Safety Co-Chair offer.

[UnconTROLLed]

Speaking of Safety,

Recently in an effort to stick safety to UPS, I mentioned bringing anti-fatigue matting to all clerical stations. Currently, there are many stations in our building that do not have clerical matting. Approximately 30-40.

What I was told, after the request was passed on from FT management into the HSC, that because the request would require matting at all of the stations, no matting would be provided. However, they would give me a portable mat for personal use.

With my knees and back having pain and fatigue, I cannot be alone. Standing on hard cement surfaces and uneven grating for many hours at a time in the same position can have adverse effects on the human body. Thus, infact, there is language in our national agreement! with regards to clerical anti-fatigue mats.

This is what I mean by SAFETY SHAM at UPS. I will certainly rally up as many clerks as possible and RAM safety down UPS's throat. This is completely BS, IMO. That since the company will be forced to give matting to ALL employees, it will NOT adhere and give to only to the one requesting.

Anyone else agree? That ALL CLERKS should have PERMANENT MATTING? And this is a request worthy of going up the ladder with, given the response by the SAFETY NEGLEGENT company?

 

[Integrity]

Speaking of Safety,

Recently in an effort to stick safety to UPS, I mentioned bringing anti-fatigue matting to all clerical stations. Currently, there are many stations in our building that do not have clerical matting. Approximately 30-40.

What I was told, after the request was passed on from FT management into the HSC, that because the request would require matting at all of the stations, no matting would be provided. However, they would give me a portable mat for personal use.

With my knees and back having pain and fatigue, I cannot be alone. Standing on hard cement surfaces and uneven grating for many hours at a time in the same position can have adverse effects on the human body. Thus, infact, there is language in our national agreement! with regards to clerical anti-fatigue mats.

This is what I mean by SAFETY SHAM at UPS. I will certainly rally up as many clerks as possible and RAM safety down UPS's throat. This is completely BS, IMO. That since the company will be forced to give matting to ALL employees, it will NOT adhere and give to only to the one requesting.

Anyone else agree? That ALL CLERKS should have PERMANENT MATTING? And this is a request worthy of going up the ladder with, given the response by the SAFETY NEGLEGENT company?

Dear Sleeve_meet_Heart,
You have a valid point. I agree with you. I have some experience with this issue and I think your best bet is to see that every worker is assigned temporary mats sized to the job they are doing. I think there are too many problems associated with permanent matting.

This is just another example of how the culture at UPS makes it about the person "complaining" and not about a valid safety concern that is right and just and should be addressed correctly.

Sincerely,
I

 

[trickpony1]

This is just another example of how the culture at UPS makes it about the person "complaining" and not about a valid safety concern that is right and just and should be addressed correctly.

Sincerely,
I

You know, to be a troll that supposedly doesn't work for this company, as some people claim, you sure hit the nail on the head on this one!

Positive rep headed your way.

 

[Highwayman]

Been there done that. Was a co-chair when this first started maybe ten years ago. Got some time on the clock,free food,a couple days off my route. Got no improvements the MGT said they cost too much. I quit it.

 

[Integrity]

You know, to be a troll that supposedly doesn't work for this company, as some people claim, you sure hit the nail on the head on this one!

Positive rep headed your way.

Dear trickpony,

Thanks for the encouragement, I really appreciate your kind words.

If I didn't work for UPS and claimed I did, that would not make it true. In the same way, just because some people claim that I don't work for UPS, that does not make it true.

My only desire is to try to make UPS a better place to work.

Sincerely,
I

 

[Cementups]

Funny that all of our "safety" people also have the most accidents in our center (reported and not)

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Dear Sleeve_meet_Heart,
You have a valid point. I agree with you. I have some experience with this issue and I think your best bet is to see that every worker is assigned temporary mats sized to the job they are doing. I think there are too many problems associated with permanent matting.

This is just another example of how the culture at UPS makes it about the person "complaining" and not about a valid safety concern that is right and just and should be addressed correctly.

Sincerely,
I

This is not an effort for me to prove something to UPS, to be a thorn in anyones side. However, I am going to push this to make sure that the employees safety comes first, and that company WALKS THE WALK instead of only talking the talk.

In the light of safety, I believe that:

(1) the company holds the employee responsible for all actions and work methods that THE EMPLOYEE controls, and documents such actions with active work observations (SWM), DOK, etc

(2) the company NEGLECTS the responsibility of holding itself accountable providing safety to the employee, for which the company can control - be it materials within the work area, egress issues, or so on. And these shortcomings are not documented by any source, therefore no accountability remains.

 

[JonFrum]

Speaking of Safety,

Recently in an effort to stick safety to UPS, I mentioned bringing anti-fatigue matting to all clerical stations. Currently, there are many stations in our building that do not have clerical matting. Approximately 30-40.

