Safety First Bah

from JoeUser Forums
I hated it when someone comes back from some safety-at-work course and start going around pointing out stuff we shouldn't be doing.

One kinda thinks: I've been doing it for years and nothing happened. Nothing exploded. No one got sick. No one died. Suddenly, you are telling me I've got to label this, take away that, store this thing somewhere else, lock it up and sign it out every time I want it? What do you mean, do you mean to say that the precautions we've been taking are not enough? If you are so paranoid about stuff, why don't you stay at home and not go out? Snap-snap!

Those were not my exact words, but it might as well be.

I was probably being over defensive. The safety measures are meant to prevent accidents. Still, I would hate to overdo it. If you overdo these safety precautionary things, it might prevent you from doing work (or rather, slow you down or give you more work).

Once reason takes over the initial feeling of "Damnit I've doing for years, I'm telling you this sort of thing will probably never happen", I can kinda see where things are going. It's inevitable. You can't keep doing the same thing the same way once you become aware that the way you've been doing it poses a risk in the workplace. (This is where "Ignorance Is Bliss" comes from.) It simply makes more sense to take more time and effort be safe rather than to be irritated by the inconvenience of it all.

Of course, it doesn't mean that I am completely over feeling uneasy with the changes to come. I am still antsy about people going overboard with preventive measures. It has happened, and it was quite a pain to prove that it was an overboard preventive measure and remove it from standard protocol.

I suppose things will always balance themselves out in the end, and the right implementations will eventually be in place.

I just hate being in the initial process of any implementation.
11,835 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Much like I hate wearing goggles when in chem lab....they fog up every 5 seconds and I can't see what I'm writing half the time. I've also never spilled or splashed anything in 3 years that I've been working with some nasty stuff. I wear the damn things anyway....*sigh*...I just wish I didn't fog up so much...such a pain.

~Zoo
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Face shields have that problem too. I have to wear N95 at work sometimes, that's kinda suffocating. Anything you wear on your face restricts your view. But I'm used to the general stuff: gloves, coat, face mask, sterilize everything in and out of hoods...

Chemical safety is probably more long in establishment than biological safety. I always think biology has just come up with the world, a young and fast growing science. I still remember days where we didn't need to wear gloves, but now we wear them all the time. Chemicals used to just line the shelves, now they are locked away. I feel like there's more and more rules that maybe I wouldn't feel it if I came into this job just today. I just found out that acetone cannot be kept in the fridge (unless it's a special fridge), because it might explode. I am really skeptical. But I doubt a chemical consultant will make up things like that. It's oldbie syndrome -- disliking change.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
If you are so paranoid about stuff, why don't you stay at home and not go out?


Since most accidents happen at home, maybe they're scared to stay there.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
That usually happens when someone has just come from a course, as did the person in your office. They are all gung ho and will make your life hell so to speak until you comply. While it will be good for the office, some people have no people skill and are just down right harrassing! Yeah, it will balance itself out, when they get bored and begin to slack again!! That always happen!
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I was approached by our Occupational Health and Safety Officer (don't you love these grandiose titles?). He saw me pushing a trolley with some old furniture items in it and had a go at me for not following correct manual handling procedures. I mean, it was a few items on a trolley. I couldn't see any other way to 'handle' them.

He complained to my boss about the incident and the boss called me over. When I explained what I'd been doing, the boss turned around to him and asked if he had anything better to do than bother me.

See, the little guys can win sometimes.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Mason:

FS: Yes, you are most probably right. The one who speaks the loudest about safety sometimes ends up being the one who lacks common sense and does something worse. That reminds me: we had a safety officer who caused a spill and tried to sweep it under the flooring so to speak. She was quietly removed and we never hear her crowing much about "safety standards" anymore.

Maso: It's really an appointment with no real monetary or career gain. I do know of people who make a difference when they come into such positions, but there are those who act like those snobbish prefects in school who like to make a big fuss over whether fringes are a millimeter too long.

Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Agreed! I think we have made safety a religion! Much of what we've done in the name of safety does make sense, and after we adjust, actually works better, but it's easy to let the safety police go way too far.

We forget that safety isn't the purpose of us doing what we do, so anything that keeps us from doing the job should be reconsidered.