Friday 20 July 2012

No Surrender by HSE over Springsteen gig

Two of the easiest targets for journalists are often Press Releases and the Health and Safety Executive. But both combined brilliantly this week to counter claims that the HSE were somehow to blame for the plug being pulled on Bruce Springsteen's Hard Rock Calling concert on Saturday. This is what Kevin Myers, Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE, sent out:
As a longstanding Bruce Springsteen fan and one of the crowd at Hard Rock Calling, I was doubly disappointed to hear Live Nation give 'health and safety' as the reason for cutting short Saturday's gig.
The fans deserve the truth: there are no health and safety issues involved here. While public events may have licensing conditions dictating when they should end, this is not health and safety and it is disingenuous of Live Nation to say so.
It's ironic that this excuse has been used in relation to Bruce Springsteen, who certainly knows what real health and safety is all about - look at the words of 'Factory' from Darkness on the Edge of Town referring to the toll that factory work can take on the health of blue collar workers.
People will now only be able to speculate what the final number should have been. Given that he'd already played Wrecking Ball and that Paul McCartney was on stage, how about Don't let me down?
Mr Myers certainly is looking after his own. Glory Days.




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