(These qualities must be missing if Safety Bloopers keep happening…and if people actually find them amusing—yet don’t heed the learning that they offer!)
Almost every day I see people post on LinkedIn, engaging in awful safety practices. Some are so ridiculous that they could be funny – except that people are getting hurt. Some workers seem quite content to endanger their lives and co-workers seem to be so unaware of the risks around them – that it is unbelievable!
The remainder of this newsletter addresses the so-called safety bloopers, by asking ourselves…what is going on? And most importantly, what is the lesson in this for me? For my team?
Here’s to a blooper-less workplace where everyone goes home whole at the end of their work-shift, because we care and respect each other – looking out for each other!
More on Safety Bloopers…
In one, some guys were riding on the back of a fork truck to try to provide better balance and the truck still goes out of control; they were lucky to not get hurt. In another, a woman was walking along, reading her cell phone, and trips over the open cover of a sidewalk basement stairway and falls into an open stairway. Another was a guy who was standing on the top of a 12-foot step ladder, changing a light bulb and falls onto the floor. His two co-workers just stood there looking at him as he lay there immobile. Another was a guy pushing his heavily loaded lift cart off a step, and was thrown over the toppling cart is it flips. In another, a guy was working from the top of a 25-foot ladder that was balanced in the raise scoop of a big front-end loader. It goes on and on.
What is going on here? Is management so indifferent that they just tell people to get the job done any way they can? Are people so stupid that they do what they are told even when the hazards are so blatant? Who cares? What do you think?
The safety people I meet at various companies and conferences all seem to care. Managers and supervisors I talk with seem to care. I know Claire and I care, passionately. I do not understand what is going on. In 2016, there were 5,190 people in the USA who were accidently killed at work, so this is a serious problem. Are some of the stupid things I see on LinkedIn contributing to these numbers? I hope not! I hope our business owners and line organizations know better!
A recent Gallup study conducted over several years, covering about 150 countries, revealed that only about 15% of the people were actively involved in their work and that another 15% were actively opposing their managers and supervisors. The other 70% must be just doing as little as possible and not helping or looking out for each other. We are better in the USA, but not by much.
There are lots of people writing about how to improve safety. There are lots of people working with organizations as consultants and advisors, but there are not enough to watch every single person or be at every worksite. We all have to depend on those around us to help. They see things we don’t see. They notice things that can hurt us that we have missed. They can tell us to slow down and think things through.
What will it take for all of us to be working together with respect and caring? These simple things can make a very big, positive difference. We can show our co-workers that we care and want them to go home safely to their families each day. Each of us can take the initiative to reach out to help.
What will it take for managers, supervisors and all the workers to care enough to save someone from a serious injury or fatality?
Do you care?
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