First, I want to wish a happy first birthday to SafetyXChange. As one of your original advisors, I want you to know it's been a great year. Keep up the good work.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I would like to ask you all a question: What is your level of perfection? Or to put it more simply: How perfect is your safety behavior? Since you're a safety and health professional, it's impeccable, right?

Dentists Don't Have Perfect Teeth

Of course, it's not. Let's be honest. I'll bet at least some of you have driven over the speed limit or failed to fasten your seatbelt. You might have even gone as far as using a chair instead of a stepladder to change a light bulb. Come on, admit it.

Don't feel too bad. We're only human. And it's not just safety professionals who cut corners. Everybody slips up just a tiny bit, on rare occasions. After all, how many dentists have perfect teeth? In short, safety slip-ups by safety professionals are no big deal - unless somebody at work catches you slipping up.

Losing My Head

This is what happened to me recently. I committed the sin of all sins for a safety supervisor: I walked out of my office and onto the shop floor without my hardhat on! It was a worst case scenario, too. Most of the mechanics hadn't yet returned from lunch. This allowed me to get "deep" into the shop before I got caught.

Like wolves spotting an injured lamb, my fellow employees foamed at the mouth with anticipation. Their words, catcalls and gestures were relentless - beyond anything I had imagined. And the torches - where did they come from?

As I was pursued through the shop, I tried desperately to think of a good excuse to explain why I wasn't wearing a hardhat. I've heard so many good excuses over the years you'd think I could create my own. Yet none came to mind.

"Please make this be a nightmare, please make this be a nightmare," I was chanting as I reached for my office door. That's when I noticed a figure standing off to the side. He had a slight smile on his face and his head slowly moved back and forth in a wise and knowing motion. It was the plant manager.

Conclusion

In the end, I guess I was lucky. I didn't lose my job - or my head. I wasn't disciplined. In fact, nobody has since said a word to me about the incident. And other than the photo taken by a mechanic - me in the shop without a hardhat-now blown up and mounted in our lobby, it turned out to be no big deal.

If there's a moral to the story, it's this: As a safety professional, don't beat yourself up for not being perfect. Understand that we all make mistakes. Just try your best to set a good example and refrain from making your safety gaffes in front of the workforce you lead.

Osha - The Pet Peeve Mascot

PET PEEVES

The "It's-the-Way-I've-Always-Done-It" Excuse

When I ask a skilled worker to comply with a safety requirement or offer them a safety suggestion, my pet peeve is the occasional answer I receive, "I've been doing this job for umpteen years."

I have a few problems with this response:

1. Just because someone is skilled, experienced or knowledgeable about the job doesn't mean there is no opportunity for new learning, new ideas and even possibly a better (or safer) way to perform it.
2. Who says skilled workers are invincible? We are all human and sometimes we take shortcuts, get lazy, get bored with the routine and repetition of our jobs or just have our minds elsewhere. No worker is exempt from performing unsafe acts regardless of years on the job, skill, education or experience.
3. The times, they are a-changin'. Machines are more complicated; traffic is faster. Old skills need to be adapted. So do safety habits. Sometimes the "old school" way is no longer the safest way. Old dogs CAN learn new tricks.

Lois Thomas, Safety Officer
St. Johns County

Do you have a pet peeve related to health and safety? Share them with the members of SafetyXChange. Send your pet peeve to catherinej@bongarde.com and let us know if we can use your name/company/email. We won't list any of the foregoing information unless you specifically say we can.

SAFETYXCHANGE ANNIVERSARY MOMENTS

Members' Replies

By Catherine Jones

Echoing what Glenn said yesterday, I am constantly amazed at the level of interaction in SafetyXChange. Just about every story elicits some kind of response. It makes my day to receive a note of appreciation, a suggestion or a pet peeve or training blooper. Even the critical comments are, for the most part, constructive. It's great to have members who are so opinionated, wise, clever and perceptive.

But one thing that can be tough about doing a daily newsletter is that we sometimes get caught making typos and like mistakes. But, like Richard says in his piece, we're only human. And, I admit, it makes me feel much better when I get a note like this one in response to John Lowrie's article last week:

"Very good article on re-vitalising safety committee meetings. Bit worried that members were given a commemorative plague at the end of their first year!" (emphasis added)

So, thanks to you, SafetyXChange members, for making me smile every day.

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