Surprise!!!

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

So today at work we had a surprise. OSHA showed up! Now anybody in the industry should know that OSHA just does not show up on its own. Has to be someone who squealed. well this is just what happened in the company owners are not very happy with it. We had to scramble to get ready for their visit. Not that our shop is unsafe mind you, but the fact that they are so picky. I personally got interviewed by one of their representatives. Did not like that at all!

[ebinmaine 67,266]

7 minutes ago, The Tool Crib said:

Now anybody in the industry should know that OSHA just does not show up on its own. Has to be someone who squealed

They DO have unscheduled surprise visits in Maine without a prior call.

 

Possibly depends on the industry you're in.

 

 

[briankd 817]

14 minutes ago, The Tool Crib said:

So today at work we had a surprise. OSHA showed up! Now anybody in the industry should know that OSHA just does not show up on its own. Has to be someone who squealed. well this is just what happened in the company owners are not very happy with it. We had to scramble to get ready for their visit. Not that our shop is unsafe mind you, but the fact that they are so picky. I personally got interviewed by one of their representatives. Did not like that at all!

 

 i have had this happen at our shop owner found out who squealed and it was over something stupid and month after OSHA showed up the guy that squealed no longer worked there   

[WHX?? 48,763]

I was on top of a three story retirement home building roof curbs and a OSHA dude saw me from the road and took pics. When I came down he asked me why I didn't have a safety harness on. I told him cause I was overworked and underloved...go take it up with the company I worked for. He left me alone and did and the company got fined! 

[Stepney 2,325]

I worked for a company one summer that was .. headed downhill.

Safety interlocks bypassed on all sorts of machinery from a few hundred lbs to a few tons.. worked around far older machines and felt way more comfortable..

Alas OSHA made a surprise visit one day while I was running an exceptionally shot old Miller welder and well .. that was pretty much the end of the story. No ventilation, very well worn safety equipment, defective insulation, etc..

In fact, our overhead crane failed right infront of an OSHA man. 

I'd love to have heard the final conversations that were had with the head office.

OSHA may be way over the top in some instances but we really had some awful junk in that building.. 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,490]

Reminds me of a good bumper sticker I've seen...

 

"If you think OSHA is a small town in Wisconsin, you're in trouble..."

[Pullstart 62,783]

1 hour ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Reminds me of a good bumper sticker I've seen...

 

"If you think OSHA is a small town in Wisconsin, you're in trouble..."

 

It’s just east of Omro, isn’t it?  

[ebinmaine 67,266]

1 hour ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Reminds me of a good bumper sticker I've seen...

 

"If you think OSHA is a small town in Wisconsin, you're in trouble..."

 

21 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

It’s just east of Westovershoe, isn’t it?  

 

Ain't that where @PeacemakerJack is from??? 

[dalez 137]

Almost lost an eye on one of these suckers

Edited February 1, 2020 by dalez
spelling

[Blackhood Bill 721]

I remember a day when OSHA came in to the factory I worked in. Seen a rep with a tool belt look at a fan, unplugged it, then cut the plug off right at the motor!!!!!!!    That fan did not have the grounded plug so it was unsafe. What an experience.

[Achto 27,502]

On a particular bad day my boss thought that it was a good idea to remind me how bad of a day I was having and asked when would the project be finished. I told him " You know, if one more person gets on my rear today OSHA mandates that I have to install safety handles".  

[JoeM 7,871]

If you think OHSA is bad try on MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration). We had one to two inspectors on site everyday and sometimes there was a blitz with upwards of a dozen or so combing the area!

In my younger days I took great exception, that slowly changed as I grew to understand how important it was to go home at the end of the day whole.

After working so long in a tough industry, I firmly believe there is much good in their existence. 

I especially liked the inspectors that not only knew the book but the job. What a wealth of knowledge. 

[ebinmaine 67,266]

3 hours ago, JoeM said:

much good in their existence

Agreed.

I've been lucky and quite frankly very choosy where I've worked over the years.

The companies I have worked for have been hand in hand with OSHA, the DOT, our insurance company etc.

Inspection has been both scheduled and unannounced.

I've had a dozen or more DOT inspections both roadside and at weigh stations.

 

I've NEVER had a bad interaction with any of any representative.

 

IMHO if a manager, supervisor, owner etc gets upset, angry or otherwise negative about an organization trying to keep all of us safe, that is NOT where I am going to be working.

 

It's important to remember that most of the rules in place are there because someone else was injured or worse in the past.

 

I now work for a company whom I can honestly say has the #1 priority correct.

 

SAFETY.

 

 

[rjg854 11,349]

In the construction industry, it's easier to replace equipment than manpower.  And that's basically what OSHA is about in a nut shell.

[953 nut 55,065]

In the early '70s the only thing OSHA was concerned with was hard hats. One day I was standing on the very top of a stepladder with my head and shoulders above the opening in a ceiling making up some wiring connections. An OSHA inspector shined his light up through the opening and asked where my hard hat was. Ladder safety didn't seem to be a problem, but not having a hard hat on when nothing above my head could pose a danger seemed to be a no-no.

[JoeM 7,871]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

It's important to remember that most of the rules in place are there because someone else was injured or worse in the past

In the mining business, they call that written in blood!

 

Having to be the manager, those inspection conversations in the office were a cake walk compared to having to make a call to tell a family member there has been a serious accident. Fast track learning experience.

 

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

In the early '70s

 

We sure have come a long way and that's the great news. With a ways to go!

[ebinmaine 67,266]

11 minutes ago, JoeM said:

We sure have come a long way and that's the great news. With a ways to go!

Our location was told the other day that we've not had an OSHA reportable injury in 2 calendar years.

 

That's excellent....

 

 

[Stormin 9,981]

  I agree that safety is so very important. We have the Health and Safety Executive. Where I spent my last working days was a big paper making factory. The HSE always let the company know when they were going to pay a visit, days before. Must admit I think they should just turn up. Not that they ever found any major safety issues I know of.

 What really bugged me was our own HS bods. Talk about justifying your existence. Some of the things they came up with were down right ridiculous. They made the work of the maintenance engineers, of which I was a chargehand, harder and harder. I finally got that fed up with being told how to do my job, by people who had no experience of what work our jobs entailed. Also spending that much time on a computer doing method statements etc I took early retirement.

[dcrage 627]

“ Also spending that much time on a computer doing method statements etc I took early retirement  “

Ahh, writing SOPs. I did a lot of that in my last 15 years of employment. As time progressed I learned that it was better for me to spend the time writing them than letting someone who didn’t know your job codify your work. At the end of my career we were being told our SOPs were too  specific; they needed to be more general so that more groups could be covered by the same SOP. I did not like that approach. 

Edited February 1, 2020 by dcrage

[953 nut 55,065]

SHA hasn't gotten into every workplace yet, but they are drafting regulations on a few more.        

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

Yeah and don't get me wrong either I agree with the majority hear the safety does come first. This little incident probably did raise some eyebrows though amongst everyone. Even the owners of the company.

[oliver2-44 9,679]

When I began work in the Power business I had managers that would pick up an injuries employ, drive him to work and put him on a cot in the back room to avoid a reportable”days away injury”. Thankfully today the company has taken Safety to a priority