Contractor safety, ughhh . . .
Today I had an interesting contractor safety briefing and work planning meeting. The contractor is in to replace some large glass panels, and had been in once before to replace a bathroom mirror. On the prior visit, the contractor was in hammering away on the mirror, no safety eyewear, gloves, or anything. They looked at me like I was crazy for suggesting the need for these items, then one merely pulled down his sunglasses. I provided safety glasses, and placed signage and recommended they wear gloves.
Today, when the contractor showed up again, we made sure the contractor went through our briefing and work review. This, however did not go so well. Here are some of the contractor supervisor’s comments:
When talking about eye/face/hand cut hazards: “We’re careful, we don’t need safety glasses because nothing should happen. Accidents just sometimes happen, and there’s nothing you can do.” -The contractors don’t have safety glasses or cut-proof gloves.
Talking about preventing incidents: “Usually when we have a guy get cut, and might need stitches, we just have the guy tape it up. One time, I had a guy get cut on his fingers, and he went to the hospital for stitches, then he complained, and complained, and needed physical therapy for his finger. I don’t hire guys that are like that anymore.” “Our business is just dangers, our insurance is more than steel workers’” -It was becoming very clear how his company’s insurance is so expensive, this supervisor was ignorant and had little real regard for safety.
When speaking of taking time and being prepared for emergencies: “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive, I work safe, and make sure everyone around me is safe.” -Yeah right!
On OSHA: “If everyone followed OSHA, a lot of shops would be going out of business.” -I really believe the number of WC claims would be a bigger issue in a shop this unsafe. Maybe this is why the company cannot afford to provide its employees with the proper tools, training, PPE, and supervision?
Speaking of the scaffold they were going to be working from: “It is going to be 10 feet at the platform . .. No, we can’t use a guardrail or harness and lanyard. How can we do that? I do this stuff all the time, we are over parking lots installing glass with no guardrails or harness, don’t worry we are safe!” – Yeah right, and you really care about safety?
When speaking of BBP exposure potential: “I had a guy who had that (HIV/AIDS) and he didn’t tell me, so one day he started spraying blood all over and I asked him, he said, um, no. So I covered up the cut with my hand. I found out later that he did have AIDS. That’s why we don’t hire any of those ‘limp-wrists.’” – ARGHH, was I getting angry!
That is just a small sample. Of course everything was defended, and planned, sort of. Ah, the life of a ‘safety guy,’ eh? Obviously, I am still processing this all. I can guarantee this company won’t come back here, but I’m sure they will continue to do business (they were half the price of the others.)
Excellent points! And I agree completely re: the vulnerability of younger workers – combine their professional inexperience with their desire to please as well as their overall tendency to be less risk averse and you have a dangerous setting that strongly calls for strong safety leadership at the site and in the corporate culture. Thanks for your great post!
aemstore
October 19, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Earlier this week I was having a discussion with a trainer through Twitter – the trainer was very frustrated with one of his students. According to the trainer, the student refused to take any responsibility for his personal safety. If the workers aren’t taking responsibility for their safety, and if, per your blog post, supervisors aren’t taking responsibility for the safety of their workers, the stage has truly been set for injuries and fatalities!
aemstore
October 16, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Yes, this is not rocket science either, just the basics. When we contacted the employer after the first incident, and reported the lack of receptiveness to our suggestions, the owner said he could not believe the workers on site would not. However, when they came back to do more work, they did not have any PPE, or a clue about what safe work is. It does not take a supervisor with a degree to manage a job safely, and handle a client with respect. It is obviously a tone that is set at the leadership level. This company is cheaper because they don’t give training and proper safety equipment, they probably hire temporary laborers to go along with the supervisor.
One of the other issues here was the two laborers with the contractor supervisor. These were two young kids, maybe 18 or 19 years old. Workers at this age typically have little experience in relatively dangerous work environments as they might have worked in fast food or a grocery store. These two employees had obviously never heard the message of safety prior to the meeting, they had never thought of taking precautions for the work being done (besides, ‘don’t get hurt, or you’ll be like the other guys.’) As I delivered experience from previous incidents, they two younger employees were receptive, and maybe a little bit surprised. We need to stop thinking that young employees have some natural sense of common sense, they don’t know what engineering controls are, and have never worked on scaffolding, never used cut proof gloves, and ANSI rated eye protection. Human beings are not born with a natural safety compass in our heads, we strive to accomplish tasks set before us and seek approval.
ehscommoner
October 19, 2009 at 5:33 pm