I feel sorry for The Health and Safety Executive. There is so much overkill that goes on with them being used as the excuse, rather than risk averse staff in general or (as in many H&S in the private sector) insurance requirements.

I am part of a government regulatory body and meet with HSE people. As such, I have two of their overall messages to the good people that I am sure they would want relaying;

1. Health and safety idiocies are not always to keep HSE happy, they are often showing a lack of understanding of health and safety.

2. Some things have altered over the years, and many people are alive today who wouldn't be if it wasn't for enhanced understanding of risk.

I agree with Eliza that parents are wrapping kids in cotton wool, and mine walked to school from an early age. On their own once they were old enough. Although if I were a teacher with lots of the little darlings, I suppose I would feel nervous considering the appalling driving skills of many people. Road fatalities have gone down and accidents in general have gone down, but before drivers get all smug, it is far more to do with modern engineering, anti lock brakes, etc than us evolving into better drivers.

Sorry Bozo3legs, when I see a thread with this title, I see a lack of understanding of health and safety, even when I may agree with the example you give. Tabloid newspapers run with this thread title in order to sell newspapers, not because of reality?