Safety Co-Chair offer.

stevetheupsguy

sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
I've been offered the Safety Co-Chair position in my building. I'm currently the Wellness Champ. Would this be a good/bad move? What are the benefits/downsides of this position? I haven't accepted/rejected the position as of yet. What do you all think?
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
depends what you would do with the position.

also, under the contract, you should be placed as a cochair more by the confidence of the fellow employee than by a management asignment.

it could be a wonderful move, as from your posts i dont think you are a company sucker, but you are also headed for a thankless job that will sometimes bring you the spite of others that you would try to assist.

hard road, but as a person, best i can tell, i think you might do well.

d
 

barnyard

KTM rider
Benefits= couple of paid days off route every year.

couple of extra hours every month, usually start early, so ends up being extra OT

I think I work and drive safer.

downside= complete lack of respect from many.

It's a frustrating job.

TB
been a cochair for a couple of years
 
Last edited:

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
There is an adage that goes "Do as I say, not as I do."

If you are a driver who cuts corners, runs/guns, starts early you will have a hard time trying to correct an unsafe behavior that you encounter.

If you are a driver who follows the methods to a T you are more apt to find a receptive audience.

It sounds as though you may have enough on your plate already--perhaps you may want to pass on this one IMO.
 
We only see the people on our safety committee when there`s a cookout and they serve food. As far as having a voice during an accident investigation I haven`t heard of them participating. If you feel you can make a difference Steve then give it a shot.
 

mattwtrs

Retired Senior Member
Go for it! You can always resign from the position if it doesn't work out! In 20 years I think we have had 10 different safety hourly people. They weren't called Co-Chairs when it started.
 

brownrodster

Well-Known Member
I've been offered the Safety Co-Chair position in my building. I'm currently the Wellness Champ. Would this be a good/bad move? What are the benefits/downsides of this position? I haven't accepted/rejected the position as of yet. What do you all think?


Not sure if you do this already but our safety guys get to spend a day in the office every week making sure things are safe(In our building they get a day off route per week). That may or may not be a benefit. Benefit if you would like a day off route. Downside if you don't want to associate with management.
 

Channahon

Well-Known Member
From what I've read of your posts, I think you would do a great job. You communicate well, command respect, and if you have leadership skills, you will do well, with both management and your peers, in my opinion.

I have seen successful co chairs in my career, where they have made a difference in driver safety issues. Only you know what impact you can make on a group of your peers.

Good luck with the decision you make
 

Mike Hawk

Well-Known Member
Our safety people get paid days sitting in the office so they meet their safety numbers. Half the time they are shuttleing "unsafe" misloads to the right drivers, or moving the "unsafe" packages out of the trailer and on to the belt.
 

Paid-over-in-Maine

15 more years of this!
Wow! I've been a saftey Co-Chair and NEVER heard of a day off route! Is this on paper somewhere? Steve, these guys are right on about lack of respect. If I could guess, the previous Co-Chair probably quit for that same reason. You go in early for a meeting, only to get a 10 hr dispatch. They want a quality PCM or demo and give you 10 min. the morning of to plan it. Always the same 5 guys that dont listen to you, talk during your PCM, and never follow directions. I went into it with guns blazing only to have that fire extinguished a couple of months into it. Your a different person with different people...Good Luck to you, Brother!
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Take it or leave it as you see fit. If you take it, do so with reasonable expectations. Always remember that, as far as management is concerned, the Safety Committee will never make any changes to equipment, facilities, policies or procedures. Those items fall outside the scope of the Safety Committee, at least at UPS. You can make some easy money as a Safety Committee co-chair as long as you keep one fact in mind; nothing you do will ever make a difference. If you enjoy grading papers, playing word games, inventing new acronyms and coloring posters, then you will do well.
 

Bad Gas!

