Health and safety..... really ?

At face value you are right and this may be a genuine reporting of a story and if so it is total madness.

But often you find there is more to stories like this than is first reported.
The news media are quite good at selectively picking what to report and what to leave out
It may be for example the blind girl hasnt mastered the stick yet and does need to be always guided -and was wreaking havoc with her stick. but that wouldnt suit the story.