Joint Safety Institute Administrator’s Report

Safety: We All Need To Set the Behavior Standard

By Jim Barham, JSI Administrator

One reason that the IBEW was formed over 100 years ago was to improve worksite safety conditions for electrical workers. At that time, in some areas of the country, the death rate for linemen was 50%, one out of every two hired; nationally, the death rate for electrical workers was twice that of the national average for all other industries.

In this tradition of making safety first, IBEW local Union 18 continues to improve and elevate safety at the DWP through the Joint Safety Institute. As Union members we have to realize that each one of us must set a safety behavior standard for not only ourselves, but also for our co-workers, and our families. In the JSI Safety Information and Actions workshop we stress safety as a 24-hour-a-day/7-day-a-week value, both on and off the job with our families. It is especially important to remember that the National Safety Council static’s show 7 out of 8 fatalities, and one half of all disabling injuries, happen to workers off the job.

Unfortunately, all too often we think that accidents can’t happen to us; they only happen to the other person. We sometimes participate in “At Risk Behavior,” that we know is wrong. Some examples include: speeding on the freeway, not using the proper PPE at home when working, or taking that “shortcut” on the job. Not until either we get hurt, or someone around us is injured, do we start to think about the consequences of unsafe behavior.

We all need to consider the adverse and devastating impact that having an accident will have on our families.

I recently attended a National Safety Council conference, at which a worker told the story of his jobsite accident, where he was severely burned because he took a short cut. He went through incredible pain and suffering because of the burns, and it took him many months to recover from the accident. The long-term consequences of his injuries caused his two daughters serious emotional problems, with one going from being an “A” student to failing every subject at school. The other daughter was so distraught at the pain and suffering her dad was going through that she tried to commit suicide. Both daughters are still in therapy today.

Taking a short cut at work because the job is behind schedule, speeding on the freeway because you want to get home, or ignoring a co-worker who is working unsafely, all have the potential to have devastating consequences, with a high price to pay for both you and your family. And for what? If it is just to save some time, then the pay off just is not there, brothers and sisters, especially when you compare what we and our families have to lose. Accidents are not just bad luck; too often they happen because someone makes a decision to take a chance on risky behavior, without ever thinking about the consequences of what could happen to them and how it will effect their family.

So it really comes down to each one of us taking responsibility for ourselves, our co-workers, and our families. We must understand that we have to set the safety behavior standard. We can set this standard by example, when we always take the right and safe course of action, both on and off the job.

As Union members, we constantly need to watch out for one another and help each other, as true union brothers and sisters always do.

I have said in this column before—and I still firmly believe—that unionism is at its best when we leave our job a little safer and a little better than we found it, always thinking of those who will take the job after we leave it.