An elderly friend and former senior constructor once told me, “Old safety don’t work.” His statement was confusing to me until he went on to clarify it. For an old timer, he was light years ahead in his thoughts. He meant, in part, safety should not remain stagnant, and there should be continuous improvements just as there are in quality, technology and other disciplines. That way of thinking was unheard of when the man from the “greatest generation” told me, “Old safety don’t work.”
We have a name for every living generation. There’s the greatest, the silent, the baby boomers and generations X, Y and Z. I wonder what’s next — generation know or generation no? Regardless, it doesn’t matter until you realize workers are important and should be treated as such.
Traditional safety
Traditional methods are regulatory driven, not people based. Regulatory methods are effective only when the people issues are intertwined. Example: OSHA standards require workers must be protected from known hazards that may cause injury or illness. Hazards may be known by engineers and planners but may not have been passed on to work crews in the field. With people-based safety, such information is shared and becomes part of daily crew planning, and each worker becomes a hazard recognizer. OSHA can’t, and doesn’t, mandate such behaviors.
Change
OSHA came into being during generations X and Y when the Cold War and the Vietnam War were waning. Regulators failed to recognize the changing mindset of a workforce composed of returning disrespected veterans and anti-war proponents. In short, it was the group who couldn’t believe anything emanating from the government. Even constructors and manufacturers didn’t like being told how to do their work. That was because the regulations were not people centered or people based.
Safety’s enemy
My elderly friend told me several reasons why a regulations-only philosophy doesn’t work. He said traditional methods become safety’s enemy because they don’t account for change or people’s needs. Traditional safety, when applied to construction, has the essence of “just get the job done.” On a jobsite, workers are lumped into a group and given plans with minimal worker involvement. Traditional safety does not recognize individual or crew contributions. One former hard-nosed manager said, “Real men don’t need rest days, vacations or rewards.” He was so wrong. Every worker must get rest and fulfill his/her physical, economic and social needs. They should receive rewards and recognition from peers and leaders alike.
Traditional safety does not recognize injury is preventable. A project manager once told me if you are in construction you have to accept injury happens. I totally disagree. Injury is caused by at-risk behavior on the part of workers or leaders. Removing the cause of the injury assures prevention. Traditional safety seeks compliance to rules and standards — not a change of behavior on the part of the worker.
Traditional safety does not honor workers for their professionalism. Leaders once called workers young, dumb and incapable of learning new technology or the Internet. Once again, they were very wrong. Workers will be what they are respected for. When crafts are given latitude, they come up with great ideas on how to be more resourceful and productive. This fact should be recognized.
What has changed?
Regardless of the generation you represent, we must conform to the regulations and understand how people think and work. In all of man’s history, blood is red and injury hurts. Even in the cave, the injured man who couldn’t hunt was a detriment to his family. Nothing has changed.
The move from traditional to people-based safety is up to leaders. Will you enjoy the success of construction without injury, or will you bear the burden of continuing on the traditional path knowing not everyone went home in the same condition as when they arrived? My old friend said we should reach today’s generation with safety. I believe we need to reach every generation with safety.
For more information, contact HASC Customer Relations at (281) 476-9900, Ext. 310 or visit www.hasc.com.
