There you are near the end of a long, hard day. Your supervisor swings by to check on you and says, “You’re doing something unsafe. Can you stop work and tell me what it is?”
What would the correct response be?
- Tell your supervisor to just come out with it, you don’t have time for guessing games.
- Argue defensively to prevent your supervisor from writing you up.
- Act annoyed. Say, “But we’ve always done it this way,” and then complain about working hard and not being appreciated.
- Stop work, identify the problem, state the correction you will make, and thank your supervisor for caring about your safety.
None of the first three answers will improve your personal safety or your relationship with your supervisor. The smart person will always go with D.
Would you also pick D if that person were a coworker instead of a supervisor? Or would you tell that person to mind their own business? If the latter, how is it not that person’s business to help keep everyone on the team stay safe?
Now suppose the person is very junior to you. You clipped the negative lead of your DMM to the cabinet frame, have your left hand behind your back, and are using your right hand to hold the probe as you move it toward an energized terminal. This junior person has just stopped you and asked you to tell him what you are doing that is unsafe.
Try as you might, you can’t figure it out. So you ask him, and he says the negative lead could come unclipped so you should hold a lead in each hand. How do you answer him?
The correct approach is to consider this a teaching opportunity. But start by thanking him for paying attention to safety issues. Rather than use equipment to demonstrate an ionization trail, have him hold the test leads and pretend your left hand is Phase A and your right hand is Phase B or ground. Once he sees how this works, you can address his idea about the lead coming unclipped. And then explain why you clipped it where you did and how that makes it fail-safe if it does come unclipped.
You can discourage people from helping you avoid making a fatal mistake. Or you can be gracious toward them, knowing there’s an extra set of eyes watching for dangers. This should not be a difficult choice to make.
About the Author
Mark Lamendola
Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.
Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.
Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.