I'm wondering what safety regulations the employer was talking about.

If it is like "must have a life-jacket, and a rope, and a pole, and authorization from HQ", those safety regulations would make it impossible to actually safe lifes in cases of emergency and in that case one can ask himself the question if it's not better to just get rid of the whole police force, fire squads and the like.

Overregulation might result in absurd inefficiency to a degree where the people involved can't do the jobs they are supposed to do anymore.

Also, it's disturbing to see how this man who saved a young woman's life gets a reprimande instead of a medal or at least a pat on the back.