I worked in the chemical industry for 20 years.
In chemical plants, safety was a primary consideration.
I have worked aroung hydrogen cyanide, chlorine.
I have found every company to go further than was required
to ensure the safety of their workers.
OHSA does work. I have seen the changes before and after.
J.
I admit that before OHSA, worker safety may have not been
the highest priority.
Doug wrote:
> "Metallix6403" <
[email protected]> wrote in
> message
>
news:[email protected]...
>
>>Sup everyone, I got a final project for my english class
>>and part of it involves outside opinions. I was wonderin
>>if any one has read "Fast Food Nation." If you haven't its
>>a book bout how the fast food industry works and part of
>>the book goes into worker safety. For example it talks
>>about workers who fall into meat grinders, get lacerated
>>by knives, choke in chlorine gas, and work in highly
>>dangerous enviorments with no safety precautions. The
>>problem is, is that OSHA (the group responible for this
>>safety matter) is a flat out joke and doesnt have the
>>power to help the workers of the meat industry.
>>
>> The question i got for you guys is that, "what do you
>> think should be done to prevent injuries in this
>> enviorment?" Any in put is good imput by my standards.
>> Thanks alot.
>
>
> Actually, you are in luck, since this form a large part of
> my day job. The answer will be a bit longish.
>
> Firstly, some history. Attitudes often change slowly, and
> in industry it has long been accepted that jobs are
> dangerous and there is an ever present risk of injury.
> Most workers in industry accepted that it was only luck
> that stopped them leaving work in an ambulance. Why was
> this? Well, it always had been dangerous and everyone just
> accepted that that was how it was. Enter the pioneer 'Du
> Pont' corperation. This company, which I believe is
> American based, is in the chemical industry. Originally,
> it began in the explosives industry, one which you would
> probably agree is one of the least safe of all. For some
> reason, and I don't know what sparked it, the people
> running the company decided that the risks involved were
> un-acceptable and that there should be no reason that
> there should be any acciedents or hazards at all. They
> came up with a theory that the root cause of all accedents
> and un-safe working conditions was personal behaviour.
> Some examples: Employee behaviour, reaching into a running
> machine to clear a blockage, or not cleaning up leaking
> oil. Management behaviour, not training employees
> correctly, pushing production over safety, etc They
> started a system of audits, where by un-safe behaviours
> are logged and corrected. Everyone has to do these audits
> from the general manager to the contract cleaners.
> Management pushes this system hard, and also accepts
> audits critical of itself from the shop floor. Du Pont
> currently has one of the best safety records of any
> company anywhere in the world, and many other companies
> are attempting to emulate it. Including some Australian
> companies that I have worked for.
>
> Each company though, is at a different level from
> considering the importance of safety. Some are advanced
> like Du pont, some are getting there, like my current
> employer, and some consider it an annoyance. A lot of it
> is attitude.
>
> As to correcting this problem, education is the key.
>
> One other point, as my current employer's safety record
> improved, its profitability went up. Some thought we
> would waste money stopping production to allow jobs to
> be done safely, but it actually increased production and
> lowered costs. The reasons were: 1, Less accidents and
> our insurance premiums went down. 2, Each accident had
> bad effects on the rest of the work force. Watching one
> of your friends being carted off to hospital, then
> having to clean the blood off the machine, this has a
> bad psycological effect on the people working there. It
> often took days or longer before production was back up.
> (It certainly gave me the shakes for a while after
> assisting at an accident) 3, If a worker is off work due
> to injury, he is not earning the company any money. It
> takes months, and sometimes years, to train good workers
> and you cannot just hire them off the street no matter
> what some idiots say.
>
> Once companies realise this, then it will be easier to
> improve safety.
>
>
> --
> "The emperor is naked!" "No he isn't, he's merely
> endorsing a clothing-optional lifestyle!"
>
> to email me Please remove "all your clothes"
>
> Doug
