Those Pesky Regulations

Years ago there was a movement to make OSHA a friendlier agency.

Instead of enforcing the rules through fines there was a movement afoot to make them a partner in business.

The hammer used - financial penalties - was set aside, and OSHA tried to educate and partner it up.

The results weren’t great…

…businesses weren’t afraid and they put their employees at risk. The number of occupational deaths went sky high. Illnesses and injuries also soared.

OSHA, without the threat of a hammer, was ineffective.

I’ve been in the safety field for more than 30 years now. 

I’ve seen a lot of things, and I must say that most company owners do things the right way, and they spend a lot of money on safety.

Yet, there are others.

“I made a business decision,” one owner said to me when I asked him why he had two eighteen year old kids on a roof deck without fall restraints.

“I’m going to gamble that they don’t fall and that it doesn’t cost me double to do the job.”

I tossed all of them off the job. I was disgusted by that owner and his gamble.

Yet, that dude isn’t alone.

There are plenty of others who are willing to gamble with other people’s lives.

I was at a huge plant one day - a confined space in a tower where waste was burned. My contractor was to demo the tower.

“Can we get a air sample of what’s been stored in the tower before we use a torch on it?”

“We don’t have the money in the job for the air sampling.”

That was said to me by the safety rep for the huge company!

“Okay,” I said. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” I pointed to a Denny’s that was off in the distance.

“Me and my three iron worker friends are going to go have eggs and bacon. You grab the torches and start the demo. If it doesn’t blow up, we’ll come back and finish.”

“I’m not doing that,” the safety guy said. “That’s dangerous.”

“That’s what you want THEM to do,” I said.

We all left.

The owner of the company I was working for got pissed…

…at me!

“This is going to cost me $20,000!” He yelled. “What are the chances that it might blow up?”

“What if it’s only a 1% chance that those three guys would blow up?” I asked. “Would you take that chance?”

That owner finally relented. He apologized to me.

But make no mistake…

…there are businessmen who force their drivers to piss in bottles on their way from one delivery to another.

There are thousands of owners who hide asbestos and lead exposures…

…and hire kids to work in it.

Eliminate the regulations?

Then don’t be surprised by trains falling off the tracks.

Or young kids falling to their deaths.

How much is one life worth?

I’m sure that there are plenty of men willing to do the math…

…and make a business decision about it.

I also know a whole bunch of safety professionals…

…and we do our best, every day, to make sure those garbage owners are exposed.

You know who is against the safety regulations that are necessary?

Yeah.

The people who want to break them and don’t give a damn about their workers or the damage they do to the environment.

And that pisses me off.