# What is the most ridiculous safety rule you've encountered?



## Islander

I was working at a government facility, running some pipe up on the ceiling. The ceiling was between 10 and 12 feet high. The room was too inaccessible to bring in a scissor lift, and too crowded to set up scaffolding. Setting up any kind of harness and lanyard would be impractical, due to the relatively low ceiling.

Still, they felt they had to protect us from ourselves somehow or another. The solution? The electrician installing pipe would work on an 8 or 10 foot ladder. The other electrician would stand on a shorter ladder beside the first guy and hold his belt, in case he fell. 

I cannot imagine who thought up that brainstorm, or how they thought it would be safer than having just one person on a ladder, with the other person standing by to get help. We tried to explain that to them, but they were having none of it. 

I still laugh whenever I think about it.


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## daveEM

I'm so glad I'm old and don't/didn't have to go through some of this stuff. Oh well.

In a few years one will have to have a certificate proclaiming a course was taken in how to safely climb two steps on a four foot ladder.

Or you won't be able to find a person that knows what a ladder is.

Things change I guess.


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## Southeast Power

Islander said:


> I was working at a government facility, running some pipe up on the ceiling. The ceiling was between 10 and 12 feet high. The room was too inaccessible to bring in a scissor lift, and too crowded to set up scaffolding. Setting up any kind of harness and lanyard would be impractical, due to the relatively low ceiling.
> 
> Still, they felt they had to protect us from ourselves somehow or another. The solution? The electrician installing pipe would work on an 8 or 10 foot ladder. The other electrician would stand on a shorter ladder beside the first guy and hold his belt, in case he fell.
> 
> I cannot imagine who thought up that brainstorm, or how they thought it would be safer than having just one person on a ladder, with the other person standing by to get help. We tried to explain that to them, but they were having none of it.
> 
> I still laugh whenever I think about it.


That would be just as much of a violation as not having a 5000# tie off. I would have wrote a CR to protect myself.


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## chicken steve

I could never see being tethered to a manlift.....~CS~


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## HackWork

Islander said:


> What is the most ridiculous safety rule you've encountered?


 The rule that 3 foot ladders are illegal in Canada.


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## MechanicalDVR

Islander said:


> I was working at a government facility, running some pipe up on the ceiling. The ceiling was between 10 and 12 feet high. The room was too inaccessible to bring in a scissor lift, and too crowded to set up scaffolding. Setting up any kind of harness and lanyard would be impractical, due to the relatively low ceiling.
> 
> Still, they felt they had to protect us from ourselves somehow or another. The solution? The electrician installing pipe would work on an 8 or 10 foot ladder. The other electrician would stand on a shorter ladder beside the first guy and hold his belt, in case he fell.
> 
> I cannot imagine who thought up that brainstorm, or how they thought it would be safer than having just one person on a ladder, with the other person standing by to get help. We tried to explain that to them, but they were having none of it.
> 
> I still laugh whenever I think about it.



So now the falling guy takes out the safety man and he gets an injured wrist in the best case scenario.


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## ralpha494

The landscapers having to wear hard hats to rake wood chips comes to mind. Hard hats required, no exceptions.


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## MechanicalDVR

chicken steve said:


> I could never see being tethered to a manlift.....~CS~


So true, nothing like going down with the ship. There was a video on here I think of a guy trying to get out of a lift going over a deck and didn't have enough time.


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## MechanicalDVR

HackWork said:


> The rule that 3 foot ladders are illegal in Canada.


YES, this is one of my all time favorites. 

I also like having had to dress up in a tyvek suit and wear a hood respirator to go into the area at a drug company where they package birth control pills just to check and adjust a room sensor. Always made me wonder what wa sin those pills that breathing would hurt you when women swallow them.


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## flyboy

Steel tip shoes...


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## bill39

Two come to mind immediately:
1) This was in the '70's and an OSHA inspector insisted that a ladder be tied off at the top BEFORE anyone climbed it. Think about it.

