Halloween horrors to avoid in your business

Thursday October 17, 2024

As the end of October approaches, we’ve been looking to Hollywood again to see how health and safety horrors could have been avoided if only they’d followed some safe health and safety advice.

 

King Kong (1933) – Event planning

This classic amazed audiences over 90 years ago, and is still a sight to behold. A fictional movie producer decides to make a film on the remote Skull Island, eventually revealing that the leading lady’s co-star ‘Kong’ is a terrifying giant gorilla.

On their return to New York, Kong is chained and put on display at the premiere. With the press going crazy using flash photography, an agitated Kong breaks free from his chains, grasping the film’s heroine and rampaging through the city. He ultimately climbs to the top of the Empire State Building before being mortally wounded by machine gun fire and falling to his death.

Just think, with adequate health and safety planning this culmination of disasters could so easily have been avoided!

If you are organising an event, you have a duty to plan, manage and monitor the event to make sure that workers and the visiting public are not exposed to health and safety risks. You need to ensure that you have removed or reduced any potential risks .

It might also be necessary to plan for incidents and emergencies which could include:

  • Emergency procedures to be followed by staff and volunteers in a significant incident/emergency
  • Contingencies to deal with incidents
  • Your response to more serious emergencies, including major incidents that will require help from the emergency services

 

The Menu (2022) – Restaurant health and safety

Mark Mylod’s dark comedy horror film from 2022 is rife with examples of nightmare restaurant scenarios, culminating in fire, death and destruction; the ultimate s’mores finale!

Fear not, if you are in the hospitality trade and need support with your health and safety procedures we can help.  From preventing exposure to carbon monoxide from use of solid fuel appliances in commercial kitchens, to the risks of slips and trips, we are expert in helping you assess and comply with HSE regulations.

 

M3gan (2023) – Artificial intelligence in the workplace

When Gemma creates an AI doll, called M3gan, events take a dark turn, with the doll taking on a life of its (her) own; causing damage, not to mention death, in her wake. Whilst this horror is peppered with humour, we know that AI can be no laughing matter.

The UK government has set out a pro-innovation approach to AI in a White Paper. And the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also launched a research project to map AI’s impact on health and safety across all regulated industries. If your business is using or trialling AI technology, you can contribute to this research.

Whilst AI might be a developing technology it can already be harnessed by your business, just don’t make the same mistakes as Gemma!

You will need to focus on aspects relating to health and safety such as:

  • Safety, security and robustness
  • Appropriate transparency and explainability
  • Accountability and governance

Whilst AI has the potential to bring major benefits for health and safety, it can also create and exacerbate health and safety risks. We can help your business adapt safely to technological changes in the workplace, without the horror!

 

Next steps

Whatever you’re planning this Halloween, don’t forget you can take the scare out of health and safety, by contacting us today.

Sensible Safety Solutions

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