Employees' part in the blame game

Submitted by Rob on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 07:51.

Duane Craig writes in his excellent article, Manslaughter on the Jobsite at the blog, The Construction Informer: "There is another side to safety on construction sites... the overwhelming difficulty in getting people to voluntarily comply with safety rules on the job and having enough visibility into what is really going on to make them think twice about not complying."

He points the finger at "workers who ignore safety rules and get injured as a result of that negligence" and says that they "bear the responsibility themselves rather than all those who tried in vain to convince them of the necessity to comply with safety rules."

What on earth can we do about stupid employees who refuse to wear personal protective equipment or follow procedures to keep them safe. It's an ongoing issue - across all sectors; as Duane writes, "an overwhelming difficulty."

The Chronic Safety Offender

We have an article about this very issue in our Employers resource section on this site, titled "Dealing with the Chronic Safety Offender."

Clearly a company has to make an example of safety offenders but, as the construction blog example points out, that isn't so easy to do when the boss isn't on site.

Any ideas on how to overcome this problem (short of well-meaning citizens shouting up to neighborhood construction workers and roofers to 'put on a safety harness" - which, I'm pretty sure, doesn't have much effect)? 

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The way to make sure that

Submitted by Ron Daye on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 05:14.
The way to make sure that people comply is to have a safety represenative on every job sight or region to inspect tese job sights. Also, higher more safety inspectors for these type of jobs. You can teach people by having a short course that all workers must do every fews years just like they do for the petro and chemical industries right here in chemical valley. When a worker gets hurt or injured it affects more just him. Safety rules weren't just made for you, they protect you and your family. Thanks, Ron.

Ron-You are one of the best

Submitted by Robert Ellis on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 13:10.
Ron-You are one of the best Safety Champions at Shell Canada. I agree with you that we need to educate more people on safety on a more regular basis. Procedures and equipment are constantly changing in the workplace. We also need more people bringing innovative ideas into the area of safety and production. One of the companies in the Chemical Valley in Sarnia recently showed us how innovations in safety can change lives-they replaced all their forklifts in one of their US plants with a magnetic track system. The number of loss time injuries was reduced and the production increased. it was a win-win for everybody. This innovation was brought into place only after a fatal accident had occured on a forklift. We need to be more proactive in prevention before these fatalities happen. One of the most innovative mentoring program for safety and production is being used by Shell Canada. Let us know Ron if other companies could learn from this program. Rob

Thanks Rob for your comments

Submitted by Liz Sconce on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 15:08.
Thanks Rob for your comments on this topic - it's always a been a huge concern of mine specifically because my nephews are in the construction business. I really think we need to highlight the contractors that are abiding by safety standards - offer incentives of some sort to employers and employees - face time with the media. I think we need for people to start recognizing safe practices, what that looks like. You never hear about the companies that are doing right by their employees because the media is in the business of highlighting those that aren't. Accidents can be prevented and we need to recognize those contractors that are making sure they don't!

You are right on with your

Submitted by Robert Ellis on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 12:52.
You are right on with your comments. We need to start recognizing all the Champions who are treating their employees with respect and providing them with the best training and making sure that safety is part of their work culture. Accidents can be prevented at work and at home and on the roads. If you have any names of great champions of safety- let us know -We want all adults and young workers to recognize who are the best and safest employers. Why don't we start a rating system for all employers that you have worked for. 5 Star Rating for Safe Employers. 1 Star Rating for the Unsafest Employer. Rob

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