2) At a GM plant we were working on top of a huge lathe, walking on the machine about 20 ft. above the ground. All oily and with pipes, hoses etc. all around posing as trip hazards. Of course we needed to be tied off but the safety people wouldn't allow us to run a 3/4" or 1" steel cable to tie off to. Said we needed an architect or consultant to design it. I asked what we should tie off to and (from the ground) the safety guy pointed to a 8x8 wire duct and also a 2" hydraulic pipe. Said "those look pretty strong." Like they were designed for that purpose. News flash: Safety programs aren't always to protect the worker. More often than not they're to protect the company.


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## splatz

I overheard the safety officer some guys doing landscaping and etc. for using utility knives rather than scissors to open bags of lime. Same guys were using chainsaws on the same day.


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## RePhase277

Wearing hard hats under the clear blue sky and tying off on what amounts to slightly taller than a step stool top my list.


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## LuckyLuke

Needing someone on fire watch in a 50x80 concrete room with zero combustibles in it. :001_unsure:


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## 99cents

When I was an apprentice, I got written up for putting a loop in the rope and jumping on it during a tough wire pull  .


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## PlugsAndLights

One GC was requiring tie off at 6'. Reaching for something to tie off to was more
dangerous than just working and if you did fall you'd swing into something with 
as much force as the fall you've avoided, but in a less controlled/expected manner. 
P&L


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## LGLS

GCs didn't just suddenly become safety conscious, this is the result of seeing a law firm ad between every commercial break on TV. Customers with deep pockets are scared of legacy lawsuits during and after construction projects. Construction management companies sell themselves by promoting their draconian safety program and a plethora of safety "observers" with the customer believing (erroneously) that in the event of accident or injury, they'll be absolved or partially absolved of liability if a comprehensive safety program was in place.


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## bill39

99cents said:


> When I was an apprentice, I got written up for putting a loop in the rope and jumping on it during a tough wire pull  .


While doing some work a major pharma company I noticed a horsehoe pit the company employees had out under a shady area near a picnic table.
Can you imagine the horrified look on a safety person's face if they watched people throwing large pieces of iron towards another person?


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## drewsserviceco

LuckyLuke said:


> Needing someone on fire watch in a 50x80 concrete room with zero combustibles in it. :001_unsure:



I see you and raise you fire watch in a ditch after cadwelding for the ground ring. lol


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## chicken steve

I suppose i'm a tad biased in this thread, having been brought up in it by a pack of wolves who could have cared less.....~CS~


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## Big John

I think I've told it on here before, but I once worked in a place that wanted tie-offs while standing on 8' step ladders.

Well, we were in the middle of a penthouse that had 25' ceilings: There were no nearby anchors for tie-offs.

So their solution to make us "safe" was to have us climb 32" extension ladders and work over our heads drilling anchors into the ceiling that we could tie-off to while standing on an 8' step ladder.

"Safety" rules created way more of a danger than they solved.


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## HackWork

The problem is that the safety guy is a totally different job. They think that taking some college educated Human Resources guy and putting him into a few safety classes will make a professional. 

The only true way to make a good safety guy is take a veteran construction worker and train him.


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## glen1971

Suncoast Power said:


> That would be just as much of a violation as *not having a 5000# tie off.* I would have wrote a CR to protect myself.


In Alberta, it's 3,500#...


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## glen1971

Most ridiculous would probably be, wearing gloves while walking across site. In case you slip and fall on the gravel. Or tying off on an 8' ladder, even if you're on the second step. Or those that want an energized electrical work permit for 24 vdc circuits..


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## MechanicalDVR

glen1971 said:


> In Alberta, it's 3,500#...


That makes me laugh, that coincides with the Canadian policy of not taking in obese immigrants.


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## macmikeman

Most ridiculous safety rule- Prophylactics for LA **** stars. Why? Because they would be the only ones using any in that whole town.........