What I was told, after the request was passed on from FT management into the HSC, that because the request would require matting at all of the stations, no matting would be provided. However, they would give me a portable mat for personal use.

With my knees and back having pain and fatigue, I cannot be alone. Standing on hard cement surfaces and uneven grating for many hours at a time in the same position can have adverse effects on the human body. Thus, infact, there is language in our national agreement! with regards to clerical anti-fatigue mats.

This is what I mean by SAFETY SHAM at UPS. I will certainly rally up as many clerks as possible and RAM safety down UPS's throat. This is completely BS, IMO. That since the company will be forced to give matting to ALL employees, it will NOT adhere and give to only to the one requesting.

Anyone else agree? That ALL CLERKS should have PERMANENT MATTING? And this is a request worthy of going up the ladder with, given the response by the SAFETY NEGLEGENT company?

If the local Safety Committee can't get action, your next step is a grievance sent directly to the National Safety And Health Grievance Committee.

Article 18 --- Safety and Health Equipment, Accidents and Reports
19.1 Clerical Areas
Any issues that may arise with regard to anti-fatigue mats for clerical areas shall be referred to the appropriate local CHSP Committee for investigation. Should the local CHSP Committee not satisfactorily address the issue, a grievance may be filed and would be sent directly to the National Safety and Health Grievance Committee.

 

[Catatonic]

Speaking of Safety,

Recently in an effort to stick safety to UPS, I mentioned bringing anti-fatigue matting to all clerical stations. Currently, there are many stations in our building that do not have clerical matting. Approximately 30-40.

What I was told, after the request was passed on from FT management into the HSC, that because the request would require matting at all of the stations, no matting would be provided. However, they would give me a portable mat for personal use.

With my knees and back having pain and fatigue, I cannot be alone. Standing on hard cement surfaces and uneven grating for many hours at a time in the same position can have adverse effects on the human body. Thus, infact, there is language in our national agreement! with regards to clerical anti-fatigue mats.

This is what I mean by SAFETY SHAM at UPS. I will certainly rally up as many clerks as possible and RAM safety down UPS's throat. This is completely BS, IMO. That since the company will be forced to give matting to ALL employees, it will NOT adhere and give to only to the one requesting.

Anyone else agree? That ALL CLERKS should have PERMANENT MATTING? And this is a request worthy of going up the ladder with, given the response by the SAFETY NEGLEGENT company?

Try using New balance Ultra inserts. I started using these along with neoprene knee supports about a year ago and it really helped me a lot. Can't blame mine on UPS - 43 years of tennis took it's toll on me.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

I tried those very ones last year, and they're great, unfortunately they must be changed out every month to benefit from them and I personally cannot afford $500/year for insoles.

 

[tieguy]

This is not an effort for me to prove something to UPS, to be a thorn in anyones side. However, I am going to push this to make sure that the employees safety comes first, and that company WALKS THE WALK instead of only talking the talk.

In the light of safety, I believe that:

(1) the company holds the employee responsible for all actions and work methods that THE EMPLOYEE controls, and documents such actions with active work observations (SWM), DOK, etc

(2) the company NEGLECTS the responsibility of holding itself accountable providing safety to the employee, for which the company can control - be it materials within the work area, egress issues, or so on. And these shortcomings are not documented by any source, therefore no accountability remains.

There is a lot of good feeback here much of it relevant to perceptions of how a safety committe works. I'll get shot for this one but let me respond to your concern.

I've seen very few posts here by some pretty outspoken safety critics actually address the true safety process.

Your request for matting may defy how the safety process should work. As a member of the safety committee or a chair you take all the relevant accident and injury information, you analyze it and you then come up with solutions to fix the most frequent problems.

matting for the work area may not be the realm of fixing the most frequent types of accidents and injuries. As such it may not go very far or get much support. It becomes a comfort item that would be nice but won't do much otherwise.As someone who has spent a lot of time on those same floors I can tell you that a good pair of shoes does more good then a mat. We have fought to get away from the "buy me a new toy" safety committees to ones that anaylze and fix common problems.

I think there is a lot of good information here on where we as a company have gone wrong. At the same time I think many of the critics here have to learn how the safety process should work before they rip it apart. Eliminating or reducing the most common accidents and injuries has the greatest benifit to the entire workforce.

 

[trplnkl]

There is a lot of good feeback here much of it relevant to perceptions of how a safety committe works. I'll get shot for this one but let me respond to your concern.

I've seen very few posts here by some pretty outspoken safety critics actually address the true safety process.

