I wasn't arguing for or against their use, simply trying to put some clarity into a situation whre many have expressed an opinion. I carry a vest in the aircraft and wear it if appropriate.
I run an ISO 9000 registered company and therefore have some experience in these areas. It's tempting to make a rule just to cover your backside, but by doing that you duck your responsibility to properly assess the risk. If you introduce rules which have no proper justification people tend to ignore them and the whole safety management system is degraded.
Some had suggested that a/d operators had been told to mandate the use of vests. I was happy to find that this was untrue and that the CAA's policy is, as it should be, that the rule should result from a risk assessment of the aerodrome.
Mike