Lol you guy's....I could tell you about many more strict sites and the mad stuff they come up with. Even as an apprentice I was on a secure mental hospital in Scotland where we all had to sign a disclaimer to say if we left anything behind that was then used by the patients to cause harm or injury to themselves or others then we would be liable. Tool box's emptied of everything except the essentials for each days work....Inventory checked on the way in and checked on the way out....some prat still managed to "loose" a hacksaw blade...still it all ended ok as it was found in a patients room lol.
All the stuff mentioned in the op's rundown of site measures I have seen on numerous sites. As stated you/we are trying to bypass dawinism and this is what we are left with. I actually agree that lots of groups make far too much cash out of it all. Also as stated it is because directors can find themselves in the dock facing time add to that the financial implications for big firms on big jobs if one of their idiots/workers gets themselves killed.....This is why H&S is so huge and overbearing.