ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion Unsafe Situations

It sounds like the time "staying home" presents the perfect opportunity to find another employer. I'd start looking in a heartbeat.

Is this a public school? I can't imagine a company getting away with what sounds like a boneheaded stunt like this on a public works project.

(btw, if you do decide to file paperwork....purlin is correct sp)

My father told me a story about a contractor he used to work for. He had a very old rickety unsafe ladder. My father complained to the contractor many times about this unsafe ladder. The contractor told him he was being a baby and to quit complaining about the ladder. One day my father was sick and was unable to finish a job he was using the ladder on. The next day when he came into work there was the contractor sitting in the office with his arm in a cast.
His arm was so badly broken that it was never 100% again.

[This message has been edited by A-Line (edited 12-14-2005).]

Escape route????? There is none you would have to hold on for dear life and make your way to the open ceiling tile and wait for someone to come grab you in the lift. Even if you tied onto a purlin below you, your still gonna be unattaching the harnass every five feet and not supported 100% of the time. Thats my problem. The school is a public school. We are doing this project along with a city hall and police station. We were subcontracted by a retrofit company to do the work and we aren't even getting rate. I thought on all state funded jobs you got paid rate but not here. It is definitly a shady company.

Sounds like your employer may not even call you back. But is that a problem ? Not in My mind ! This may very well be a wake up call for you - Time to find a better place to work ! You say this is a public school ? Does the person in charge of this project, from the local school board , know of the potential for a law suit? Say a worker falls and is injured or worse is KILLED by this most unsafe work practice. The contractor closes up shop before anything is settled, the school board is next in line.
I would
1) RUN and find new employment ASAP
2) Inform OSHA
3) Inform people in charge from school
As far as getting paid " the rate" it depends on the amount of money spent on the project and where the money comes from - (local,state, federal )

When i started out, i worked for some of these half tailed contractors, i found it best to just leave, and say nothing but thank you when you pick up your last check, these guys have a way of burning themselves in time, so let it go, about 5 years after i left this contractor he had a guy get hit while changing ballast in a supermarket, from what i understand he was using an alum ladder, fully extended over isles.
I guess i am screwed up, i would send my guys home, for doing something unsafe.

[This message has been edited by LK (edited 12-14-2005).]

Don't worry about your employer finding out who blew the whistle; you do not have to identify yourself with OSHA to file a complaint. If you file online as an imminent danger, they will be there tomorrow with bells on. A 40-foot fall is almost certain death and OSHA requires adequate fall protection to be used. It also requires your employer to properly train all personnel involved. Email them, you might save someone’s life.

I think you absolutely did the right thing. I'm a non-union guy and I would have done exactly what you did. Like some of the guys have said, there are some bad contractors out there that could careless about your well-being. But on the other hand, there are some good ones who do know how to run a business and do care about their employees and take good care of them. The catch with working for someone good is that you will be expected to work your butt off and not make any mistakes.

Good luck finding a new contractor to work for. There's plenty of work out there and I hope your search for work will be short. Good luck.

Yes,
You did do the right thing, mate!.
Working at that hieght without any fall protection, is just rediculous.
I'd never trust any plank of wood to support me at that hieght, fall protection or not.
Everybody has the right to refuse to do any work that they deem to be unsafe, however, some employers take that as a refusal to work at all.
I note in your profile that you are an apprentice, I hope that this "lay-off" doesn't affect the rest of your apprenticeship programme, same side of the coin though, why should someone be "black-listed" just because they stood up for thier own Health and Safety, it defies common logic!!.
Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck in finding a new employer, personally, I'd hire a guy with an attitude like yours towards safety, in a second.
Finally, I hope that that employer gets what's coming to them and no-one gets seriously injured/killed before-hand.

Thanks for the reply guys. Well I had class tonight and was telling one of my classmates about what happened and the teacher wanted to hear my story so I told him. His response was "O you work for one of those companies, huh?" He told me that if I am out of work still on Monday to let him know and he will put me to work. So I guess I have that covered. My brother works for the same company as me and I guess the foreman was giving him crap and asking him what my problem was and that the owner is pissed at me. Funny stuff. I don't think I am gonna bother going back. Is that a bad decision cuz I will need a reference? Thats the only thing thats got me messed up.

My response is in regards to "e57's" comment. Can someone explain the difference in these statements? How is a layman expected to understand this difference? Talk about splitting hairs!!

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"Refusing to do a job because of potentially unsafe workplace conditions is not ordinarily an employee right under the OSH Act......"

AND

"...employees do have the right to refuse to do a job if they believe in good faith that they are exposed to an imminent danger.
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