Safety First or Just in the Top Three?

Safety First or Just in the Top Three?

Anyone who has been around the block a few times and who takes a realistic and holistic approach to managing health safety in the workplace knows that safety is NOT first, never has been, never will be and never should be. Slogans like “safety is No1 Priority” and “zero harm” are counterproductive and just give safety a bad name (check out this latest little doozy: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/5009290/Lollipop-man-is-handed-a-high-five-ban-by-council-killjoys.html)

I copped a pounding when I first wrote about this in “OHS is Bullshit” but I still luv this article by Mike Rowe from the reality TV series “Dirty Jobs” who has often been criticised for setting a bad example in not following what many people would consider “proper safety precautions” – Sanctimonious crap! how else will these jobs get done and who else would do them?. Reminds me of when I used to run a quarry and it was forever being sabotaged by the local greenies – who used to drive their black smoke belching jalopies on the roads built by materials from that quarry!

GOOD ON YOU MIKE FOR TELLING IT HOW IT IS! He says:

“Of all the platitudes automatically embraced in the workplace – and there are many – there is none more pervasive, erroneous, overused, and dangerous, than “Safety First!” in my opinion.

I have heard this slogan countless times. I have seen it emblazoned on banners, T-shirts  and hats. I have sat through mandatory briefings and slideshows and presentations designed to “protect me from the hazards at hand.” And I have listened as safety officers and foreman have run down list after list of OSHA requirements, all apparently construed to remind me that nothing is more important to the employer than my own well-being. What a load of unmitigated nonsense.

In the jobs I have seen thus far, I can tell you with certainty, that safety, while always a major consideration, is never the priority.”

READ AND ENJOY THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE