OPINION: A Nanny State solution to managing risk

The house was newly refurbished to accommodate up to 30 people. In the new spirit of enterprise in a country that has just voted to join the European Union, the young owner thought there might be profit in the provision of a residential facility for youth work projects.

We were there for an inter-cultural learning seminar through outdoor experiential education. Nothing, it seemed, was more culturally diverse than the concept of risk, whatever the new seminal sociology on the subject has to say. We were the first group to use the building and someone from western Europe mentioned risk assessment. Many of the eastern Europeans had never even heard the term. The flagstones and the cables served as a case in point. If you undertook a thorough risk assessment, there was no way that you could bring a group of young people here. If you decided that the risk was minimal, but something then happened, you faced the risk of litigation. And, of course, if you had done a poor risk assessment, or none at all, then your professional future was on the line.