Even more fundamentally, there is a knee-jerk tendency simply to cry "Health & Safety" without even contemplating a proper assessment of the risk.
Having had jobs, in the railway field, where formal Risk Assessments were an integral part of the daily work, I have some understanding of what may be happening. The real problem is clearly the unwillingness or inability of people to follow ALARP (Risk should be as low as reasonably practicable - practicality is important) - and then having the confidence to put their name on the document.
Chris