By most measurements, the story I'm about to relate would not be counted a success story given the final resolution. Approximately 3,000 employees lost their jobs, good paying jobs. But I also believe that what happened prevented uncounted scores of injuries and might have even saved lives.

A Grim Safety Inspection

The events took place a few years ago at a steel foundry. I won't name the company for reasons that will become obvious as the story unfolds.

The facility was idle for two weeks during an annual vacation break. The only people working there were a few maintenance employees performing preventative maintenance. I had been employed with the company for over five years and had been in the position of Safety Director six months. I figured it was a good time to conduct a "wall to wall" inspection to identify items that didn't comply with OSHA standards.

The results of the inspection were eye popping. Over 1,000(!) OSHA violations. We drew up a list of each one, describing the hazard and listing the OSHA standard violated next to it. The Maintenance Manager working with Plant Engineers provided an estimate of what it would cost to correct all the items and bring the facility into compliance. The price tag: over seven million dollars.

A Sad Ending

We distributed the list of violations to management and gave them an opportunity to study and respond to the report.

I was not a party in the final decision, but the Company's officers determined that the corporation could not and would not spend that amount of money in a manner in which they determined would not serve the bottom line. Within a few months, a decision was made to close the plant. It was about two years in the making, but the plant was closed. Today, only the hulk of the buildings remain.

Conclusion

For those men and women who lost their jobs, this story was anything but a success. But then I think about what might have happened to those workers if they had been allowed to continue working in that unsafe environment. How many of them would have lost limbs or even lives? The question of whether it's better to be unemployed than exposed to danger is one worth thinking about, especially in these troubled times.

* * * * * * * * * *

WHERE ARE YOUR SUCCESS STORIES?

I'm a little disappointed that more of you haven't responded to our calls for safety success stories. We know times are tough and time is scarce. But it's precisely at times like these when the need to share insight and experience is greatest. So we ask you once more: Please tell us about your own safety successes. glennd@bongarde.com, or catherinej@bongarde.com.

Glenn Demby
Editor-in-Chief
SafetyXChange

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