By Richard Hawk

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 double standard for imposing scrutiny and discipline. They would point out that when contractor employees committed a violation they'd get kicked off site while a company employee would only get 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 a 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.

HURRICANOMICS

Hurricane Andrew: Now only the second most expensive hurricane ever.

TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE HURRICANES

The weather service has been keeping hurricane records for just over a century. In that time, the Great Galveston hurricane of 1900 is blamed for killing the most people - between 8,000 and 12,000. Hurricane Katrina now appears likely to surpass that toll and assume the grim mantle of deadliest on record.

The one thing that we can say for certain right now is that when it's all said and done, Katrina will be the most expensive hurricane in our country's history. Insured losses from Katrina are expected to exceed $26 billion. Looking at the 10 most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history before Katrina will give you a sense of the scale of the storm's economic devastation.

And keep in mind that insurance doesn't pay for everything; insured losses represent only about half of real economic losses.

Source: Insurance Services Office Inc.

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