Every now and again an advert pops up on TV telling us that Dettol kills 99.9% of all known germs but, that in order to protect our families, we need to spray and wipe the kitchen top every time we spill the soup or put a chicken breast on the surface. A cheerful mother tells us, that by squirting this magic potion onto a work surface disease will be banished and that children can relax and enjoy their food without fear of harm. Readers may have noticed that the young lady does however, use a paper towel to wipe up the mess and I’ve often wondered what happens to that. Is it used a second time or does it become the kind of waste that requires a special licence for its disposal?
I have also wondered if the 99.9% of all germs killed are ‘bad’ germs or is it just possible that 80% of them are in fact, ‘good’ germs, and that by killing them all we are wiping out those bacteria that are good for us, in that the good ones generally beat the bad ones in any war between them?
A couple of months ago, people in the media were agog with stories about a farm which welcomes visitors and allows parents and children to touch the animals. The farm in question was geared up for this activity and so signs, fences, wash basins, disinfectant, soap, towels and toilets were in abundance. Furthermore, it had certificates from Defra, Trading Standards, Social Services and the Education and Health Authorities. Its staff had been ‘approved’ to talk to children, and it had conducted every type of risk assessment dreamed up by the officials and yet, in spite of all this, some children caught e Coli 0157 and a few were seriously ill.
As media excitement increased, the BBC wheeled out its trusted ‘experts’ who then rushed from one broadcasting studio to the next proclaiming the dangers of touching animals whilst calling for more stringent rules on farms. Some even demanded a public enquiry and one microbiologist said that zoos should issue nail brushes and make sure visitors scrubbed their hands before leaving. As I listened to their dire story I wondered why nobody had spotted that the overwhelming majority of children visiting those farms were unaffected, or had asked the question how it was that rural folk in daily contact with animals manage to stay alive.
My guess is that country folk go easy on the Dettol and that rural wives aren’t easily persuaded to become paranoid. This was in evidence one evening when the Pauntley man of the family and his veterinary friend, returned triumphantly home carrying on their shoulders a pole with seventeen dead rabbits lashed on by baler twine. The pole was laid across the kitchen table and the men stood back in expectation of wifely approval. However, on close inspection the dead rabbits were found to be covered in live fleas. Unlike the lady in the advert, the rural wives were unperturbed and did not dash for the disinfectant. Instead they instantly bundled the rabbits and their abashed husbands outside with cries of, “Get out and stay out until you’ve skinned them.” With that the kitchen door slammed shut!
Thinking about health and safety however, makes me pleased that in whichever way the world was created, God did not put a health and safety expert in the garden with Adam and Eve. Had he done so it is questionable if the human race would have got as far as it has.
View from the Pew 