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## glen1971

MechanicalDVR said:


> That makes me laugh, that coincides with the Canadian policy of not taking in obese immigrants.


lol.. Or....

https://work.alberta.ca/SearchAARC/604.html


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## daks

Hmmm
- only safety knives allowed
- 2 people per ladder, one to work the other to watch the ladder
- must be tied off after 2nd or 3rd step
- must fill or report to sign out ladder and explain why you must use a ladder
- Cannot work live on class 2 systems or PPE required and live work report done.
- Must wear high vis clothing when working inside a Bank
- Must be safety trained to use a hand pump pallet truck
- Must re-certify in WHIMIS
- Knife safety training
- LOTO to change a light bulb. 
- Signalman in front and behind with flags when moving a scissor lift

The rule that says you can't choke the safety-nerd with the wire holding his pen to the clipboard.

The rule that says LOTO "training" should not be performed when the safety guy is in the porta-potty.


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## MechanicalDVR

daks said:


> Hmmm
> - only safety knives allowed
> - 2 people per ladder, one to work the other to watch the ladder
> - must be tied off after 2nd or 3rd step
> - must fill or report to sign out ladder and explain why you must use a ladder
> - Cannot work live on class 2 systems or PPE required and live work report done.
> - Must wear high vis clothing when working inside a Bank
> - Must be safety trained to use a hand pump pallet truck
> - Must re-certify in WHIMIS
> - Knife safety training
> - LOTO to change a light bulb.
> - Signalman in front and behind with flags when moving a scissor lift
> 
> The rule that says you can't choke the safety-nerd with the wire holding his pen to the clipboard.
> 
> The rule that says LOTO "training" should not be performed when the safety guy is in the porta-potty.



You guys sure seem to live in a '*nanny*' state.


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## macmikeman

This is so LOL. I don't even wear F'n shoes..........:laughing:


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## MechanicalDVR

macmikeman said:


> This is so LOL. I don't even wear F'n shoes..........:laughing:


Different context but I have done many service calls in socks while working in some pretty nice multi million dollar digs. :thumbsup:


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## PlugsAndLights

So trashing the ridiculous safety rules is great. But, here's 1 I ended up liking: 
At a big job, where I think PCL was the general, we were required to fill out 
a booklet first thing in the morning, after lunch and anytime during the 
day when we changed jobs. You'd state the job, 1 or 2 risks associated with 
that job, and how you were going to reduce that risk. Can't speak for anyone
else but this did have me working safer, even if it was just taking the time to
wear gloves when there was a pinch hazard. Nearly 10 yrs later I still take a 
1/2 a minute here and there to mentally fill out that booklet_ in my head_. 
P&L


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## MechanicalDVR

PlugsAndLights said:


> So trashing the ridiculous safety rules is great. But, here's 1 I ended up liking:
> At a big job, where I think PCL was the general, we were required to fill out
> a booklet first thing in the morning, after lunch and anytime during the
> day when we changed jobs. You'd state the job, 1 or 2 risks associated with
> that job, and how you were going to reduce that risk. Can't speak for anyone
> else but this did have me working safer, even if it was just taking the time to
> wear gloves when there was a pinch hazard. Nearly 10 yrs later I still take a
> 1/2 a minute here and there to mentally fill out that booklet_ in my head_.
> P&L


Gloves are something I see hated by so many guys and I have no clue why. I have carried three types for years, heavy leather, goat or deer skin, and cloth.

Never really had any hand injuries. I see the alligator hunters pulling in those strings and cutting themselves or getting rope burn when the line is ripped out of their hands and other than putting electrical tape on a couple knuckles they never wear gloves, stupid in my mind.


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## splatz

MechanicalDVR said:


> Gloves are something I see hated by so many guys and I have no clue why. I have carried three types for years, heavy leather, goat or deer skin, and cloth.
> 
> Never really had any hand injuries. I see the alligator hunters pulling in those strings and cutting themselves or getting rope burn when the line is ripped out of their hands and other than putting electrical tape on a couple knuckles they never wear gloves, stupid in my mind.


I have avoided gloves most of the time but not when handling sharp materials. One of my customers gave me some pairs of these new gloves made from a stretchy kevlar reinforced fabric of some kind and rubber on the gripping surface. I will be buying more of these when I go through this set, but it is going to take a while, they're the most durable ones I've tried.


