Are you a bad actor?

by Clair Urbain

In a past editorial job, I had the opportunity to work with the Environmental Protection Agency about farm chemicals and groundwater pollution. It was an eye-opening experience, getting to talk with scientists and policy makers who had forgotten more about how groundwater migrates than I would ever learn.

As we talked about the alleged effects crop chemicals have on groundwater, they immediately cited “bad actors” – crop chemicals – that moved readily through the soil profile and, under the right circumstances, contaminated groundwater supplies for years to come.

These chemicals, which are now banned or severely restricted, precipitated sweeping changes that affected farming practices and in some cases how people in rural areas lived.

Unsafe habits equal bad actors

Thinking about May being Safety Awareness month, it came to me that the construction industry has its own set of bad actors, and unfortunately, it’s not a chemical; it’s us.

We’re bad actors because construction continues to lead the country in job-related injuries and fatalities. It’s gained the attention of OSHA teams for years, and as OSHA continues to focus on those jobs and areas where construction-related injuries and fatalities occur, it means greater oversight and possibly tougher restrictions that could affect how we do our jobs.

Fortunately for us, getting out of the “bad actor” category isn’t a matter of having talent and taking a few acting lessons. It’s a matter of education and dedication to complete work safely.

Part of that can be done be creating a safety culture that encourages safe working habits and uses peer pressure to discourage dangerous habits. Like the management team featured in this issue’s user profile, strong leadership in this area can reduce the exposure to unsafe work habits and, in turn, accidents.

OSHA recently announced it would continue to monitor 4,000 worksites where injuries and fatalities are the most common. Given construction’s unfortunate accident record, rest assured that jobsites will be on that hit list. Based on its findings, it may develop even more stringent work rules for construction.

While that sounds like more expense to the contractor and ultimately the customer, Larry Guilbault, safety director at DooleyMack Constructors, Inc. put it best: “You can’t pour concrete cheap enough to make up for poor safety practices.”

Granted, safety, like everything else on a jobsite, is a moving target. Working conditions and workers change almost daily on some sites. This constant change as work progresses may make a work practice that’s safe today terribly unsafe tomorrow.

Good actors know how to think on their feet. They focus not just on their lines, but on the character they are portraying and how their acting affects the audience. They know how to save a fellow actor who may have dropped or forgot a line.

In construction, we must become better actors. We must know our lines; encourage others to do the same and help them remember safe work habits when they forget.

Published in the May 2004 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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