Your Say

24/03/2004
EU alert! Mountains are high
Western Mail

by Darren Devine

Eurocrats have ordered new warning signs will need to be put on Welsh mountains to tell climbers they are high up.

New European laws designed to prevent accidents at work mean mountaineers may have to be warned they are at risk of falling.

MEP Jonathan Evans yesterday blasted the new legislation as "madness." And he claims the safety regulation plans – meant for building sites – will cause chaos at the 1,000 licensed outdoor activity centres in Britain.

Mr Evans, Tory MEP for Wales, said, "Activity centres will be legally compelled to post signs to tell people they are up high.

"This is madness – most people know that when they climb a mountain they will be up high!"
The Health and Safety Executive is consulting outdoor activity centres about the new directive brought in to tackle falls in the workplace.

"In 2002, 68 people in the UK were killed in falls at work and almost 4,000 were seriously injured.
John Cousins, of Mountain Leader Training UK, in Capel Curig, said, "When the HSE started this project they were thinking about building sites – they haven't really thought it through. We have been trying to explain these things for three years and we are moments away from it being implemented.

"None of this was designed for us. What they're saying is, 'If you're on a building site and you're wondering about the height, you should have a colleague around so that if something bad happens someone else can help you.'

"You can sort of understand that, but we're often working with young people who could raise the alarm on our behalf though they're not co-workers.

"And part of what we're trying to help those people we are taking into the outdoors with is to be independent and self-reliant and therefore it's against the spirit of what we do."

But a spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said the agency wanted a "common sense" approach to regulations designed to prevent scores of deaths every year.

She said, "We want sensible regulation, that's the ultimate goal. Nothing is set in stone – we will look at the comments to see what we need to do to meet their concerns."

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