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kmason83  
#1 Posted : 05 May 2021 16:26:33(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
kmason83

I am certain most of you will have had your share of those days the lead up being that feeling that you are starting to get somewhere then they bite your hand off while you are trying to help. I think to go from being a completely overlooked department to one that is discussed by leadership in any way is probably a good thing, someone once told me at least they are talking about it now and you have made them think. But when they speak to you in an unprofessional manner that dark side of you (the one you need for a successful health and safety career) really needs to create some noise back at them about how their ridiculous responses and actions will go down in a court of law! 

..........................I need a new job! 

Gerry Knowles  
#2 Posted : 06 May 2021 08:37:44(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Gerry Knowles

In many organisations we are not seen as an asset to the business but the people in anoracks who are the blockers and are always coming up with new ways to stop the business doing something or other.  For me the famous poem "Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling sums up how we on occasion as a profession are treated.  When the brown stuff is flying around we go to the front of the line, when all is quiet we are pushed to the back.  Do you need another job, just remember the old saying "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  

HSSnail  
#3 Posted : 06 May 2021 11:21:22(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
HSSnail

Sounds like you guys are having the same kind of day as me - only time H&S is important is when the you know what hits the fan and they need there backsides saving!

Been in this game for over 30 years - will stick it out a few more - unless they offer me early retirement then by by!

chris42  
#4 Posted : 06 May 2021 12:22:57(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
chris42

Originally Posted by: kmason83 Go to Quoted Post

I am certain most of you will have had your share of those days the lead up being that feeling that you are starting to get somewhere then they bite your hand off while you are trying to help. I think to go from being a completely overlooked department to one that is discussed by leadership in any way is probably a good thing, someone once told me at least they are talking about it now and you have made them think. But when they speak to you in an unprofessional manner that dark side of you (the one you need for a successful health and safety career) really needs to create some noise back at them about how their ridiculous responses and actions will go down in a court of law! 

..........................I need a new job! 

I think the technical name given to the feelings you are experiencing is called…

Wednesday’s

Sadly every day could be a Wednesday.

stevedm  
#5 Posted : 07 May 2021 09:37:11(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stevedm

Sandwiched tightly between Top Brass and the teaming masses sits a wild-eyed individual madly singing a safety tune. He's the most misunderstood, maligned and unsung person in all the world of business. He's the proverbial "SAFETY PROFESSIONAL". This fellow's a little bit of all strata's....a member of none. To the employee or worker he's a tool of management; to management, he's just another employee. He finds his job interesting. He speaks for management from the "Ivory Tower" and then runs out to the Production Area, Warehouse or Work Site to hear how it sounds. He must keep his head in the "brass' board room", his feet in the muck.... a difficult position to keep from falling on his butt.

He has the curiosity of a cat....the tenacity of a mother in law...the determination of a taxi driver...the nervous system of a race car driver...the digestive capacity of a goat...the simplicity of a jackass...the diplomacy of a wayward husband...the hide of a rhinoceros...the speed of a rocket and the good humour of an idiot. He has the busiest, shrewdest, plottingest, worryingest, most thoroughly washed brain of any human. His mail basket is always full, his desk is a constant mess and his calendar looks like cave drawings. Nobody has been given the run-around as often, has been passed so many bucks, is left holding so many bags, and has cut his way through so much red tape.

The SAFETY PROFESSIONAL keeps the coffee plantations, aspirin plants, distilleries and the midnight oil companies in business. He must tread lightly over mountains of eggs, knowing where to tread and, more importantly, when and where NOT to tread. You'll find him everywhere...shouting loudly over the din of a bunch of roaring engines, whispering softly in the hallowed precincts of thick-carpeted offices. Whenever there is an accident, the SAFETY PROFESSIONAL is often called in to explain why and how it happened. He's expected pull rabbits out of nonexistent hats; when the job is thankless, he gets it. He must engender interests in good housekeeping to people who live in garage sale clutter ...promote wider responsibility to people who have a narrow focus ... preach safety to people who think they don't need it. He must listen to the phrase, 'that's always the way we've done it," until he vomits.

Despite all the careful planning he is usually found dangling on a deadline...he's the original cat on the hot tin roof...in the middle of a muddle and of course LATE. The master of understatement, he must make fire protection sound as essential as religion and an accident cost sound like the national debt. He's suppose to be a "specialist" who can breath new life into committees and meetings... leadership into management... cooperation into supervisory personnel... responsibility into employees/workers. He must inspire without propaganda... propagandize without being obvious. He parks his 1980's jalopy between the boss' new Mercedes and the janitor's 4x4. When he's clever, it goes unnoticed...when he stubs his toe, the world is there to see and mock it. To him a headache is normal; he'd have ulcers if he could afford them. He has more critics than Harry Truman. He meets more people who think they know more about safety than the company has conveyor hooks.

He can never be right. When he simplifies, he's pandering. When he gets a little technical, he's over their head. Half the people wonder what he does... the other half know what he does but think he's doing it wrong! When an idea turns out lousy and after the blame has been thoroughly kicked between the employee/worker, foreman and supervisor, it winds up in his lap. More people bend his ear than anybody else's. Everybody thinks he always has time to stop and listen to a joke...hear a gripe...attend a meeting... serve on a committee. He does, and winds up taking most of his work home. He has no peer in the realm of praise, propaganda and procrastination. He knows he's right; only the world thinks he's wrong. If he has an idea, it was stolen. However, a stolen idea is research! Where else do you think the background material for this sad tale of woe about a Safety Professional originated?

thanks 6 users thanked stevedm for this useful post.
biker1 on 07/05/2021(UTC), HSSnail on 07/05/2021(UTC), RVThompson on 07/05/2021(UTC), CptBeaky on 10/05/2021(UTC), marshi on 11/05/2021(UTC), Joe Halliday on 12/05/2021(UTC)
firesafety101  
#6 Posted : 07 May 2021 10:01:21(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
firesafety101

Long read but it is Friday.

I remember when we used to have the Friday posts, a bit of fun to end the week.

peter gotch  
#7 Posted : 07 May 2021 12:26:19(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

Yes, we used to have Friday threads and this narrative was posted on such on Friday 24 July 2015.

It was previously posted, but not entitled Friday thread on 17 October 2008, which just happened to be a Friday.

But some things in life tend to never change?

stevedm  
#8 Posted : 07 May 2021 13:59:41(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stevedm

yep and I think I posted at least one of them...but didn't realise it was going to be audited ...

peter gotch  
#9 Posted : 07 May 2021 16:03:38(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

Steve - in this case "audit" was a very simple Google of just a handful of words!

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