"Metallix6403" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said: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
