Coasties, gotta love'em.
"You have to go out. You don't have to come back"
Kinda says it all.

Brian , Woburn, Ma.

My guess is that he did do a risk assessment - it's called a 'dynamic risk assessment' and it is one that is done on the spur of the moment and asks the question 'Can I get away with doing this without getting hurt?' . In his case he thought that he could, and the results showed that his judgement was probably sound. In the case of the police officers, their judgement was that they couldn't do it without putting themselves at risk and so the didn't jump into the water. The problem here is whether we allow written risk assessments to be put aside in emergency situations where we have to make a very rapid decision. My feeling [as a health and safety professional] is that sometimes we have to. But that doesn't sit easily with the legal position. As employers we have to set boundaries around our employees to stop them doing silly and dangerous things. So are there times when we have to 'cut them some slack' and allow them to make their own professional judgements?

E Beach, Stevenage, UK

Paul is a great guy and risked his life to save that girl. Yes he might have broken rules but he saved a life. Surely that's more important?

Cath, Stalybridge Cheshire, UK

The days when those that can do, are over.
The weedy bespecticaled ones have the reins at last and heros bow to those who spell snowfall b. l. i. z. z. a. r .d,wind g. a. l .e and can feel the equal of anyone from their office chair of sanctimony.

robert everitt, wolverhampton,

What a bunch of fools these Coastguard Agency people truly are, only a few months ago a part time copper watched a young lad drown rather than do the right thing and all because of health and safety or so he said.

Anyone who agrees with this is nothing but a gutless coward and should not call himself a man.

D Case, Newquay,

pathetic, health & safety is out of control, they would rather a girl died than break their rules, just another example why I am joining the 300,000 english people who are voting with their feet and moving abroad. The guy deserves a medal.
Next soldiers wont be allowed to fight in case they get injured.

Ian J Holder, Bolton, UK

This is just another indictment of the nanny state rules that are prevalent in Britain today. Waugh was the man on the scene, he made the call (correctly, as it turned out) to effect a rescue, and successfully did. Can you imagine the stories we'd now be reading if he'd just stood there and she'd fallen?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Mike Arthur, Dundee, Scotland

Rather than punishing the brave rescuer, perhaps some harsh words should be saved for the silly girl who TWICE (in a year, I understand) endangered her life and others'. This seems an unusual coincidence. Do we have the full story, or is there a crush or attention-seeking disorder at play here?

Gemma, Leighton Buzzardf, UK

The sort of courage displayed by Mr Waugh is rare and cannot be controllable by regulations based upon less brave, not to say actually cowardly, principles.The claim that the service does not want 'dead heroes' subtly casts a slur on this man's courageous act. What is the real motivation behind the coastguards' reaction? Is it possible that fear of litigation costs drives their regulations? The dangers of fighting the elements can not be regulated away, and no amount of careful risk assessment actually abolish risk. Whereas the service cannot direct an employee or volunteer to place his life at risk,it appears to me that neither can it prohibit this in every circumstance.Ultimately,heroism will happen and the service should respect and honour it when it does.

Andrew Leach, Sandhurst, Kent

I am also a coast guard rescue officer at Southbourne, Bournemouth. I am currently considering leaving as I was also reprimanded for attending a suicide and leaving my vehicle before my partner had arrived, thus told if it happened again i would be suspended until further notice. What risk does a dead person pose!!??
The MCA need to look at the way they treat volunteer officers!!
We are not heroes but need to act accordingly to the situation.

Robert Swain, Christchurch, Dorset

Well done Paul, you did the only decent thing in those circumstances, and saved a life in the process. As for the way you've been treated by MCA management - disgraceful!

Robertson, Exeter,

This is ridiculous! OK, Health & Safety rules are necessary for the protection of employees, but if I understand it correctly, the employee is also responsible for his own safety, not just the employer.

Paul Waugh could not have been ordered to go to the girl's rescue without the proper safety equipment, and he could not have been criticised had he decided not to descend the cliff. But having assessed the situation, he decided that the risk was worth taking. The risk was only to himself, and in my opinion it was his call to make.

The MCA should be proud of him, instead of putting him in a position where he feels forced to resign.