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## MechanicalDVR

splatz said:


> I have avoided gloves most of the time but not when handling sharp materials. One of my customers gave me some pairs of these new gloves made from a stretchy kevlar reinforced fabric of some kind and rubber on the gripping surface. I will be buying more of these when I go through this set, but it is going to take a while, they're the most durable ones I've tried.


I've had the Ironclad gloves like that and they really do last. I've been taught by observation to protect your fingers. Seen too many guys over the years with some messed up or missing ones.


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## John Valdes

MechanicalDVR said:


> YES, this is one of my all time favorites.
> 
> I also like having had to dress up in a tyvek suit and wear a hood respirator to go into the area at a drug company where they package birth control pills just to check and adjust a room sensor. Always made me wonder what wa sin those pills that breathing would hurt you when women swallow them.


I think that is designed more about what you bring in, than what you may take out.



HackWork said:


> The only true way to make a good safety guy is take a veteran construction worker and train him.


This is something I have said to management for years. To bad for me, they once took me up on it!



daks said:


> Hmmm- only safety knives allowed


I once worked for an major oil company once and pocket knives were not allowed.
I asked the supervisor how an electrician could work without a pocket knife. He said to look for a retractable knife designed for the task and it should be okay.
I opened a Klein catalog and found the 3" inch cherry handle pocket knife and ordered it.
When I was asked about it, I showed them the knife in the catalog.
Since the catalog was electrician oriented, that knife was just fine.
Was not long after that I was ordering them for everyone.
Lost mine. Great knife and small.


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## Ty Wrapp

bill39 said:


> Two come to mind immediately:
> 1) This was in the '70's and an OSHA inspector insisted that a ladder be tied off at the top BEFORE anyone climbed it. Think about it.
> 
> 
> I learned to lash the top of a ladder against a pole from the ground in climbing school.Tie a 50ft handline to the side rail of your ladder before raising it up the pole. Once raised in place, flip the rope around the top of the opposite side rail. Pull tight and flip rope around the other side rail in a figure 8 fashion, pull tight. repeat process 3 times on each side, pull tight and tie off at the bottom of the pole.We also had to tie off the bottom at the 4th or 5th rung by starting at the pole with a clove hitch and 2 half hitches. Run rope around side rail back to pole to opposite side rail. repeat 3 times. Wrap rope around the "V" that was formed and cinch tight.It took about 15 minutes, but the ladder is not going anywhere.


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## Ty Wrapp

Hard Hat on anytime your feet are off the ground.


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## MechanicalDVR

John Valdes said:


> I think that is designed more about what you bring in, than what you may take out.


I don't think so. This was the only line not in a white room they had this requirement on. 




John Valdes said:


> I once worked for an major oil company once and pocket knives were not allowed.
> I asked the supervisor how an electrician could work without a pocket knife. He said to look for a retractable knife designed for the task and it should be okay.
> I opened a Klein catalog and found the 3" inch cherry handle pocket knife and ordered it.
> When I was asked about it, I showed them the knife in the catalog.
> Since the catalog was electrician oriented, that knife was just fine.
> Was not long after that I was ordering them for everyone.
> Lost mine. Great knife and small.



I've had fun with this type game. I used to go to a county jail that checked in all your tools and counted them out and they gave me a bit of a hard time about pocket knives (I carried two). They made me leave one at the desk, the one I kept was because it looked like a working knife. So when I returned there again I brought three work style knives. :thumbsup:


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## LGLS

MechanicalDVR said:


> I've had fun with this type game. I used to go to a county jail that checked in all your tools and counted them out and they gave me a bit of a hard time about pocket knives (I carried two). They made me leave one at the desk, the one I kept was because it looked like a working knife. So when I returned there again I brought three work style knives. :thumbsup:


At least that sounds reasonable, makes some sense. Broken and/or dull used razor knifeblades trade for 4 dinner trays in the county lockup. Don't ask me how I know that.


