Safety Awakening – “Safety Means Tough Love”

November 14, 2014 No Comments

–

Being a safety advocate means making decisions and choices that are not always popular.  Last week I heard about an unfortunate accident that reinforced this point.

A female office employee at a metals manufacturer had a small piece of metal that she wanted to cut on the metal shear in the shop.  She had no prior experience with any metal working machines, including metal shears.

She was able to “sweet talk” the the department supervisor into letting her use his departments’ shear after work.  At the end of a work day, the office worker went up to the sheer, and without any training or orientation, proceeded to operate the machine.  In short order she cut the tips of two fingers off.

Supervisors and managers must not allow friendships or favors affect their ability to run a safe operation.  We all must be willing to take a tough stand when it comes to safety.  Say no to requests that might endanger a worker – no matter how unpopular that decision might be.

 

Awakenings