ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion A Matter of Principle

Just having worked with these guys over the last week or so, I know what is really missing from most EC companies that I work around!.
These guys work around High Voltages all the time, yet it is a given thing, that you have a meeting before a given procedure happens and everyone explains what they are going to do, how far fetched is that?.
Everyone knows what they are going to do and they have an escape plan should something go wrong.
PPE is stated and it must be worn, A Safety Observer ensures this, you don't get into the EWP without it!
With Hot-stick work, the equipment is tested before the work starts.
With Live Glove and Barrier Work the case is the same.
Why the h*ll cant EC's do the same for low voltage stuff?
It's called a Toolbox meeting, it would only take a few minutes, at laest you guys would have an agreement in how the job was to be done!.
It's not Rocket Science!.

Mike, I'm loaned out to a short-term project where we're doing a Management Self-Assessment. I had never heard of such a thing except where management takes a cursory look around to assure themselves they're doing a great job and it usually ends with a letter recommending raises for the top 3 to 5 people. Not so with this one. There apparently is a very systematic method which has been developed by companies and organizations which are of a higher caliber - usually 'best in class' and the method is comprehensive. One element is observing 'evolutions' or more to the point, watching an entire cycle of a process and comparing it to the procedures and policys written to cover the activity in terms of safety, security and efficacy. The first thing we do for every evolution is a pre-brief for two reasons. The first is to ensure that each observer and the participants understand all the safety issues and the entire plan for the process. The second is so the observers don't throw the process out of kilter by their very presence. This whole experience is proving to be a great learning opportunity and allows for a greater understanding of not only what happens but why each step or precaution is integral to the success of the process.

In addition to quitting Iwould write a letter (kind of an exit interview) explaining your reason for lieving and then mail it to the company to the insurance company that provides the liability and workers compensation and also to the authority having jurisdiction, (city, county or other appropriate governing body that has an agency that inforces safe work regulations).
By doing that you would be taking the next step (doing all you could) to protect the new employee from the hazards that he can't possibly be aware of which is mostly a stupid boss.

Whoa Ray!.
If I did a thing like that, I'd probably never work in this town again, once word got around (and it does!).
I'm just glad to be away from there.

Ouch, sorry to hear that there could be such repercussions through out the local industry for bringing safety concerns to light. In an ideal world there would be some sort of reward for the effort, but you are right. Instead many times you place yourself at risk when you speak up. But if you are comfortable with the Company you now work for wouldn't they have respect for you if you did make a report on the previous idiots you worked for.
I can tell you form years of experience that if the company you work for doesn’t have a "Safe Work Practice and Procedures Policy” in place, they are going to loose a lot more money to accidents then they would have spent designing and maintaining one. Many large companies look at the safety records of a contractor before they will issue them a contract even though they might be the lower bid on a project. In general safety is a good reflection of the quality of the work. Sometimes on critical projects, it's better to pay a bit more to insure that the contractor does a safe and quality job, and doesn't go broke on you in the middle of the project.
It sounds like you are with a good outfit now, but I haven't got a clue what your job title means or weather it is a step up or not.

[This message has been edited by Ray97502 (edited 10-04-2004).]