Sorry, but it's non-negotiable
It’s the weekend, you’re out enjoying yourself and had a great night visiting a few pubs and bars. Maybe instead you’ve just been for a meal and enjoyed a lovely bottle of wine with your meal. We’ve all been there, and I’d like to ask anyone reading this if they’ve also heard the following comment about the drive home??
“I don’t want to get breathalysed, lose my license and be hit with a hefty fine.”?
There’s something MASSIVELY wrong here and it’s endemic in so many people’s attitude to Safety at Work and frankly it really pisses me off. It really, really does.?
Here’s the thing. It’s all about getting caught apparently. The consequences of not being as lucid or as sharp as you would be if you were as sober as a judge aren’t mentioned very often at all.?
How many of you reading this can honestly, HONESTLY, say that you yourself have never said this???????
Surely the thing to worry about is not being able to react as quickly when that pedestrian steps out unexpectedly, or that car pulls out in front of you.?
Way back in my early 20s I was young and arguably quite stupid at times. To cut a long story short I was driving home one night with my girlfriend and a mate, over the alcohol driving limit for sure, and it all went horribly wrong. I misjudged a corner, mounted the curb bursting 3 of the four tyres and crashed into a stone gatepost. The gatepost won. Sorry mum for killing your car.?
It was a mess, a real mess. I’m not sure what happened to my face, I was wearing a seatbelt (thank goodness, I’d most likely not be writing this if I wasn’t) but I suspect I hit the steering wheel when we pretty much stopped dead. I was knocked unconscious briefly. There was blood everywhere. It looked like I’d had my throat cut. My girlfriend and mate were rather shaken up but didn’t have the appearance of a stuck pig fortunately. The emergency services were called by ‘someone’ and attended the scene. The police wanted to breathalyse me, but I didn’t have a functioning mouth to be able to comply. My top lip looked like someone had cut it into two pieces with a pair of scissors. The ambulance crew insisted I was taken to hospital ASAP. We all were.?
Due to extent of my facial injury, I was transferred to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, something like 12 miles away. The Accident & Emergency team where I live didn’t want to attempt to stitch my lip back together. The injury was too severe. Instead, some poor plastic surgeon was dragged out of bed and came to put my lip back together. Yes, I’ve had plastic surgery, lol, but not for vanity’s sake. I learned the hard way about the actual consequences of my actions and poor judgement, the worst part not being my face but me being responsible for injuring my friends. That's a really horrible feeling. Trust me.
Here’s my point (at last). This attitude to ‘getting caught’ is so commonplace it’s endemic in workplace safety in my experience both onshore and offshore. A correctly executed Toolbox Talk is almost as rare as Dodo shit, honestly. Working in oil and gas it’s almost a joke, but the potential consequences aren’t funny, rather like my car accident.?
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I hear “We don’t want to be audited and get caught” as opposed to “We don’t want anyone to be injured or killed” all too often.
Toolbox Talks are not conducted correctly, the sheet of paper is passed around for all to sign and if you take the time to actually read the document, you’re looked at like you’ve grown a second head. Permits aren’t read either. Don’t fool yourself by saying they are. They mostly ARE NOT.
Safety and adherence to procedure for me is ‘non-negotiable’, not open for debate or modification. Other non-negotiables for myself include honesty and integrity. These things are hard-wired into me. If you don’t like that then don’t deal with my company or work with me. It’s as simple as that.?
Most of the time you’ll get away with it, but when that person or that car pulls out you may well hit them. Then it’s too late.?
I honestly wonder just how many accidents or incidents at work start out with permits and paperwork being 'autographed' but NOT READ.?
As my dear friend once said, the guy who got me into Industrial Rope Access, “If you’re marching, you’re not fighting Pete”.?
You’re still being paid, so take the time to read all paperwork, The Client wants you to do this, Your Employer wants you to do this. The job might take a little longer, but so what? You’ll earn a bit more by doing it properly, your employing company will too and there should be less chance of an accident by adhering to procedures and BEING CONSISTENT, RATHER THAN COMPLACENT.?
Win, win, win. Seriously folks, what the actual **** is the problem with doing things this way?
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Director at ORCA ACCESS SERVICES LTD
5 个月You might find this interesting Steve. 100% accurate and unfortunately TRUE. ??