Safety first and all that jazz

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Discussion

Kawasicki

Original Poster:

13,423 posts

241 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
How and when did safety get to the top of the list?

It shouldn’t be there. Here’s my suggestion for a better ranking.

1. Do something useful.
2. Do it well/efficiently.
3. Do it safely.

So safety third. Any thoughts?


lrdisco

1,524 posts

93 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Do it safely or don’t do it.
No one is paid enough to die for their job.

Jimbo.

4,013 posts

195 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
How and when did safety get to the top of the list?

It shouldn’t be there. Here’s my suggestion for a better ranking.

1. Do something useful.
2. Do it well/efficiently.
3. Do it safely.

So safety third. Any thoughts?
From that I assume you’re happy to die for your job?

Taita

7,713 posts

209 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
I find the constant drive for safety above all else,especially from councils or public bodies to be tiresome.

There has to be a balance, expenditure Vs reward and productivity cost etc. Eg let's slow everyone down for safety. What about people's time,it seems to have no value

Jimbo.

4,013 posts

195 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Taita said:
I find the constant drive for safety above all else,especially from councils or public bodies to be tiresome.

There has to be a balance, expenditure Vs reward and productivity cost etc. Eg let's slow everyone down for safety. What about people's time,it seems to have no value
People’s time? Like their lives, y’mean?

Taita

7,713 posts

209 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
No,I'm not advocating for people to be asked to take unnecessary risks at work.

I'm saying that the relentless push for safety in all aspects of our life comes with downsides in cost, time etc. And that should be a consideration also.


Rufus Stone

7,713 posts

62 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Back in the early 1980's I worked for Prudential Assurance. They provided the life assurance policy for the GKN group. One of the companies was GKN Scaffolding Ltd. There was a death claim almost every week due to employees falling off the scaffolding.

Do you really think we should return to that?

Jimbo.

4,013 posts

195 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Taita said:
No,I'm not advocating for people to be asked to take unnecessary risks at work.

I'm saying that the relentless push for safety in all aspects of our life comes with downsides in cost, time etc. And that should be a consideration also.
And it is. And it’s very simple: if you can’t afford to do it safely, and you don’t have the time to do it safely, then you don’t do it.

lrdisco

1,524 posts

93 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Jimbo. said:
Taita said:
No,I'm not advocating for people to be asked to take unnecessary risks at work.

I'm saying that the relentless push for safety in all aspects of our life comes with downsides in cost, time etc. And that should be a consideration also.
And it is. And it’s very simple: if you can’t afford to do it safely, and you don’t have the time to do it safely, then you don’t do it.
Go on then go to a funeral of a work related death and stand next to the next of kin and explain how their loved ones death saved 20 minutes.

oddman

2,629 posts

258 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
There must be a name for the type of thread which goes very much against the assumptions of the OP

They seem really common here.

On the issue of safety it's probably a generational thing. Those of us old enough to remember the frequency of workplace accidents understand the importance of safety culture. TBH an accident at work generates so much work, I suspect the time spent preventing them saves time and money.

greygoose

8,588 posts

201 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Taita said:
I find the constant drive for safety above all else,especially from councils or public bodies to be tiresome.

There has to be a balance, expenditure Vs reward and productivity cost etc. Eg let's slow everyone down for safety. What about people's time,it seems to have no value
I suspect much of the safety angle for councils and public bodies is due to the costs of legal cases when someone is injured/killed if they do not take adequate measures.

djc206

12,617 posts

131 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
In my line of work it’s safe, orderly and expeditious.

Taita

7,713 posts

209 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
lrdisco said:
Jimbo. said:
Taita said:
No,I'm not advocating for people to be asked to take unnecessary risks at work.

I'm saying that the relentless push for safety in all aspects of our life comes with downsides in cost, time etc. And that should be a consideration also.
And it is. And it’s very simple: if you can’t afford to do it safely, and you don’t have the time to do it safely, then you don’t do it.
Go on then go to a funeral of a work related death and stand next to the next of kin and explain how their loved ones death saved 20 minutes.
I think you are answering what you think / want me to be saying, not what I am saying.

I'm not talking about workplace things....

I'm talking about the loss of innovation,speed, agility and the relentless box ticking and 'compliance' across all aspects of our life.

Kawasicki

Original Poster:

13,423 posts

241 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
lrdisco said:
Do it safely or don’t do it.
No one is paid enough to die for their job.
But we all drive cars, and car accidents are sometimes deadly.
Are you suggesting we stop driving?

Rob_125

1,576 posts

154 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Safety should be top of the list. However it is really easy to be so risk adverse, you struggle to be productive at all....I see this on a daily basis.

This is generally driven by management who do not understand what they are managing, and therefore implement arbitrary rules and policy. Which in turn makes the work force incapable and reasonably incompetent. It is easy to make safety rules and really hard to step back from them once you realise you've gone too far.

Jimbo.

4,013 posts

195 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
lrdisco said:
Do it safely or don’t do it.
No one is paid enough to die for their job.
But we all drive cars, and car accidents are sometimes deadly.
Are you suggesting we stop driving?
The accidents are sometimes deadly, yes. So reduce the likelihood of the accident via training, driving safely, in a well-maintained vehicle, in accordance with the law etc, etc. All _reasonably practicable_ steps, I’m sure you’d agree.

xx99xx

2,203 posts

79 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
How and when did safety get to the top of the list?

It shouldn’t be there. Here’s my suggestion for a better ranking.

1. Do something useful.
2. Do it well/efficiently.
3. Do it safely.

So safety third. Any thoughts?
Why shouldn't it be there? And what list are you referring to?

Kawasicki

Original Poster:

13,423 posts

241 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Jimbo. said:
Kawasicki said:
lrdisco said:
Do it safely or don’t do it.
No one is paid enough to die for their job.
But we all drive cars, and car accidents are sometimes deadly.
Are you suggesting we stop driving?
The accidents are sometimes deadly, yes. So reduce the likelihood of the accident via training, driving safely, in a well-maintained vehicle, in accordance with the law etc, etc. All _reasonably practicable_ steps, I’m sure you’d agree.
But you said do it safely or don’t do it.
Driving will never be safe…
So don’t do it.

Better to say, drive, drive well, drive safely.

So safety third.

Getragdogleg

9,043 posts

189 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Some if the safety measures around our line of work make it harder and more dangerous in certain circumstances to do the job.

The beaurocrats love safety because it gives them a huge amount of scope to exercise their powers to tell you what to do and who can argue with safety?

Like most things now, it's gone too far and risks people ignoring the core tenets of the original message of safety.

I'm sure I'll get told how wrong I am and how we need more controls and that I like to see people die by someone in this thread but hey, let's see.

xx99xx

2,203 posts

79 months

Saturday 3rd December 2022
quotequote all
Kawasicki said:
But we all drive cars, and car accidents are sometimes deadly.
Are you suggesting we stop driving?
Yes, if someone can't drive safely then they should stop driving.