Get Killed On The Job and You're Fired!

click for full text: Get Killed On The Job and You're Fired! commentary by Jordan Barab, Confined Space
Now I'm sure to get a comment from someone asking how I could possibly have a problem with a "zero-tolerance safety policy." The problem is bloody pocket syndrome which Steelworkers union health and safety director Mike Wright describes as "steelworkers who may have as little as a cut on their hand while on the job and in fear of retribution will hide it and wait until after their shift to go to the hospital."

After all, if you get injured, it means you must have violated some kind of safety rule, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten hurt. And if you violated a safety rule, you're outta here. To quote Mr. Williams III again, "There is no warning system. There is no probation. You are gone."

As we have said over and over (and over and over) again here at Confined Space, most workplace accidents are caused not by careless workers or "complacencies," but by unsafe working conditions. Blaming accidents on employees, disciplining and firing them for any injury or safety violation doesn't encourage employees to look for, report and analyze the root causes of workplace accidents and close calls, but to hide them.