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A refreshing lack of zeal
Page 66
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Too many laws and stultifying working practices choke Sandy
Bruce who wishes we could
shrug off the nanny state.
We have recently been renewing our insurance arrangements and were a little disappointed by the reluctance of our insurers to give us a final quotation until just before the renewal was due.And this doesn't appear to be an isolated case; I have spoken with other operators in our area and have discovered that they have been experiencing the same problem.
This late submission of the quotation makes it very difficult to obtain and make detailed comparisons with other quotations. it has also started to make me question whether this seemingly non-competitive practice is in line with modern thinking.
Fixed but good
Another problem we have been faced with recently (which is occurring in the Grampian region but could well be happening elsewhere too) relates to a new procedure for maintenance on country roads.
An apparent need to protect the road repair workforce is being dealt with by the complete closure of the road. In the past, arrangements have been made to continue operations with traffic lights. Stop-Go boards, etc What is especially annoying is that these closures are being made without any prior notification.
While I fully endorse the need to protect the workforce, do we really need to close the road? Our company distributes throughout the countryside in north-east Scotland so we rely on these vital links to the rural economy. I think we must find a sensible balance between health and safety and the need for trade to develop before we legislate ourselves completely out of business.
As a final thought, I have just returned from a holiday in the United States where there was a refreshing lack of this health and safety zeal. No spray suppression, no side guards or any of the other items we in this country have to observe.. With good prices on that difficult four letter f-word — fuel — they seem to have one of the strongest economies in the world without being overburdened with Is it possible that the two issues are not unrelated? A more relaxed attitude to health and safety and other regulatory constraints like some of the current aspects of UK employment law might give us a better opportunity for the future.
Who benefits?
Do our European competitors (indeed our competitors worldwide) observe such stringent codes as we do while we watch jobs— especially manufacturing jobs, which are the bread-andbutter of our customer base — drifting abroad? •