Howard Jones, Macclesfield,

There are no "rules" for bravery and heroism just these two words that say it all and in this case an excellent describtion of Mr. Waugh.

Alan, Jystrup., Denmark.

Good on him! In his place I like to think I'd have done the same.

Liz, Bristol,

While I wholeheartedly agree with Ross, my version of the RAF-axiom goes: "Rules and regulations are for the obedience of fools, but should be broken by wise men when the situation so requires"
Still holds........
The "quality assurance" toomfoolery, both in private enterprise and in public "service" very often results in it being more important to go by the book than to solve the problem/diagnose the disease/ save the girl etc. etc............
Well done, otherwise..........

Ramlau, Hirtshals, Denmark

Well done Paul - I'd have done the same as you in the circumstances. Of course we need rules and guidelines but there are times when the rules have to be bent, and if the report in the paper is correct then this was one of those occasions. I hope you find alternative outlets for your courage, initiative and selflessness. God bless.

Sue Amer, Kidderminster, Worcs

i thought the purpose of health and safety was to save life, not make it harder to save.

william Haines, northwood,

You always report: "A spokesman for..." Why cannot these spokesmen and there masters be named? A generation or so ago society had a habit of sending those beyond the pale "To Coventry."

Rescue work is spur of the moment stuff at any time and anyone who believes following the rule book is more important than attempting to save a life, even at the risk of one's own is beyond the pale. Most of us in Mr Waugh's postion would probably bottle it - that's human, but to try and enshrine this by hiding behind the rule book is contemptible.

Mr Waugh should be knighted in next years honours list and his ex-MCA bosses made to offer him a televised apology with due deductions to their performance related pay. It might act as a warning to the litigation affeared creeps who run the police and fire services these days.

Jeremy Harnett, Punnett's Town, East Sussex

Well done Paul,
Whilst I agree with H&S in principle there has to come a point where commen sense kicks in. You did the right thing and saved a life. Sometimes I am proud to be British, more often than not though I am ashamed at how politically correct we have become. We no longer deal with personalities at work, instead we deal with, guidelines, handbooks and the constant threat of litigation.
I wonder how you would have been treated if the girl had been the daughter of the head of MCA?

Steve Grady, St Helens, uk

One thing is clear - had the bosses at the MCA been on the scene that day rather than Paul Waugh, then the 13 year old girl would now be dead.
Wasn't there a recent case where 2 members of the Community Police permitted someone to drown in a pond rather than break with procedure and put there lives before that of another? Of course they were just doing what they were told .... but thank God for heroes like Mr Waugh.

Crashing Dashing Kid, San Francisco, USA

It really is about time someone in the political establishment had the guts to take on the self-serving health & safety brigade.. At a moment of considerable urgency, I was recently forbidden from using the toilet in a store because I might "fall over" doing so. This, in a country where armed kids go around shooting and knifing each other. Collectively, we have a very strange notion of safety.

Steven Davidson, Colchester, England

Sorry, I agree with the Agency. Waugh admits the cliff was crumbling so there was a real risk that, being heavier than a teenager, the cliif face would not be able to support him or even that his added weight could cause them both to fall. In addition, he must known the call out involved someone stuck on a cliff, so why leave the ropes in the vehicle in the first place?

cr, berkshire, uk

Over the centuries around twenty five million Britons emmigrated - these were by definition principally risk takers, leaving a genitically impoverished population of namby pamby risk averse stay at homers.

Arnold Ward, Weybridge, Surrey, UK

He was the man on the ground at the scene. His judgment should be respected. People in warm offices should support their staff and use some common sense.

Bob Taylor, Castelnau, France

I blame the appalling Blair.

Pfffill, Shanghai, China

The obsequious officiousness of the MCA bureaucrats are again making Britain look like a laughingstock to the world. We have already witnesses the drowning of a youngster while two police employees stood by watching because, they said, they had not been trained in the official protocol.

The long history of British caring and daring to take risks for their fellow man seems gone for good. The spirit of the Good Samaritan is no longer alive, and has been forced to leave by the fawning health and safety directorate!

Bob Evans, Anaheim, California

Good for you pal!!
Thats the problem today. too much emphasis on rules and regulations.

Phill Barlow, The Wirral, England

Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.

Ross, London,