Dangerous Hypocrisy: The Industrial Safety Racket

Industrial safety is no joke, although we in the field often treat it like it is. That’s because it’s mostly bullshit. Pipefitters, riggers, iron workers and others do work that’s just as dangerous as building any skyscraper (one of the most dangerous professions in the world), but we’re often doing it in a place that can explode at any time. Or gas you to death. Etcetera.

So there’s a certain amount of gallows humor afoot. At the same time, no one wants to get hurt. No one wants to get someone else hurt. Accidents do happen, of course, and there are safe ways to do most things. But if you do get hurt, it’s pretty much almost always your fault.

Was the hazard listed on the STA/JSA? No? Your fault.

Was it not listed on the STA/JSA? No? Why not? Your fault.

But we just roll our eyes at a lot of what they tell us regarding safety, because it’s, as I said, bullshit.

“Wear your gloves all the time. Because this one time, this guy tripped, and he didn’t have gloves on, and he got a splinter, and he lost his whole arm.”

Erm, no, I doubt that. If anyone could produce such a case, you’d find there was a lot more at work there than a splinter from not wearing gloves.

“Since we stopped letting people use their own knives, hand injuries are down 40%.”

Well, since your policy is that we can carry knives, but not use them, guess what? We still use them. Which disproves your statistic. What I’d like to draw attention to is far more serious, however.

Last year, in my immediate area, I hear that four to six workers died at another site. “Heart attack”. I think you mean heat stroke. But, no real hit to the company, because of the way the cause of death is listed. Money fucking talks.

So, then a guy died on our site earlier this year. Fell, we’re told. What are the specifics? We don’t know. They won’t tell us anything. “Make sure you’re tied off.” That’s it. But, one version I heard is that he was tied off, and a crane operating in a high wind knocked part of the scaffold down. The part he was tied off to. Another version is that he walked through a hole in the grating that was covered with fire blanket. Maybe it wasn’t in a barricaded area, and he wasn’t even supposed to be tied off.

Guess what? We may never know. They never said anything about it, and I doubt they ever will.

Then someone died last month or so. Funny story. A guy felt sick, they sent him home. Someone else left work later, hit the brakes, and thump. What the fuck was that? It was a dead guy in his backseat, where he had crawled in to die.

Heat stroke? Heart attack? Was he on drugs?

We’ll probably never fucking know. They won’t say anything. But they did start telling us to take breaks, drink water. Do the math, there.

Now some poor fucker has lost four fingers, I hear. Crushed beyond belief under a vessel that was being lowered. At least that’s the latest info we can get through the grapevine. We didn’t even have a stand-down.

Motherfucker. If they actually cared about our safety, and it wasn’t just a liability/safety rating (read: money) issue, then the more accurate information we could get, the safer and better off we would be. Instead, crickets. Tight fucking lipped bullshit. Nonsensical platitudes about why we shouldn’t eat in the field, or carry our own water bottles. It is Kafkaesque.

A trail of bodies, and zero pertinent safety knowledge gleaned from the events. Info that could save lives in the future. So we take care of ourselves, and each other, and we never pretend for a minute that these people care about our lives and limbs. Don’t let these pieces of shit push you too hard. Keep your hands clear of pipe, steel, and vessels. Work slow and steady, no matter how much they bitch at you. And never forget, it’s about money, it’s never about you.

Cocksuckers.

• Psycho