To discourage unsafe behaviors and reinforce good ones we need to capture our workers’ attention. That’s tough given all of the other stimuli we’re competing with—computers, video games and Hollywood. Hmmm. . . Hollywood. If we could somehow join forces with Hollywood and get them to generate TV shows and movies that reinforce our safety message, we’d have a powerful ally! Unfortunately, Hollywood seems intent on undermining the safety behaviors we’re trying to promote.

Hollywood Is Sending the Wrong Safety Message

People tend to respond better to pictures than words or plant walk-throughs. At a plant where I used to work, workers who wouldn’t recognize an obvious safety hazard if it was 6 inches from their nose showed amazing skill and enthusiasm for finding those same hazards hidden in the photograph we used for our weekly Spot the Safety Hazard contest. A couple of months ago, I even used a photo of a fire on a train bridge to make a point about safety rules in SafetyXChange. 

If a still picture is worth 1,000 words, imagine what a TV episode or feature length movie is worth. So it irks me to consistently spot so many obvious safety violations in TV shows like Undercover Boss. (Click here to read Gerald’s article "Safety & the Undercover Boss.") The worst culprits are the dramas that try so hard for reality such as the various CSI's, NCIS, Law & Order, Trauma, etc. But you can find problems even in the comedies—witness Susan's antics on Desperate Housewives.

For example, I spotted 3 violations in a scene from a recent NCIS episode showing a large forklift on a dock:

• The operator wasn’t wearing his seatbelt;
• He raised the load while driving across the dock; and
• He unnecessarily obscured his vision.

Who’s Minding the Actors?

I assume that the SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) is at least as concerned about the safety of its members as the other trade unions I’ve worked with are of theirs. And while I’m from Iowa, I’ve been told that Cal-OSHA, the regulatory authority in California where most of these shows are shot, is stricter than federal or any other state OSHA. So I’m at a loss to understand how all of these actors continue to be put unnecessarily at risk. I’m not taking about stuntmen, but routine activities perhaps even being done by work-a-day real life industrial employees.

I’m also one of those people that read the credits after the movies end. And I’ve noticed that movies typically credit “consultants” for the realism they seek. But I’ve never seen a credit for a “safety consultant.”

Where is SAG? Where’s Cal-OSHA? Where are the insurers? Why can’t production companies employ safety consultants? Why can’t they depict workers following safety rules, wearing proper PPE, using fall protection, etc.?

Conclusion

If Hollywood insists on serving as the world’s largest producer of Spot-the-Safety-Hazard images, we men and women of safety might as well take advantage. Let’s challenge our employees to spot all the safety violations in their favorite dramas and reality shows. I’ll bet you can get the real couch potatoes in your workforce to spot at least 100 hazards in any given week!

I invite each of you SafetyXChange members to write in and submit the hazards you and your workers spot. Maybe we can get SafetyXChange to give an award to the member that submits the most or the most creative hazards.

So tune in those TV sets and let’s all give out a shout of Hooray for Hollywood!

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