Out of control!! Inexperienced Maintenance Mechanics Getting Killed by equipment on the job. What is going on Plant Engineering???

Integrity

Binge Poster
Anthony “Andy”Schanding 1 year UPS Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about October 23, 2018

Jakob Watson 24 year old killed in UPS Conveyor System on or about Feb 10,2020

David Platt 2 year Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about Nov 18, 2020.

This is obviously a chronic problem which undoubtedly points to deficiencies in UPS Plant Engineering Safety Management Practices.

“Blame the worker” safety policies lack integrity.

I hope there is some brave Plant Engineering management worker out there who will be willing to stand up to harassment to try to make the maintenance mechanics safer than this. Especially the new inexperienced ones.
 

zubenelgenubi

I'm a star
Anthony “Andy”Schanding 1 year UPS Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about October 23, 2018

Jakob Watson 24 year old killed in UPS Conveyor System on or about Feb 10,2020

David Platt 2 year Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about Nov 18, 2020.

This is obviously a chronic problem which undoubtedly points to deficiencies in UPS Plant Engineering Safety Management Practices.

“Blame the worker” safety policies lack integrity.

I hope there is some brave Plant Engineering management worker out there who will be willing to stand up to harassment to try to make the maintenance mechanics safer than this. Especially the new inexperienced ones.

I don't know the circumstances, but whose responsibility is it to lock out a conveyor that is being worked on? Thinking that safety is someone else's job is what kills people.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
I don't know the circumstances, but whose responsibility is it to lock out a conveyor that is being worked on? Thinking that safety is someone else's job is what kills people.
“Live Conveyor Repairs” require equipment to be live and can be disastrous if specific methods and practices are not precisely followed.

Providing a Safe Work Place is the Employer’s responsibility.
 

zubenelgenubi

I'm a star
“Live Conveyor Repairs” require equipment to be live and can be disastrous if specific methods and practices are not precisely followed.

Providing a Safe Work Place is the Employer’s responsibility.

Providing a safe work environment is the employer's legal responsibility. Being safe is the responsibility of the employee. The belief that the company is supposed to keep you safe leads to complacency, complacency leads to injury or death.
 

DumbTruckDriver

Allergic to cardboard.
Anthony “Andy”Schanding 1 year UPS Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about October 23, 2018

Jakob Watson 24 year old killed in UPS Conveyor System on or about Feb 10,2020

David Platt 2 year Maintenance Mechanic killed on the job on or about Nov 18, 2020.

This is obviously a chronic problem which undoubtedly points to deficiencies in UPS Plant Engineering Safety Management Practices.

“Blame the worker” safety policies lack integrity.

I hope there is some brave Plant Engineering management worker out there who will be willing to stand up to harassment to try to make the maintenance mechanics safer than this. Especially the new inexperienced ones.
It’s possible that these gentlemen knew the safety guidelines, but chose to disregard them. No amount of management can counteract that.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
Providing a safe work environment is the employer's legal responsibility. Being safe is the responsibility of the employee. The belief that the company is supposed to keep you safe leads to complacency, complacency leads to injury or death.
Management are responsible for the Safety Culture in the workplace.

A poor Safety Culture contributes to injury and work place fatalities.

Paper job safety training and constant pressure for working faster and production pressure leads to a poor Safety Culture.

This leads to a blame the worker first safety attitude.

My experience with UPS has led me to conclude that a very poor safety culture exists at UPS as a whole and specifically in the Plant Engineering Dept. the safety culture is poor as well.
 

Cansado

Active Member
Safety violations. Strange. I've watched managers walk up and turn belts on at secured control stations, and turn the belt back on while a corrosive, fuming hazmat was puddling on the floor next to it. Management told a supervisor there at the time to stand over the puddle to "make sure nobody walks in it."
Safety is not the priority. Shareholders are.
 

quad decade guy

Well-Known Member
Providing a safe work environment is the employer's legal responsibility. Being safe is the responsibility of the employee. The belief that the company is supposed to keep you safe leads to complacency, complacency leads to injury or death.
Wait a minute. In a thread just down the way, it is commanded that the employee is NOT to say anything about safety or procedures. It is not their JOB! They are not to interfere or comment in any way. Just let it happen. Hyperbole? Well, that can be/is the mindset. It is illustrated here on BC everyday. Matter of fact, folks are belittled for concerns of safety and fatalities.
 

Red Devil

The Power of Connected
Ok. How do you account for multi decade employees getting killed? Say Sleeper teams with 60 years experience in the cab? In the end, it is EVERYONE'S "issue".
Safety is everyone’s personal responsibility but if new employees in particular keep getting killed it reflects very poorly on the training/management.
 

Box Ox

Well-Known Member
Management are responsible for the Safety Culture in the workplace.
My experience with UPS has led me to conclude that a very poor safety culture exists at UPS as a whole and specifically in the Plant Engineering Dept. the safety culture is poor as well.
OK. So team up with some of your fellow part-time supervisors and send that message up the corporate chain of command where there are people who can actually do something about it.
 

zubenelgenubi

I'm a star
I understand the thinking behind putting safety on management, and creating a "safety culture". The problem is, and I think everyone knows this, management is incompetent.

When they tell us we are the person most responsible for our own safety, it is true, except they mean that we are responsible to be safe "the UPS way", which is not true. I am responsible for my safety, keeping myself safe, in the way I know to be best, is my responsibility. The only things I can put on others is not intentionally doing something to hurt me, or making me aware of otherwise unknown hazards, but even those I don't take for granted.
 
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