Safety Awakening – Support “Accidental” Safety People

December 12, 2014 No Comments

Support “Accidental” Safety People

There are many more part-time safety people then full-time safety people.   I sometimes refer to part-time safety people as “accidental” safety people.  They did not choose safety as a career path, rather they were assigned safety responsibilities by their employer.

Most full-time safety professionals have purposely chosen occupational safety and health as their profession.  They have completed a formal course of study to prepare themselves for this career.

Many companies are not large enough to afford a full-time safety professional.  Rather than not have anyone lead the safety program, medium and small-sized companies often assign their safety responsibilities to an existing employee on a part-time basis.  Part-time safety people usually have full-time duties in HR, supervision, maintenance, or engineering.

As with most professionals, there is a “pecking order” in safety.  Full-time safety professions usually see themselves as being at the top.  Sometimes I’ve even heard full-time safety people say negative things about part-time safety people.  It’s just plain wrong for full-timers to put down accidental safety people.

We are all brothers in safety and are on the same team.  We all have the same sacred mission – namely to protect the life and health of employees and make sure they all go home in the same condition that they came to work in.

Part-time, accidental safety people are not second class citizens.  If you are a full-timer, please respect the part-timers and do what you can to help them learn and grow.  Maybe some day the accidental safety person you’ve mentored will choose to follow in your footsteps and become a full-time safety professional too.

 

Awakenings