What do you think is the purpose of safety rules?

1. To get you home in one piece?
2. To help increase our incentive?
3. To bring down insurance costs?
4. To help maintain quality of life?

A story: Two workers see a supervisor (we will call him S1), who tends to be a nitpicker about rules, walk by with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. One of the workers makes a sarcastic comment about the rolled up sleeves to the other worker. They snicker evilly and then forget about it. The workers didn't realize they were overheard by another supervisor (S2) who is also a stickler for every rule he can understand.

S2 goes to S1 and points out that he is not setting a very good example for the ignorant work-force who may not be able to understand when it is safe or unsafe to do such an incredibly stupid thing like roll up their sleeves (We're paraphrasing here).

What does S1 do when confronted with this situation?

Option 1 (The Adult Option): Does he wonder at the small-mindedness of his fellow supervisor, roll down his sleeves, and go on about his business?

Option 2 (Somewhat less mature Adult Option): Does he start an argument with S2 about how his anal-retentiveness could potentially disrupt the work place?

Option 3 (the pre-pubescent adolescent option): Does he demand that S2 tell him who "ratted him out," look around and spot the two "guilty" parties and then set out on a path to show just who is the boss?

[. . . his wrath led him to put his immature ravings in writing . . .]

If you picked Option 3, and you work in the Hot Strip Mill, then you probably already guessed we are talking about Adam Munoz, a foreman in HSM Production. Incredibly, his wrath led him to put his immature ravings in writing by adding to a current memorandum from the safety department about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The original memo states where and when you must wear your PPE and areas where all PPE is not required. Examples of the latter are listed as "Pulpits and Shantys" [sic], "Conference rooms", "Cafeterias and break rooms", etc.

Supervisor Munoz chose to fly in the face of common sense by issuing what he calls a "clairification" [sic] and a "clairfiction" [sic] of the original memo by adding "Long sleeve shirts must be worn and buttoned to the wrist at all times including in the pulpits and shantys" [sick]. Apparently, he now thinks he has just the weapon he needs to even the score with . . . Well . . . We're not sure who his target is. Maybe he thinks that hiding his vindictiveness under the cloak of "safety concerns" will allow him to harass and harangue the entire workforce with impunity. Maybe he is only after the two "rats."

What are the most likely results of using safety rules for purposes which they are not intended?

From experience, we can tell you:

A. It creates a hostile work environment.

B. It leads to a situation where company and workers battle to see who can be the most petty about rules enforcement.

C. It can have dramatically bad effects on production. (Ask any old timer in management or the union who has been through these battles at other plants).

D. It generates a poorer overall safety environment.

Worst of all it trivializes safety. Knowing a foreman is using safety as a tool of retaliation will make every word out of his mouth about safety take on a double meaning. Workers will think they only need to watch their asses to avoid write-ups and not the more important goals listed at the beginning of this article.

Looking at our physical work environment containing molten steel, super-heated steam, rolling lines, overhead cranes, dirt and dust, even thunder and lightning and more; do we really need this kind of nonsense? Did Munoz add anything at all useful to our safety program? Or is what he did a detriment? Well, you know our opinion and that is why we at Steel Barrel News awarded Adam Munoz the title, our first ever . . . .

. . . . . . . . Bunghole of the Month!!!