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## MechanicalDVR

LawnGuyLandSparky said:


> At least that sounds reasonable, makes some sense. Broken and/or dull used razor knifeblades trade for 4 dinner trays in the county lockup. Don't ask me how I know that.


The whole process seemed stupid to me as I was escorted to the room with roof access and or the area that gave access to a service hallway that ran in between cell structures. I had no inmate contact possible there.


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## sparky970

drewsserviceco said:


> I see you and raise you fire watch in a ditch after cadwelding for the ground ring. lol


Very common on most sites we work


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## Going_Commando

flyboy said:


> Steel tip shoes...


I was pretty happy wearing mine when this happened:


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## MechanicalDVR

Going_Commando said:


> I was pretty happy wearing mine when this happened:


Length of rigid?


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## tommydh

Well I think the top one would be the required hard hat in a building that has non contractor personnel in same area in normal attire but if working must wear hard hat like if something was falling it would seek out the hard hat not the person 2 feet next to you. Along that same line roof work with mandatory hard hat. I did many jobs on 5-7 story office buildings only thing overheaqd was airport traffic and birds the only thing that the HH would stop would be poo on head if plane hits no difference if was on or off but had 2 guys get thrown off job for not wearing it


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## tommydh

I was written up on a jobsite for not wearing safety glasses, hard hat and gloves coming out of spot a pot to trailer maybe 3 foot walk or whatever it was from the bottom of steps to door wear my PPE was located. I informed Safety jack ass that if I needed all that for what I was doing I was doing somethhing majorly wrong. I get the whole PPE requirements on a site but that is a lil much.


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## macmikeman

I see people wearing aero dynamic multicolored sperm shaped helmets on their head while they slowly pedal a bicycle along the sidewalk. Between them and the dolts who cannot peel their eyes away from their electronic device for longer than two seconds while they step into traffic, I sometimes begin to wonder of those Jihadists haven't figured it all out............................


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## wcord

How about long sleeved shirt, middle of July, building a ductbank in the middle of an empty field (refinery rule that you had to wear long sleeves because of the process steam lines)
AND nothing was said about the fact the trench sides weren't cut back at all!


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## catsparky1

I worked in a place where nothing but a person was allowed on a scissor lift . tools parts and material had to be on a material lift . You also could only work 6 hrs a day the last 2 was fire watch no matter what you did that day . Funny thing about that place it used to be next to a marshmallow factory .


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## joebanana

"Safety programs" are just to cover liability issues.


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## lighterup

I'm all for safety on jobs , but as I read these I cannot think
of a stupid one. What comes to mind is having all these rules 
and more while witnessing other hazards persist on that very 
same job (by the very same company holding you to their rules).

* Leaving trenches open for weeks or even months until winter 
finally arrives , snow covers trench and ground so it all looks 
evenly the same until walking into it while trudging through snow.
Not funny! That s**t hurts.
* Similar issue.
Will call for rough-ins on a job (plumbing , hvac , EC) but will not
grade the dirt where surfaces are to eventually be poured cement 
floors , leaving 2' holes here and there (ankle busters). Not Funny!
That s**t hurts.
* Call for rough-ins , no stairwells in AND no safety rails around the
holes either. (Not to mention loose ply wood covering holes as if that's
supposed to stop you from going down).

But yeah , you have to wear your safety hat on our jobs


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## micromind

joebanana said:


> "Safety programs" are just to cover liability issues.


And more importantly, to bolster the egos of the zealots that ram this crap on us........


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## flyboy

Keeping file cabinet drawers closed in the office environment. :vs_OMG:


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## brian john

Having to wear arc flash, while working on a disconnect in a battery room, where the battery was not connected. The jerk off safety "officer" :laughing: was beyond stupid. 

The switch was de-energized because his company blew up the first switch and we had to redo all the cabling and switch.

Oh, it was July and no AC in the room.


Many safety men/women have the job they do because they can't do regular work, or have had frontal lobotomy.


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## bill39

We were cleaning out a rented office trailer near the end of a job and one of the guys bent over to pick up a VERY large 3-ring binder and ended up throwing out his back (for real). Ended up being a recordable injury.

