World Book Day – Famous novels with a Health & Safety, and HR Compliance twist!

Posted 5 years ago

It’s World Book Day and we thought we’d get involved! We’ve taken some famous novels and put a Health & Safety and HR twist on their titles and storylines! Think you can do better? Let us know!

1) Life of P(eye) Protection (Life of Pi)

Life of P(eye) Protection is a fantasy adventure novel, exploring issues of spirituality, metaphysics, and health & safety. In the aftermath of a shipwreck, a boy is stranded for 227 days on a boat in the Pacific Ocean alongside a cordless angle grinder. With no safety glasses on their tiny raft, how will the boy protect his eyesight from flying debris?

2) Captain Corelli’s Manual Handling (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin)

Captain Antonio Corelli is a young Italian officer, posted to the Greek island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces during the early years of the Second World War. The island’s residents, plagued with constant back pains and slipped discs, are first suspicious of this young officer’s straight-backed technique for lifting heavy loads. But with a blend of patience, good humour, and wit, he gradually brings them to the LITE, curing their medical complaints. But will his manual handling techniques survive the war and their fraught relationship as invader and defender?

3) The Wind in the Whistleblows (The Wind in the Willows)

A series of interlinked tales following the escapades of the ever irrepressible, foolhardy, and, quite frankly, irresponsible Mr Toad. As he flits from one fad to another he racks up a series of health & safety violations, placing his friends Ratty, Mole, and Badger in the awkward position of having to decide whether or not to report his reckless behaviour to the authorities

4) Nineteen Eighty-Fraud (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

This dystopian novel takes place in a world under the ever-watchful eye of Big Brother. Our protagonist, Winston Smith, works in the Department of Corrections where he toils every day, fixing discrepancies in the government’s financial documents. His role requires strict confidentiality, but when hard evidence falls into his lap that Big Brother used his considerable position and influence to get Little Brother a job in the post room, he has to decide which is more important – his conscience or his life.

5) Safe New World (Brave New World)

Huxley’s bold vision of a utopian society free from health and safety hazards and risks. Every morning, every citizen performs a full risk assessment for their day ahead, eliminating their encounters with danger, or reducing them to a controllable level. However, just outside the confines of safe society live many thousands of savages – people who blindly stumble through their days with no concept of risk control, or hazard prevention – a primitive people.

Is Huxley’s Safe New World a beautiful insight into a future free from danger, or is there something more sinister afoot?

6) To Safely Catch a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Small town lawyer, Atticus Finch, finds himself forced to defend local bird-catcher, Tom Robinson, after he injured Bob Ewell, the town drunk, whilst leaning from an unsecured ladder in an attempt to catch an escaped mockingbird. Ewell had tried to shoot the bird from the sky, whilst Tom had tried to safely capture it. Will Atticus be able to defend Tom’s reckless behaviour, or will the HSE have to get involved?

7) The Tale of PPE Rabbit (The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

A cautionary children’s story focussing on the dangers of a working farm. Peter Rabbit’s mother warns him and his sisters not to play in Mr McGregor’s farm because it’s dangerous…unless, of course, they’re wearing their high-vis jackets and safety helmets.

Unfortunately, the rebellious Peter Rabbit decides to play on the farm without the correct PPE and ends up being struck by a tractor. After a thorough investigation by the HSE, Mr McGregor was found to be in breach of health and safety legislation, is fined and is forced to sell his farm.

8) Paradise COSHH (Paradise Lost)

A 17th century epic poem concerning mankind’s fall from grace in the garden of Eden. God speaks to both Adam and Eve and commands – “of every substance in this garden thou mayest work with freely; but of this substance which is hazardous to health, thou shalt not use without the correct PPE, for in that day thou shalt surely die”. But after an encounter with a foolhardy snake, who urges Eve to handle the hazardous substance without protective gloves and eyewear, God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden and proceeds to update Eden’s health and safety policies and procedures.

9) The Electrical Fault in our Stars (The Fault in our Stars)

Hazel is a teenager diagnosed with electromagnetic hypersensitivity – even being near an electrical item will cause her severe distress. During the course of her psychiatric therapy, her life is re-written after she meets and falls in love with Augustus…an electrician.

Despite his occupation, Augustus often falls short of acceptable electrical safety standards – but being poor means he just can’t afford the necessary equipment. With Hazel’s sensitivity to electricity, will her ‘ability’ soon be the answer to his problems? Or will her hypersensitivity stop the sparks from flying?

Other notable contenders!

• Pride and Unconscious Prejudice – Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) – Unconscious Bias
• LOLER-ITA – Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita) – LOLER
• Les Joyeux – Victor Hugo (Les Miserables) – Mental Health and Wellbeing
• The Old Man and The CDM – Ernest Hemingway (The Old Man and The Sea) – CDM Regulations
• A Farewell to Harm – Ernest Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms) – Health & Safety Essentials
• On the Road Safety – Jack Kerouac (On the Road) – Driver Awareness
• Stressenwolf – Herman Hesse (Steppenwolf) – Stress Awareness
• Through the Safety Glass – Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking Glass) – Eye Protection

We thoroughly enjoyed putting these together and it was surprisingly simple… just like our training platform! (Implementing good Health & Safety in the workplace shouldn’t be a difficult task!) Don’t believe us? Sign up for a free trial today and let us prove you wrong! 😉

Think you can do better? Comment below or get involved via Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin!

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