Yip, it could cost someone their life. E.g. Someone who is thinking should I or shouldn't I call the helpline, but if I do, it will show on the call logs... err.. no, ah f*ckit, I don't need to phone the helpline!
The end of the article is a little comical, ... not even the IT department...
Reality usually falls far short of expectation, if the IT department supports it, they must have access to it.
I once had auditors claiming I shouldn't have direct access to a critical database because it posed such a high security risk! Naturally my next question was how the hell I was supposed to maintain it If I twern't allowed to connect to it, the mind boggles.