35 miles from Dhaka, kills 52 people, including children. A locked gate stops them escaping. 11 Apr 2005  Sixty-four people are killed when the Spectrum factory near Dhaka collapses. The disaster is blamed on illegal construction. 25 Feb 2010  A...

In Dorset, in the UK a girl of 14 was banned from buying a Glee pencil sharpener — because it was "a lethal weapon". (The offending article was part of a  school stationery set, branded on the TV series Glee.   The cashier told the girl that the round sharpener could only be sold to someone aged 18 or over because   the set contained 'lethal objects'.  In the great tradition of under age children in the UK, she got her 18 year old brother to buy it for her.) Source

powered by ODEO According to a study conducted by Renmin University in China, 2.5% of people in Beijing still spit in public. (But this is down from 4.9% in 2006. So there's hope yet.)

powered by ODEO According to a report in the Daily Mail officials at the Health and Safety Executive are just as prone to accidents as the rest of us. Staff there have been involved in 500 accidents in three years. (One person slipped on a raisin of all things and another cut his head when he walked into a warning sign, which is priceless. I just wonder who investigates these accidents at the place that is supposed to investigate accidents. The Health and Safety, Health and Safety Executive?)