[exDemMom]

This is the same reason why OSHA regulations don't make a workplace any safer. A company that complies with OSHA regulations is only doing it so they can certify that they are OSHA-compliant. Meanwhile, mandates imposed by the company's insurance carrier do far more to improve workplace safety than OSHA does.

I don't know about OSHA so much, but I do know that employees take the safety stuff seriously. I try to do a safety walk-through every month, but over the last couple of months, other things kept me very busy and I was not able to do the walk-through. Then, at a baby shower, one of my employees asked if I wasn't doing them any more.

Oops.

Doing the safety walk-through does not accomplish much in itself (I have never found a serious issue), but it gives the employees that the employer cares about safety, and they are more mindful as a result. That is a good thing, because one of the things I do not handle well is people being injured and bleeding.

[Alberta's Child]

Well, yeah.

Of all the people in the world who have an interest in the personal safety of an employee, the employee himself is at the very top of the list. That's why my prior employer had almost no safety rules and a perfect safety record. Meanwhile, my current employer has more safety rules and safety initiatives than I can count -- and we can't possibly be any safer than my prior employer.

In other words, the safety initiatives have no purpose other than giving the company the ability to document the fact that they have implemented them.

[sheana]

I worked for a chemical company and used to do Osha training and walk throughs for large companies. Made sure everything used had the correct signage, labels, etc. The companies appreciated it because it helped them avoid fines. The bottom line is always money.

[Rockpile]

It can be truly aggravating when a hired peon (moi and others) can point out actual problems and get ignored but BS from OSHA or your own business
is slavishly adhered to.

As a lowly blue collar serf I was one who was especially galled by that.

The last three occasions when out of town safety inspectors strutted up to
me and queried me on safety I answered and then brought up real
safety questions and started interrogating THEM. That was really fun.
I worked on the last one for 20 minutes. After that I later found out that
the bosses warned them to avoid me.

They left me alone for my last 14 years. :<}