Your request for matting may defy how the safety process should work. As a member of the safety committee or a chair you take all the relevant accident and injury information, you analyze it and you then come up with solutions to fix the most frequent problems.

matting for the work area may not be the realm of fixing the most frequent types of accidents and injuries. As such it may not go very far or get much support. It becomes a comfort item that would be nice but won't do much otherwise.As someone who has spent a lot of time on those same floors I can tell you that a good pair of shoes does more good then a mat. We have fought to get away from the "buy me a new toy" safety committees to ones that anaylze and fix common problems.

I think there is a lot of good information here on where we as a company have gone wrong. At the same time I think many of the critics here have to learn how the safety process should work before they rip it apart. Eliminating or reducing the most common accidents and injuries has the greatest benifit to the entire workforce.

Tie, I don't disagree with what you are saying, except for part of the last paragraph, OK just one sentence. As far as ripping the safety process apart goes, one doesn't have to know exactly how the system is supposed to work to recognize that what is happening does not work. Now telling someone how to fix the obviously broken present practices without that knowledge is as dangerous as not fixing what is broken. JMLFRAO.

 

[tieguy]

fair enough . Perhaps I should rephrase or explain. You want to set a clear direction with the safety committe to affect the biggest problems in that center. Before we had co-chaired committees we had committees without any direction. 10 or 15 people showed up. Many of them had their own concern unique to their perspective. If you didn't fix their particular problem right then and there then you lost them.

With todays committees i do think you have to understand what their mission is and then judge them on how successful they are in accomplishing that mission. If you don't keep them focused on fixing the biggest accident and injury problems then you risk having a committee that runs off in different directions and is therefore not effective.

Many people who are critics of safety committees have never thought about what it takes to get a group of people together working towards a common goal. Many of these critics have not thought about what the common goal should be.
If you don't go after the biggest problems first then you tend to fight over special issues and lose direction. The safety committe should not be expected to be the police of safety. Thats not their role and could put them in a combative situation with management and other employees. The biggest part of fixing any safety environment is changing employee behaviour. This means education and memorization. this then means using that education. we get too hung up about memorizing words. I don't want you to be a parrot on a perch I want you to learn the information and then most importantly use it.

 

[soberups]

The biggest part of fixing any safety environment is changing employee behaviour. This means education and memorization. .

The problem with this attitude is that it is nothing more than a way for the company to absolve itself of any responsibility for creating a safe work enviorment by shifting it all back onto the employee.

"Education and memorization" do not cause 3 point belts or power steering to be installed in vehicles. "Education and memorization" do not resolve egress issues, excessive overtime, unfair time allowances, inadequate ventilation, overcrowding, or ergonomic deficiences in equipment and facilites.

"Education and memorization" is nothing more than another way of saying "we have no intention of ever solving these problems, but we will quiz you on some word games and make a big show out of pretending to care about your safety."

 

[UnconTROLLed]

There is a lot of good feeback here much of it relevant to perceptions of how a safety committe works. I'll get shot for this one but let me respond to your concern.

I've seen very few posts here by some pretty outspoken safety critics actually address the true safety process.

Your request for matting may defy how the safety process should work. As a member of the safety committee or a chair you take all the relevant accident and injury information, you analyze it and you then come up with solutions to fix the most frequent problems.

matting for the work area may not be the realm of fixing the most frequent types of accidents and injuries. As such it may not go very far or get much support. It becomes a comfort item that would be nice but won't do much otherwise.As someone who has spent a lot of time on those same floors I can tell you that a good pair of shoes does more good then a mat. We have fought to get away from the "buy me a new toy" safety committees to ones that anaylze and fix common problems.

I think there is a lot of good information here on where we as a company have gone wrong. At the same time I think many of the critics here have to learn how the safety process should work before they rip it apart. Eliminating or reducing the most common accidents and injuries has the greatest benifit to the entire workforce.

Tie, you obviously have more experience and in different areas than I. So I do value your opinion, and understand what you are saying.

However, I do want to add that because most frequent injuries which the company tracks and holds accountable "for review and action" by the safety commitee are not typically injuries that are built upon a period of 5 or 20 or 30 years of working. They are slips and falls, falling packages, muscle strains. The injuries that I read upon our saftey board within pie charts are 70% on our preload, and mostly random haphazard injuries which occur spur of the moment.

That is my opinion from looking at the data, anyway.

Having said that, the injuries which are from "wear and tear" are much more difficult to define and resolve. This is where the matting comes into the equation. Does the company, the safety committee, and anyone else for that matter have raw data regarding long-term injuries , from the long-term effects of not having proper clerical matting over a period of several years, or something else such as no power steering and arm troubles, or any other type of instances?

