Hacker News Reader

Comment by thomasz | Hacker News Reader

I can assure you that this is a very dangerous assumption. In theory, almost all workplace safety regulations could be replaced by a "Just put up a 'don't be an idiot'" sign. But then we would have a lot of unnecessary deaths and horrible accidents.

The are many reasons for this, but it mostly comes down to people being distracted and simple statistics - given enough time, even a small risk will lead to accidents.

View on HN

I agree partially. But labelling a coffee cup with a notice that it is hot should not be necessary.

In the same way that labeling a guillotine with a notice that it could cut your fingers off should not be necessary? In both cases they seem safe because the people using them use them every day and are familiar with the risks. Unfortunately, what happens is every now and then an experienced factory worker cuts his fingers off in the same guillotine he's been operating for decades, or an old lady needs skin grafts on her legs after spilling a cup of hot coffee just like she's been drinking for decades.

I'm not following you. Your examples are of the inherent risk in the activity or device - a person drinks coffee regularly, and then burns herself after drinking safely for years - this is just a risk of a hot drink, it could happen at any time. Having a sign on the item doesn't impact the risk for a regular user: the regular user knows the risks, and will ignore signs they see all the time.

Signs might protect a new user - 'this is a guillotine if you hit the button it will cut your hand off'. Is that the point your making?

Or car window stickers which are hard to remove and designed to be permanent stating the risks of driving a car. Also, the warnings printed onto the interior visors about child seats.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com