I had a bit of trouble knowing which thread to post this one on as they all seem to be covering the same topic.
Wouldn't you have thought that in light of recent events the so-called authorities would be nervous about introducing new regulations as a response to the current shortage of engineers which could be detrimental to safety by even the slightest amount? It would appear not.
In the UK alone wev'e had the BSE epidemic , Ecoli , the national rail crisis & now Foot & Mouth disease. All but one of these has resulted in human fatalities but they all have one thing in common - they have come about due to lowering of standards.
I've heard it said many a time , even by a CAA surveyor that our industry standards are too high.
Too high compared to what?
I can't help thinking that because we haven't had many fatalities in recent years that it's deemed to be justification for lowering those high standards ( and therefore lower costs ). So to put it bluntly , if the authorities/governments are prepared to let other industries kill off the general public then there is nothing to make me think our industry will not be allowed to join this current trend.
This may seem to be a pessimistic view but it's genuine one because from what I see around the workplace & judging from the experiences of other contributors to this forum the seeds have already been sown.