My trouble, and is sort of an extention of what trplnkl was touching on, also Sober, is that the company is attempting to fix problems that ONLY the employee is responsible for and in control of. However, injuries and more importantly general wear and tear that the company could certainly DO MORE to prevent (having a mat is pretty damn minimal to ask for) is really not addressed because it was NEVER ACCURATELY gauged or represented within the injury "numbers", therefore the safety committee or whomever brings it up, will have the idea shot down because (basically) the numbers don't support it.

Well it's late and I'm starting to ramble, but these are my thoughts anyway.

 

[tieguy]

e

The problem with this attitude is that it is nothing more than a way for the company to absolve itself of any responsibility for creating a safe work enviorment by shifting it all back onto the employee.

yea the problem is most injuries and accidents are honestly a result of bad habits and behaviors. While I've never had an onthejob injury i've broken a lot of toes and fingers away from work. All were my fault. Should I look to blame somebody else or should i learn to change my bad habits?

"Education and memorization" do ou
"Education and memorization" is nothing more than another way of saying "we have no intention of ever solving these problems, but we will quiz you on some word games and make a big show out of pretending to care about your safety."

your example is the classic one. You went into the safety process asking for three point harnesses. To the credit of the organization they did push it up the line and try to get it done. But they did not get it done so you badmouth them every single freaking chance you get. You badmouth the safety committe every single freaking chance you get. The memorization has an honest purpose. We want you to be able to explain how to work safely when performing specific high risk activities. we then want you to use that knowledge and work safely. I think if you are not going to be part of the solution then at least shut your mouth and let those that want to make a difference do so. Stop trying to undermine the rest of us that are trying to make a difference.

I knew a guy once that took the job of shop steward. after a while he gave it up. He found out that the job was not the glorified norma ray type job but one of defending a lot of screw ups. the safety committe is the same kind of grind. You fix problems by education and getting people to change behaviours . Its not by any means an exciting job and results are sometimes slow coming. Those who take the time to understand the chsp process rather then just bad mouth it know that employee behaviors are always the biggest contributor to accidents and injuries.

 

[tieguy]

sleeve I dont disagree wear and tear is hard to measure. I personally never like the mats always afraid I would trip on the edges I guess. .....

 

[UnconTROLLed]

sleeve I dont disagree wear and tear is hard to measure. I personally never like the mats always afraid I would trip on the edges I guess. .....

yeah that has happened to me, funny you say that. maybe that's why they're not replacing them, for the sake of safety!

 

[soberups]

e

your example is the classic one. You went into the safety process asking for three point harnesses. To the credit of the organization they did push it up the line and try to get it done. But they did not get it done so you badmouth them every single freaking chance you get. You badmouth the safety committe every single freaking chance you get. The memorization has an honest purpose. We want you to be able to explain how to work safely when performing specific high risk activities. ....

I have never disputed the fact that we need to memorize and utilize safe work methods.

Unfortunately, for UPS this is where safety begins and ends....with all of the focus on rote memorization of commentaries and word games and none of the focus on bona fide improvements to equipment and facilities.

Tieguy, you and I both want the same thing; a safer UPS. We just disagree on how to get there. You want to do safety "on the cheap" and shift all of the responsibility onto the employee while conveniently overlooking blatantly unsafe equipment and facilities.

I prefer a balanced approach that looks at all aspects of the problem, not just those that wont cost any money to fix.

Given an adequate supply of time and crackers, I could train a parakeet to recite the 10 point commentary and pass a Keter audit. That doesnt make the parakeet a safe driver. But, in UPS's eyes, passing the audit is all that matters.

If you want me....or the other employees....to take UPS safety programs seriously, then your actions need to match your words. When you make a business decision to dispatch a human being in a vehicle that was intentionally designed to allow his head to go thru the windshield during an accident, your actions are telling that employee that his life was not judged to be worth the expense of a 3 point belt and all of the commentaries and acronyms and buzzwords in the world will not change that fact.

 

[soberups]

Lets say I ran a business that required my employees to walk around barefoot while juggling balls in the air.

Lets say that the floor that they walked on was covered with shards of broken glass, and my employees kept cutting their feet on it.

A Safety Committee with any common sense would come to the conclusion that I should spend some money on a broom to sweep the glass up, or maybe provide my employees with some shoes.

A UPS Safety Committee, on the other hand....would ignore the broken glass entirely and deny that a broom or some shoes were even needed. They would instead spend a great deal of time and energy coming up with a Seven Point Broken Glass Avoidance Commentary for the employees to recite and memorize. There would also be the Four Keys to Toughening Up The Feet, and the Nine Point Blood Loss Prevention Habits.

None of this would prevent my employees from cutting their feet up, but at least it would let me get a passing grade on a Keter audit for less than the cost of a broom.