Well-Known Member
Been there, done that..I did my couple of year tour.Now , I check in for monthly meeting to hear accident and injury reports.You can do it low profile or high profile.You don't have to make every meeting..There is good personal insight you will gain....It's really gets to the pt. where you are a safty dog with no pull.It's hard to make improvements.You may be able to...Nothing to lose by trying..
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
respect from your drivers is something that is earned. cant demand it, cant buy it, ya gotta earn it. respect is something that will transcend the drivers liking your or not. same goes for management.

i rarely ever gave pcm's and when i did, it was short, sweet, to the point.

if you take it just to make "some easy money" you will never accomplish a thing. if you take it as a position that gives you some sort of clout, promotion, or makes you one bit different than any other driver, its the wrong reason.

as to you being a puppet for management, if you let them, they will control all you do. but if you understand what your job is, and do it impartially and with bulldog determination, you will be surprised at the things you can achieve. wont make you popular with hourly or management, but you will have their respect.

it also helps to either be a shop steward, or have one you can work with very well. it seems that on many issues, ups can find all sorts of excuses not to get things done in a timely Mainer. the grievance procedure is there for you to use. it is a tool, use it.

you can make a difference. if that is something that appeals to you, go for it.
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
Take it or leave it as you see fit. If you take it, do so with reasonable expectations. Always remember that, as far as management is concerned, the Safety Committee will never make any changes to equipment, facilities, policies or procedures. Those items fall outside the scope of the Safety Committee, at least at UPS. You can make some easy money as a Safety Committee co-chair as long as you keep one fact in mind; nothing you do will ever make a difference. If you enjoy grading papers, playing word games, inventing new acronyms and coloring posters, then you will do well.

Been the night sort's co-chair for a couple months now, replacing management's selection for the post. The Union has the right to approve which hourlys get to serve on the Committee (and the union-approved hourlys get to elect the Union co-chair) and there are functions specified in the contract which don't include coloring posters, etc. Both the center manager and DM are crying that I'm spending all my time on equipment and facilities and ignoring their SWMs and such, but I'm perfectly OK with their never passing Keter again unless they play ball with me. Dunno how this will turn out, but you can grieve safety issues as well. Yes, the "equipment, facilities, policies or procedures" ones. On the other hand, the other two inside shift co-chairs look pretty worthless to me. So my question for Steve is, which is he going to be? He's been on the committee, handing out irrelevant garbage info on diabetes and smoking and such. Has it been bothering him to do that while the real safety issues go unaddressed? If not he's probably the wrong guy for the job, from my point of view.
 

Pip

Well-Known Member
if your looking out for your fellow workers, making things safer for them. Listening to their concerns then bringing those concerns in front of the committee. Then I'd go for it. If your in it for the little bit of OT that comes with it, don't bother.

If the safety committee is serious about it and works together with management, then it works for everybody. Have seen it first hand in the center I work in. Everybody is on the same page with the same goal. Have also talked with people in other centers where the safety committee doesn't seem to take the responsibility serious, only when in it convenient.

You get out of it what you put in it.
 

BigBrownSanta

Well-Known Member
I think if you decide to do it, you should start by pushing the envelope to find out how far you will be allowed to go as far as safety is concerned. Are they going to work with you or will they hold you back from doing what you want to do? Maybe talk to the old co-chair and find out why they quit. I think once you find that answer, you can make a decision whether you want to stay in the position or not.

As far as getting respect from drivers, I think if you show that you can get results with the driver's safety concerns, the respect will come. They have to believe that you are a "go to" guy that will get it fixed. If they see you as another "donuts and safety sticker" guy, well, you might as well resign. You'll never gain their respect.
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
As far as getting respect from drivers, I think if you show that you can get results with the driver's safety concerns, the respect will come. They have to believe that you are a "go to" guy that will get it fixed. If they see you as another "donuts and safety sticker" guy, well, you might as well resign. You'll never gain their respect.

Thinking back on it, BBS is probably right. My experience with safety committees is that they ALL are "donut and saftey sticker" people. I have never seen any REAL safety issues addressed. I have always assumed that this is because UPS dictates what they can and cannot do.
 
Top