Ballroom dancers' fury as council carpets community centre floors - because of risk of injury

You won't catch the professionals from Strictly Come Dancing attempting to display their moves on a patch of carpet.
But that could be the fate of amateur dancers in Blackpool after their traditional shiny floors fell foul of health and safety experts.
Groups of pensioners meet regularly at community centres across the resort to enjoy a few waltzes or other gentle routines, and they find the polished parquet is the perfect surface.
Now, however, the floors are all being carpeted over because the local council says the risk of people slipping over on them is too great.
It admits that this has scuppered the dancers, but claims the non-stick surface is more suitable for other activities - such as karate.
Baffled locals said they couldn't remember anyone hurting themselves on the floors and accused bureaucrats of showing a lack of common sense.

Ah but now they will be at risk from carpet burns!!!!!

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Deadly Italian ski prank devastates family

Surely One for the Darwin awards web site or decisions have consequences or what goes round comes round!!!

Mr Monk, 46, died from severe head and chest injuries at the resort of Sauze d'Oulx, west of Turin, after he and two friends used rubber matting they had taken from a safety barrier to slide down a slope. They careered straight into barriers at the bottom of the piste and Mr Monk suffered fatal injuries while Richard Watkins, 41, of Hatfield, Herts, was hospitalised. Alan McGregor, 46, of Ware, needed medical attention.

He hit the post at exactly the spot where the crash mat had been stripped from. Italian police said the men had all been drinking.

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Chemicals put 27,000 people a year at risk | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Chemicals put 27,000 people a year at risk Special reports Guardian Unlimited

Chemical spills, leaks and explosions put up to 27,000 people at risk of injury in a single year, according to the most extensive government survey yet of chemical accidents. More than 3,000 people suffered effects including poisoning and burns from contamination during 2005.

The Health Protection Agency's report includes hundreds of incidents involving mercury, asbestos, carbon monoxide and pesticides; it reveals 1,040 accidents involving potentially harmful leaks and emissions of chemicals directly affected an estimated 27,000 people, with up to 3,400 reporting symptoms of exposure. A fifth of accidents were industrial but nearly as many were in people's homes.

HPA report can be found at
http://www.hpa.org.uk/publications/PublicationDisplay.asp?PublicationID=94

It's intresting to consider how much effort the nuclear sector puts into controling discharges and reducing discharges close to zero. These resources might return a greater safety benefit if they were directed to reducing chemical leaks, spills and explsoions