# Whats your opinion on the safety manager?



## henderson14 (Oct 23, 2010)

Do you see the job as a joke? Do you think anyone could be a safety guy for a general contractor? Do they do anything worthwhile?


----------



## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Depends, some are hypocrites and its not safety theyre worried about its the insurance premiums. Some safety guys generally care about guys going home safe.


----------



## randas (Dec 14, 2008)

90% of the time their a friend/family. 99% of the time they will ignore gross violations on the GCs part all while harassing you about glasses. All in all. Useless


----------



## chewy (May 9, 2010)

They sent the boss an email of a picture of myself with rebar touching both sides of my head as I was looking down a hole, my helmet in my hand, crane in the background with about 2t of rebar being lifted... the safety guy was the cranes dogman and snapped the pic of me. I replied to our boss and CCed the original sender with something to the effect of saying thankyou for bringing the unsafe lifting practices including no tagline and lifting above our mens heads to my attention, I will inform the GC this is unacceptable.


----------



## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

chewy said:


> They sent the boss an email of a picture of myself with rebar touching both sides of my head as I was looking down a hole, my helmet in my hand, crane in the background with about 2t of rebar being lifted... the safety guy was the cranes dogman and snapped the pic of me. I replied to our boss and CCed the original sender with something to the effect of saying thankyou for bringing the unsafe lifting practices including no tagline and lifting above our mens heads to my attention, I will inform the GC this is unacceptable.


Safety guys sees something unsafe and his response is taking a picture? That is a useless piece of crap.


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

randas said:


> 90% of the time their a friend/family. 99% of the time they will ignore gross violations on the GCs part all while harassing you about glasses. All in all. Useless


Well said.:thumbsup:


----------



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

backstay said:


> Safety guys sees something unsafe and his response is taking a picture? That is a useless piece of crap.



I'm sure they're BedWetters too.








:laughing:


----------



## chewy (May 9, 2010)

backstay said:


> Safety guys sees something unsafe and his response is taking a picture? That is a useless piece of crap.


They must have quotas to hit, they tend to just snap pics and send them to the bosses now.


----------



## uconduit (Jun 6, 2012)

henderson14 said:


> Do you see the job as a joke? Do you think anyone could be a safety guy for a general contractor? Do they do anything worthwhile?


Did you get written up or something?


----------



## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

any safety is better than no safety, but it does suck when they are truly useless morons.

that was a good response chewy.


----------



## pudge565 (Dec 8, 2007)

chewy said:


> They must have quotas to hit, they tend to just snap pics and send them to the bosses now.


Yea the first place I worked the safety guy would take pics all over the place give them to us and let us play where is it so we could fix it.

He would take pics of electrical things all the time while openly admitting he knows nothing about electrical. He had an issue with lights fed with SO cord plugged into an outlet. I argues with him on that one for a week or so. It was funny when I asked him for an OSHA section being violated he goes, "I don't have one."


----------



## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Give me a safety guy who has worked in the field as a tradesman and has an interest in actually working with guys to see that a goal is accomplished safely, and I will welcome the input.

More often than not they're just egg-heads who spend all their time in obscure classes, have very little practical knowledge, invent hazards where none exist, ignore hazards that do exist, have no idea what the workers are trying to achieve and don't care, and like to throw their weight around to justify their half-assed job. I really hate _those_ safety guys.


----------



## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

There seems to be a special type that is a non-trades person and a safety manager. Many come across as asses. 

it is a difficult job and some experience in the field would help like an older worker in lieu of a green behind the ears college grad.


----------



## pudge565 (Dec 8, 2007)

Big John said:


> Give me a safety guy who has worked in the field as a tradesman and has an interest in actually working with guys to see that a goal is accomplished safely, and I will welcome the input.
> 
> More often than not they're just egg-heads who spend all their time in obscure classes, have very little practical knowledge, invent hazards where none exist, ignore hazards that do exist, have no idea what the workers are trying to achieve and don't care, and like to throw their weight around to justify their half-assed job. I really hate those safety guys.


The safety guy I talked about in the last post is the same one that when I asked about a respirator for cleaning a blood, urine, formaldehyde, medical waste filled trap disnt want to get me one because "You'll scare the other workers, a half mask will already scare them." I fought for 6 months to get that thing and was just about to call OSHA when I finally got it.


----------



## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Yeah, if I had to quote all the half-assed, dangerous, or just plain wrong information I've heard from safety guys, I would need to start a whole new thread.


----------



## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

uconduit said:


> Did you get written up or something?


we have a three strike policy, first verbal, second written, third off project.


----------



## lefleuron (May 22, 2010)

Our safety guy is a complete joke.

I was told he is there because we get lower insurance rates, as long as we have a "safety guy".

Another picture-snapper that has no clue whats going on, but has to justify his salary.

I hold them all in contempt.


----------



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

lefleuron said:


> Our safety guy is a complete joke.
> 
> I was told he is there because we get lower insurance rates, as long as we have a "safety guy".
> 
> .


Guilty as charged 

Back 3 decades ago i was a security guard for a very large _(acres with multiple buildings)_ facility

I had zero training, knew absolutely nothing about security , and worked alongside with some of what i'll politely say were among God's most special children...

But boy their rates were golden!....:thumbsup:

So....is HS or TSA hiring?....:laughing:

~CS~


----------



## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

Our company is very serious about safety. We have over 1000 employees on a couple hundred sites. Many of our customers require us to be registered in ISNetWorld and maintain a specific safety rating. We have close to 20 safety professionals, most have worked in a trade. We do a lot of refinery work and have a safety team dedicated to that industry as well as a corporate safety committee, which I am a member. While insurance rates are based on safety records, we really do have a general concern for our employees


----------



## jimmy21 (Mar 31, 2012)

I find the best safety guys to be the ones that work in the trade. They know how things should be done and what to look for. The ones that went to college to get their job just walk around the job site with their head in the clouds looking for a list of predetermined violations for the week. They'll be the ones to freak out over taking your gloves off to do something intricate but be oblivious to something that will get someone killed. They are completely useless but think they are worth their weight in gold because they know the shear strength formulas of strut for tieing off


----------



## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

henderson14 said:


> Do you see the job as a joke? Do you think anyone could be a safety guy for a general contractor? Do they do anything worthwhile?



Based on the replies here I see the job as a babysitter dealing with a bunch of ****heads. :laughing:


----------



## Semi-Ret Electrician (Nov 10, 2011)

The best safety guys I've seen are old hands with missing fingers.

The worse are recent graduates

I once feared an OSHA visit until I discovered all they look at or understand is labels and bench grinders.

If they see a hazard they think it's OK if it has a label:laughing:


----------

