OHS \u2013 It\u2019s More Than Just Compliance<\/p>\n
I remember one time conducting WHMIS training.\u00a0 \u201cMarvin\u201d kept making cat calls, \u201cdon\u2019t tell me you care about this Tanya\u201d, \u201cwhat a waste of time\u201d, \u201cthe MSDS are 5 years old, no one cares\u201d, etc.\u00a0 I finally got to the point where I ejected Marvin from the training and asked him to meet me in my office when the training was over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Marvin was gone, \u201cDonnie\u201d stood up and said Marvin had been right, that the MSDS were more than 5 years old.\u00a0 He offered to update them if I got him the time away from his regular job.\u00a0 I promised to do so.<\/p>\n
After the training, back in my office, I sat with Marvin.\u00a0 I asked Marvin whether he hated me, or did he hate the company, because every time I did safety training he publicly crucified me.\u00a0 And, here I learned perhaps one of the most important lessons of my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cTanya, you don\u2019t get it\u201d, Martin said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThose MSDS are old, they\u2019re out of date, what if we need them and they\u2019re no longer accurate.\u00a0 This is a job for you but that is my brother out there, my cousins, my uncle, hell even my father worked here.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t just a job for me, this is my family, my community.\u201d\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I learned that day that that the safety is more than just compliance.\u00a0 If I want my employees to be happy they have to feel like I am taking care of their health and safety, today and tomorrow.\u00a0 If I want my employees to be productive they must be happy.\u00a0 And, they are only going to be happy if there health and safety needs are met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I also learned a second lesson that day.\u00a0 While Donnie was helpful he is not going to make an issue of the problems.\u00a0 It is the Marvins of this world that are going to make the issues, that are going to keep companies honest.\u00a0 While I wouldn\u2019t want a whole workforce of Marvins we all need Marvins in the workplace, we need to harness them and respect that they are not in fact \u201ctroublemakers\u201d but are much needed honest brokers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Safety, it’s more than just compliance\u2026<\/p>\n