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11/01/2005
Safety & Education Committee Update
Planning, Developing and Implementing Safety Training
Planning, developing and implementing safety training is an important aspect of any tower company’s safety and health program. NATE’s continued effort toward providing members with new and updated safety and educational material has truly been a great success. Their direction and stance on training and a safe work environment for tower personnel leads by example. However, developing a “safety attitude” within our individual companies is a critical aspect of safety training that shouldn’t be overlooked when providing training for our employees. All the safety training in the world is useless unless you have a good safety attitude. Each individual company is responsible for developing a safety attitude within their organization. That attitude starts at the top; however, just as important is employee involvement.
Imagine the following scenario:
The safety representative from your company pulls up to one of your jobsites. They do their regular jobsite safety audit and uncover a “violation.” This violation is brought to the attention of the foreman and his response is, “I knew you would eventually find that and take care of it.” While that may be a function of the safety representative’s job description, the foreman is a much closer line of defense. They are not supposed to wait for the inspection to reveal such an inadequacy. Another response you may hear is “We’ve always done it this way.” Past experience is not an assurance of future performance. Conditions and practices change over time. Hazards that once presented a minimal risk may now have an elevated risk. Each situation deserves to be evaluated on its own merit periodically. And finally, “I hate to wear that stuff. It slows me down and it’s uncomfortable.” Compare the comfort and utility of living without an arm or leg or with an artificial eye. Consider the comfort and utility of confinement to a wheelchair.
As an owner, a safety representative, or anyone responsible for safety, give all employees the essential security and confidence in knowing that they are being looked after. Be extremely certain that they know that they must take individual responsibility for themselves and, quite often, for the actions that could affect others. Instead of noting the violation and correcting it for the crew, or placing blame, have the crew explain why the violation occurred and how to correct it. Listen closely and make sure they are exhibiting a positive attitude towards safety. Create a blame-free environment where individuals are able to report errors or close calls without punishment.
Give them the opportunity to exhibit pride in the workplace. Their direct involvement in the safety effort provides the means by which they develop and/or express their commitment to safety.
Why wait for the above scenario to become reality? A positive attitude toward safety will pay off in countless ways: saving you money, keeping your job, and even saving your life. Why wait until you lose something precious before you realize how easy it would have been to save it? A few saved seconds or minutes can correct or take away the possibility of an accident. Now is the best time to develop a good attitude toward safety.
We can always think of excuses for not acting with safety in mind, but in the end, it makes a lot more sense to have a good safety attitude.
Chad Jepson is a member of the NATE Safety & Education Subcommittee and is the Human Resource/Safety Coordinator for Hayden Tower Service, Inc. in Topeka, Kansas. He can be reached at 785-232-1840 or cjepson@haydentower.com.
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