A few months ago, I spoke to a group of safety leaders at an oil refinery who told me about a problem they were experiencing. They said that contractors at the site were complaining that the company was stricter with their employees than with the "house employees."

This is a common problem. When I was a safety engineer at nuclear facilities the contractors were constantly complaining that they felt like second class citizens. One of the reasons they mentioned was a perceived disciplinary double standard. They pointed out that when contractor employees committed a violation they'd get kicked off site, while a company employee would only gets a talking to or a letter in the file.

3 Solutions

I can see how contractors might feel this way. Employers would be well advised to take these perceptions seriously and make an effort to dispel them. There are three ways you can do this.

1. Explain Any Differences in Treatment

Although it would be nice to be able to treat everybody exactly the same, this isn't always possible. If there is a difference in discipline, explain why. For example, when a contractor employee is kicked off a site he can usually get work at another site. (I've seen a person come back to the same site with a different contracting company!) But when a house employee loses his job the consequences are more severe.

2. Pay Attention to Perceptions and Reality

Find out what's going on. Spend some time with contract employees. Let them know that you care about them like you do your own people. When clients hire me to help them improve their safety culture one of the first things I do is go out in the field and get to know as many people as I can. I send the signal that I'm here to help everybody on site-regardless of who they work for.

3. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate Some More

Rumors are swift travelers. They spread faster than a wildfire during a drought. You'll never be able to head them all off but you can influence the minds of the people working at your site by regularly letting them know what's going on. A lack of trust is often no more than a lack of communication.

Conclusion

Accusations of double-standard discipline are often unfair and the product of lack of communication. But, fair or unfair, such accusations can undermine your credibility and damage your capacity to exercise leadership. So you need to defuse them.

HEROES OF WORKPLACE SAFETY

St. Patrick: Part priest, part safety engineer

Saint Patrick

By Glenn Demby

Whoever made up the phrase "the luck of the Irish" obviously didn't know the story of Saint Patrick. If there's one thing the man we celebrate today didn't have, it was luck.

Born somewhere along the British coastline in the year 389, Patrick was kidnapped by a raiding party at the age of 14. His captors took him to Ireland and sold him as a slave. When he wasn't tending the flocks of a Druid chieftain, Patrick would spend hours alone deep in prayer, strengthening his Christian faith. After six years of captivity, Patrick escaped, returned home and took up studying for the priesthood. He later returned to Ireland on a 40-year mission to convert its people. He died in 461 A.D.-on March 17, naturally.

Legend has it that Saint Patrick rid Ireland of snakes. But, alas, the story is probably not true. Scientists say that there were no snakes in post-glacial Ireland. The whole banishment of serpents legend is best understood as an allegory symbolizing Saint Patrick's purging Ireland of pagans.

Too bad. If Saint Patrick had literally cleansed Ireland of snakes, he might represent something of a patron saint of occupational health and safety: the world's first industrial hygienist!

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