Change: A Stumbling Block to Safety.

I spent the morning cleaning out the CAMTEC classroom and my office so that we can have the ceiling and walls painted.  As part of the process I decided to change my office a bit, rearranging the furniture and creating a new look.  Then I got to thinking about the concept of change.  To most people it’s an ugly, five-letter word.  And unfortunately, in my experience, a great stumbling block to a safe jobsite.  Have you ever heard or used the old adage, “Well I’ve been doing it this way my whole career without a problem.”  Or how about, “There’s really no other way to do it,” which means basically the same thing.  If you’ve invested even pennies in the stock market you know that past performance does not guarantee future growth.
Take the following examples into consideration.  I’ve been using a bobcat bucket as a man-lift for 20 years, and it’s always worked for me.  Until the hydraulics go out, which (according to our friend Murphy) will not happen when the bucket is sitting safely on the ground with no one in it.  Or how about the trench that won’t collapse today because it has never collapsed on you before?  Go ask Eric Giguere, a young man from Pennsylvania, who was buried for ten minutes when the trench he was working in collapsed (www.safetyawarenesssolutions.com).

I remember once finding workers using a loader as a man-lift.  I asked them to stop what they were doing, telling them that using the loader that way was not an option.  They promptly retorted that there was no other way to complete the task and that they would be careful.  I held my ground (you know a mighty oak is nothing more than a nut that held its ground) and removed the loader from service making it no longer available to them.  It took the foreman less than five minutes to come up with a viable – and safe – change to the way they were doing the task.  WOW, who knew!  When it comes to safety, change can be a very good thing. If you want to improve your company’s safety performance, it’s mandatory.

Joseph M. Forgue. Director of Education & Safety Services

If you want to change your safety program, let me know; I’ll come help you for free.  Contact me, Joe Forgue, at 248-972-1141 or at forgue@cam-online.com.