When the overall project safety guy was told how it happened he wanted to know why we had not hired a moving company to empty the trailer. It took all of my willpower to not physically throw the guy out.

It simply left me speechless.


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## micromind

brian john said:


> Many safety men/women have the job they do because they can't do regular work, or have had frontal lobotomy.


This is absolutely true! 

And even worse, there is absolutely no possible way to convince any of these mental midgets that they are wrong. They will always play the power card.


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## tommydh

brian john said:


> Having to wear arc flash, while working on a disconnect in a battery room, where the battery was not connected. The jerk off safety "officer" :laughing: was beyond stupid.
> 
> The switch was de-energized because his company blew up the first switch and we had to redo all the cabling and switch.
> 
> Oh, it was July and no AC in the room.
> 
> 
> Many safety men/women have the job they do because they can't do regular work, or have had frontal lobotomy.


If its the GC safety guy you can always pull the great "Authorized Personnell Only!" in my electric room. They are not supposed to be in thhere unless either you allow or they are an electrician.


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## Big John

Islander said:


> I was working at a government facility, running some pipe up on the ceiling. The ceiling was between 10 and 12 feet high. The room was too inaccessible to bring in a scissor lift, and too crowded to set up scaffolding. Setting up any kind of harness and lanyard would be impractical, due to the relatively low ceiling.
> 
> Still, they felt they had to protect us from ourselves somehow or another. The solution? The electrician installing pipe would work on an 8 or 10 foot ladder. The other electrician would stand on a shorter ladder beside the first guy and hold his belt, in case he fell.
> 
> I cannot imagine who thought up that brainstorm, or how they thought it would be safer than having just one person on a ladder, with the other person standing by to get help. We tried to explain that to them, but they were having none of it.
> 
> I still laugh whenever I think about it.


 Doing an inspection for a solar install, safety guys wanted something to keep somebody from falling off the roof edge.

There were no fall arrest anchors, so these geniuses came up with a system where the worker world wear a harness attached to two ropes. Each rope would hang off the edge of the building, down to a guy on the ground who would hold it in his hand.

This way if the worker somehow started to fall off this flat, single-story roof, 13' off the ground, the guy on the opposite side was supposed to hold the rope and prevent him from hitting the ground.

There are a ton of safety officers who sincerely believe that deliberately taking the wrong action must be better than no action.


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## micromind

Big John said:


> There are a ton of safety officers who sincerely believe that deliberately taking the wrong action must be better than no action.


They need to justify their existence somehow........

Idiots.


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## MTW

Safety rules are designed for the lowest IQ, bottom of the barrel gene pool. It shackles entire industries to people of the lowest common denominator. 

Probably one of the single most dangerous pieces of equipment in existence is a brush chipper. Every year tree workers are sucked into them and turned into human hamburger. Why? Because they are doing stupid things - pushing brush in with their feet, standing on the infeed table, not looking behind them to see if they are trailing a rope or vine on the branch they are chipping, pushing brush in by hand instead of using a large branch or rake, and other stupidity. 

Stupid people will always exist and they will always be killed by their stupidity, and everyone else has to pay the price for it.


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## Hand Wired

I agree that most everything listed in this thread is silly, but trust me, it's better than working at a place with zero safety procedures and some very tight deadlines. It isn't fun looking over your work at the end of the day and wondering "How am I still alive?"


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## Big John

Hand Wired said:


> I agree that most everything listed in this thread is silly, but trust me, it's better than working at a place with zero safety procedures and some very tight deadlines. It isn't fun looking over your work at the end of the day and wondering "How am I still alive?"


I don't disagree. But there's also a false choice: Industry doesn't have to be either "Wild West" or "Safety Nazi." People can operate with a reasonable level of safety.

The biggest thing missing from most companies is effective training and support. People need to be educated enough to recognize when something is wrong and empowered by their company culture to correct it, instead of just having to throw up their hands and say "Welp, jobs gotta get done!"


Unfortunately, many companies are far too cheap to allow training to eat into short term profit.


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