I know, I know. Compliance with the law and preventing injury are supposed to be one and the same. But guess what? They’re not. And everybody knows it. A safety director I met at a recent conference summed it up perfectly: “I’d love to be able to do some stuff that would really reduce injuries,” he said to me. “Unfortunately, I’m so busy with compliance and audits right now that I just don’t have the time.”

Putting the Compliance Cart before the Safety Horse

The reason we have OSHA laws is to prevent injury. But the great irony is that the laws have become a distraction. We’re so wrapped up in getting all the details of compliance right that we tend to overlook what should be obvious safety risks.

I mean, why is it that an experienced and certified safety professional performing a compliance audit can spot a container on the back shelf without a label during a compliance audit, but not notice that everyone — and I mean everyone — is violating an ergonomic procedure on the production floor (pulling carts instead of pushing them). Could it be that the former would constitute an OSHA violation and the latter wouldn’t? If so, this is sad — especially when you consider that the number one injury at this particular facility of 2,650 was and is shoulder strains.

A Sad State of Affairs

How on earth did we get here? How could we ever have let anything become more important to us than preventing injury? We should be dedicated to preventing the causes of accidents — rushing, frustration, fatigue and complacency. Instead, we’re spending our hours dotting “i”s and crossing “t”s.

Why? Perhaps it’s because we’ve become more afraid of the lawyers and the government than the injuries or fatalities. If this is true about you, then I want to share a story with you.

Putting Compliance vs. Prevention in Perspective

I was asked to speak at a conference for logging contractors on Vancouver Island. Mark, the person who introduced me, was the operations manager from one of the major forest products companies in the area. He knew there were some owners and superintendents mixed into the audience of 300 hand-fallers. This was his introduction:

“Guys, we’ve had five potentially fatal close calls so far this year.” [two-second pause] “I don’t know if any of you have ever had to knock on the door and tell the wife of one of your employees that her husband is dead — but I have.”

What he said next really got to me. “And what I’ve found works best is to just come right out and say “Your husband was killed in an accident today.” [one-second pause]

“But,” he continued, “that’s not the worst of it – having to stay there until another friend or family member comes over, that’s the worst part, because they start yelling, then crying, then they hug you, then they pound your chest or try to hit you, all the while the kids are crying and screaming, she’s crying and screaming. And all you can do is stand there and wait. Wait until that relative or friend gets there… it may only be 15 or 20 minutes.” And he looks over the crowd. “But I guarantee you that it will be the longest 15 minutes of your life.”

Mark is a big man. Big — 6 feet and about 225 pounds. Strong. And sharp as a tack. He looks at the group and says one last thing, “I don’t care how tough you think you are, I don’t care what you’ve been through on your own; you won’t want to ever, ever go through that again, you will never want to spend another 15-20 minutes like that again. Ever.”

Then he shakes his head, and in a low voice he says, “I’ve had to do it so many times, that I can’t even tell you the exact number — I can just tell you what I’ve found is the best way to do it.” Then he introduces me. I could barely talk. All I kept thinking about was “The best way I’ve found to do this… The best way…” He’s had to do this so many times that he knows what works best.

Conclusion

Now ask yourself, if you were Mark would you be interested in compliance or injury prevention — audit scores or inattention? A moment’s inattention with a forklift, chainsaw or skidder can lead to a fatality. A bad audit score doesn’t seem so significant when you’re on your way to a funeral. Look, I’m not saying that compliance audits aren’t important. I’m just suggesting, urging, that you put them into proper perspective. Next week, I’ll elaborate on how.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Thanks again to all the members who participated in the first annual Saxcies awards. This week, SafetyXChange will profile the winners. Later, we will publish a special issue of SafetyXChange to acknowledge not just the winners but the finalists in each category.

SAXCIES PROFILE
WINNER FOR SAFETY PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: NorthStar Communications Group
Criteria: The Safety Program of the Year is awarded to a company for excellence in its health and safety efforts. The Winner: NorthStar Communications Group, Inc.
	Caption: NorthStar Safety Director David McConnell (middle) accepting the Safety Program Saxcie from Glenn Demby (left) and Mark Ziebarth (right) of Bongarde Media

Profile: SafetyXChange isn’t the first organization to recognize NorthStar for safety excellence. In the past four years, NorthStar has received five other safety awards. It’s easy to understand why. A lost workday rate of 0.0 for 2005, and recordable incident rates of less than l.0 for 2004-05 are one indication of success.

But, as safety professionals know, it’s not just about numbers. Safety excellence is about organizational commitment, hard work and follow-up. NorthStar exhibits these qualities in spades. Some highlights of its safety program:

• Full blown training and safety screening not just of employees but of contractors and subcontractors;
• Complete reporting and monthly analysis of incidents — including near misses;
• Pre-employment, random, post-accident and reasonable cause testing for alcohol and controlled substances;
• Active involvement by management including the conducting of routine site visits; and
• A VPP-style collaboration between and among workers, middle managers and corporate management to ensure health and safety.

In short, NorthStar, like the astral body after which it’s named, truly represents a star and guiding light in the field of health and safety.

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