… For That I Give Him a Lot of Credit – 01/20/2020

Safety E-QuickTips

U.S. Compliance Systems, Inc.

Monday, January 20, 2020

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… For That I Give Him a Lot of Credit

I’ve been doing some home improvement work for the last couple of months and to help get it done quicker, I’ve enlisted the help of my son in-law, son and a couple of his friends.

Like any construction project, when you are working with others who are or have been in the trades, discussions take place regarding projects that everyone has worked on. When you are a safety consultant, many discussions involve workplace safety.

This past week the topic came up regarding working at heights, specifically off aerial lifts.Although this is something I have not done for years, I had a few stories to tell from the past. But what I heard from one of my son’s friends who is currently working in glass and glazing is what I want to share with you today because what he said made the hair on my arms stand up.

The discussion started out with him talking about a project he would be working on this week where he would be doing some finish work outside in an aerial lift, in the cold. But it quickly became a conversation about different experiences he had when working with others on aerial lifts.

Remember when I said many conversations I have with people in the trades lead to talking about safety issues?This was no exception.

He began to talk about how some of the older guys he has worked with tried to impress him and others by working on the aerial lifts in unsafe ways.

Although he did mention some guys would work without being properly tied off in the lifts (something no one should ever do), what really made the hair on my arms stand up was when he talked about operators using the lifts in unlevel areas and extending the lifts out to possible tipping points.

In one situation, he said the lift was on only 3 out of 4 wheels with the lift in an elevated position.In another story, the alarm that lets you know you are beyond the unit’s safe working limits was going off and the operator was ignoring it.In each situation the young man sensed that it was being done to impress him.

Did I mention that in one case the young man told the operator of the lift to lower it and let him off if he wasn’t going to operate it safely? For that I give him a lot of credit.

This same young man told me as part of the same conversation that it doesn’t bother him to work at heights if it’s done safely.

I’ll leave you with this today. If you want to impress someone on the job, do it by showing them how much you value the safety of everyone on the worksite, not by pushing safety to the limits of possibly no return.

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Thanks for Reading and Please – Work Safe This Week!