To think this is elf'n'safety gone mad?

[Memoo]

met my friend in a cafe for a quick catch up.

They happily served us with two mugs of steaming coffee but point blank refused to give us a cup of hot water to heat a bottle for friends baby!

Is this not madness!?

Stand the bottle in the coffee. I've done that before many times when our town centre cafe did the same

Common nowadays i think. And in todays suing culture sensible.

When my nephew was a baby a restaurant refused to heat up food that SIL had brought along for him, but they were happy to take her into the kitchen and let her microwave it herself, I would have thought it would be more dangerous having an unauthorised person in a working kitchen than to heat the food and bring it back, surely no mum would give a baby food without tasting for temperature first anyway.

It is madness. i always think twice before I complain anywhere now - people expect too much and moan too much. These type of rules are the result of a culture where we accept little responsibility for our own actions.

Just ask for a tea with the tea bag on the side. I always order my tea like that because I only drink it black & weak. It would mean paying for a tea of course - but sometimes needs must I suppose.

But it is entirely fucking stupid.

Or just ask for a cup of hot water and pretend it's to drink, I have weirdo friends who prefer this to tea.

It's nothing to do with health and safety and everything to do with ridiculous rules based on litigation-shy insurance companies who use health and safety as an excuse for lots of stupid prohibitions. Sadly it is very common as has already been said. If you can be bothered, ask them exactly (and specifically) why it is they won't let you have it. But TBH I'm not sure whether it's worth it. Suggestions above including ordering a cup of hot water (perhaps with a slice of lemon? ) would work IMO.

What's so crazy about it? You get your coffee hot because you in the coffee shop and you paid for it so you know it's hot( can't sue if you burn yourself) however hot water for the baby isn't on the menu so you could ' not know' that it's served hot and burn your baby ( and sue coffe shop) so the do not give it out as well as they won't warm up baby's food in case too hot.
What's so difficult?

< written by H&S manager)

M&S let me have a cup of hot water to warm up a bottle when they were short of bottle warmers, but I wasn't allowed to carry it to my table, the lady who worked there had to carry it . I was allowed to carry my own cups of tea and coffee but not the hot water!

Nobody I know bothers to warm milk, so long as it isnt freezing cold, the baby wont mind either.

crazy, i was in waitrose the other day and asked for hot water to make dd's milk and they filled a tommee tippee flask with hot water for me and then gave me a jug of cool water to stand it in to cool it down, go to waitrose next time!

It is madness! I am nice coffee shop lady though and ignore the rules! Rebel me:) if you need hot water for a bottle or food you'll get it from me and since I am the boss...nobody questions me :):)

Order an extra mug of tea.

It is quite common, has been since I had my first 6 years ago, which is why i have always had a bottle warming flask with me.

Why is Health and Safety referred to as elf'n'safety by some people?

wonga because it's a joke ?

Read the thread, and wondering what this has got to do with Health and Safety (sorry, don't do the Daily Mail "hilarious" elf'n'safety)

And genuinely interested Witchofthenorth what rules are you ignoring.

A Christmas mince pie to the first person that can say what Health & Safety reg is being breached by letting mothers heat up their baby food

The mother can heat it up but the staff can't as they can't be responsible for the source of the food, or how long it's been out of the fridge.

Or at least thats what we were told by our local EH inspector when i ran a nursery.

You a H&S inspector then AM I ?

hmmm, sounds very food safety-ish/environmental health-ish then

Still, doesn't quite have the same ring as "elf'n'safety gorn mad" does it.

And no Bossy, I'm not one of Her Majesty's finest.....but then I think they probably have bigger things to worry about than heating baby bottles

where did you get a coffee so hot it was steaming?! round here they're luke warm at best.

I agree AM I 'tis often the interpretation of the law that's the madness not the actual law.

Bossy you are very generous in saying it is the interpretation of the law

I find that people make decisions and just cite Health & Safety because it's much easier than actually explaining why they have made a decision. Let's all jump on the "elf'n'safety" bandwagon rather than tell people that we can't be bothered paying insurance or......oh my god, actually thinking about what we are doing.

Sorry, this is a particular pet hate of mine. Health & Safety (is this some phantom entity) really doesn't give two hoots about baby's bottles, or snowball fights, or any other shite that's bandied about.

Stop being brainwashed by R Littlejohn, and the like

FFS

No rules as such amithatbad but having worked in various coffee shops throughout my working life I can tell you our blame culture has a lot to answer for. It just gets labelled as health and safety. My "rules" were a figure of speech.

Generally establishments do not like to allow hot water for bottles etc incase you spill and burn yourself or others, and as a pot if water for heating a bottle is not actually on most menus, it usually means that if there is an accident, the insurance MAY not cover it.

I however, come from the school of common sense :)

Bossy I read back my previous post and it comes across as aimed at you. It really wasn't, it was a general rant . Sorry.

They have to give you a jug full of water larger enough to hold a bottle, and then I guess there is a possibility of you splashing when you put the bottle in it.