Safety rant.

Discussion in 'Tanker, Bulk and Dump Trucking Forum' started by ethos, Oct 21, 2014.

  1. ethos

    ethos Road Train Member

    4,241
    9,872
    Mar 3, 2013
    Houston
    0
    Got a message on the Qualcomm today, apparently we had a spat of truck hitting objects so the safety department responds with making us wear vests. Now I don't know how that addresses the current problem unless we wrap the trucks and other objects in them but it's what they came up with. Now I don't really care about wearing it, my problem is it does nothing but make someone in an office feel good. The danger is now they feel they addressed a problem and it takes the motivation to fix the real issue, whatever it may be, away. Again we weren't hitting people so how does this solve anything?

    These non fixes add up over time. For instance, having to open your hood and side compartments so security can check, I guess to make sure I don't have a bomb. They run their little mirrors under my truck and all that but completely ignore the large tank that I'm pulling. So who came up with this foolproof plan? And what is the 70 year old, out of shape, unarmed security officer going to do if I just ram the chain link gate? Again, it makes someone feel good so that's why we do the dance.

    How many times have you guys had the mystery someone remotely open the gate after you hit the buzzer, only to discover that the plant is seemingly abandoned and you could do whatever you liked in there?

    Or the plants that make you shave before coming in. "Lady it would take me 20 minutes just to find my respirator and I would have to remember how to set the #### thing up before I could even begin to use it!" If the alarm goes off I'm going to either jump a fence or ram a gate, in any event I will not remember where the rallying point is, nor will I care. I most certainly will not remember the instructions in your safety video because I've seen hundreds of pointless, boring safety videos.

    To me safety is common sense. There is an elevated platform - put a guardrail on it! See problem solved. What I don't need is ladder training or to be told not to jump over the darn rail!

    I'm not anti safety. I'm anti stupid and that's what these rules are. It breeds contempt, turns safety into a thing to be mocked all so someone can feel good. Make safety important by focusing on the real problems, make safety simple by not making me watch a 30 minute video that I checked out of at the 2 minute mark. Make safety fun, I watched a safety video for a mine once that showed those big dump truck looking things running over cars and cool explosions. It was only 10 minutes but I was paying attention because it was neat. All I'm asking for is a little common sense, because if you give me any more safety you're going to kill me.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. mattbnr

    mattbnr Road Train Member

    1,950
    837
    Aug 19, 2010
    Tama,Iowa
    0
    Yeah not sure how you wearing a vest is gonna make you not drive into a stationary object.
    I understand your rant 100%.
    A lot of the safety rules are completely insane. I have to wear a hard hat at a lot of the places I go. A lot of those places are outside with nothing around but my truck and the tank I'm loading from. I'll look around like what is possibly gonna hit me in the head? Bird poop maybe.
    Or the places that don't allow me to climb on the trailer to vent it. I did it at one place and the guy came out and goes "you can't do that" I'm like do what? "Climb up there like that." I looked at him for probably a full minute and finally said "are you serious right now? I climb up there 50 times a day."
    Yeah I love safety when it makes sense.
     
    Raiderfanatic, mickimause and scythe08 Thank this.
  4. chalupa

    chalupa Road Train Member

    3,757
    1,640
    Jul 22, 2010
    Houston,Texas
    0
    Or the plants that make you shave before coming in. "Lady it would take me 20 minutes just to find my respirator and I would have to remember how to set the #### thing up before I could even begin to use it!" If the alarm goes off I'm going to either jump a fence or ram a gate, in any event I will not remember where the rallying point is, nor will I care. I most certainly will not remember the instructions in your safety video because I've seen hundreds of pointless, boring safety videos.
    With these two rants it's a plant liability issue. They have to have plans and procedures in place to guard your safety regardless while you're on their property. They don't particularly care weather you die or not...they just have to show an effort that they tried to protect you and it has to be documented.

    Same with the vest....corporate has to do something and document it....the vest. We went through a cone phase....the power of the cone...awesome!

    JMO
     
    mickimause, scythe08 and tsavory Thank this.
  5. purpleprime

    purpleprime Medium Load Member

    681
    719
    May 30, 2013
    spickard, mo
    0
    Maybe the figured if drivers were hitting a lot of things it was only a matter of time before they hit a someone . problem is those safety videos and lectures are needed common sense isn't as common as you think
     
  6. ethos

    ethos Road Train Member

    4,241
    9,872
    Mar 3, 2013
    Houston
    0
    Okay we can take that approach. But then someone has to make sure I'm actually watching the video and not playing on my phone and someone needs to wake that other driver up and that one over there is arguing with his dispatcher over the phone. See my point?
     
  7. Ukumfe

    Ukumfe Medium Load Member

    301
    515
    Oct 23, 2008
    0
    I have a bad attitude about that crap as well. Picked up a load in Utah, 5-10 min video with a quiz afterward. I failed the quiz. They couldn't believe it. I told them it was quite simple. Me watching a video with 5 people in the security office chatting with each other and all of you talking loud enough to be heard over the volume of the video. I told them to quiz me on their conversation if they wanted to. They made me watch the video again, this time they #### and I passed their stupid quiz. Don't care if I ever go back. Idiots!!
     
  8. A Bug

    A Bug Heavy Load Member

    754
    1,389
    Mar 15, 2014
    Sevierville TN
    0
    I always get a feeling of renegade victory when I violate the "3 points of contact" rule when getting into my cab with a bag from subway in hand.
     
    Derailed, ethos, *Five-0* and 6 others Thank this.
  9. gentleroger

    gentleroger Road Train Member

    6,579
    17,194
    Jun 1, 2010
    0
    Plus once you've watched the video they generally give you a card that's good for a year. Like I'm even going to remember my way to the shipping office 6 months from now let alone what two short and one long siren means.

    Ethos - wearing the "safety" vest is a way to make you think about "safety". Sort of like putting a string around your finger to remind yourself to pick up milk on the way home.
     
    mickimause Thanks this.
  10. ethos

    ethos Road Train Member

    4,241
    9,872
    Mar 3, 2013
    Houston
    0
    I thought that was what the hard hat, safety glasses, long sleeve shirt and boots were for.
     
  11. *Five-0*

    *Five-0* Light Load Member

    205
    254
    Jun 21, 2014
    Hey...I'm over here!
    0
    Well, the boots are for wading through all the safety 'crap'. The long sleeve shirt keeps it from splashing up onto your arms, the safety glasses keep it out of your eyes, the hard hat, well, it's to keep your head from exploding from all the superfluous safety rules that keep getting in the way of common sense.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.