HSE and the flashing blade

Chris Blythe says: “We don’t just need legislation that seeks to punish when something goes wrong.” Perhaps he should try to convince the HSE of that.

Last year a 12cm-long blade from an agricultural grass cutter, operating in a field at least 130m from our home, became detached and spun through the air over a lane and via intervening properties - including a primary school playground - to slice straight through our metal garage door. The rogue blade did £300 worth of damage to my car.

Had the blade come down in the playground, or had we been standing by the garage, the consequences could have been far more serious.

Yet the HSE was not interested enough to pay us a visit. Its last letter to me stated that, “the purpose of our enquiries would solely be to support a criminal prosecution”. The idea of preventing a future occurrence through a warning is clearly not on the agenda.