Sitting around a campfire is one of, if not the most, gratifying activity one can do these days. Whether it’s cracking jokes and talking about what used to be, or contemplating life and good ole Donald Trump, it’s always a therapeutic experience that no one can take away. Unless you’re in a caravan park and there’s our good friend, Workplace Health and Safety (WHS).

Being a prickle in the WHS world for a while now, I knew how this would go. How many rules are broken from sitting around a fire? Let’s see … not sitting two metres from the fire at all times, not using a fire safe ring, not wearing protective full-length clothing to defend your skin from embers. The list goes on. Just when we thought nothing could take away from the utter relaxation of a fire. If only we had driven an extra couple kilometres into the ‘dangerous’ bush area and not had to worry about rules … after all, that’s the best part of the bush.

“The outback doesn’t have WHS rules and I’m a huge fan of that – I want to sit within two metres of the fire and wear double pluggers”

The outback doesn’t have WHS rules and I’m a huge fan of that – I want to sit within two metres of the fire and wear double pluggers. I’d like to think after the 25+ years of camping, I’ve learnt how to move my chair back and forth when I deem necessary. How did the world decide that one group of people could determine what was or wasn’t ‘safe’? I’ve never had any problems in the bush. There may have been a funny story here and there about something that’s gone sour but never has a beer not solved that problem. How about we just start making our own choices and using common sense? Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

If you ask me, this notion that common sense isn’t common anymore is rubbish. People just don’t use their common sense because workplace health and safety have told them not to. If we use our common sense and take responsibility for our choices, we can start to regain our freedom.