Tag: SafetyCulture
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The Jerk Tax: Is ‘Unpleasantness’ a Valid Training Waiver?
I recently had a student in my class who was, to put it mildly, abusive. He didn’t want to be there. He pressured me to skip the instruction and “just let him write the exam.” He claimed his union allowed it. After the dust settled, I spoke with someone who knew his history. The reason…
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When Dad’s “Nifty Sleeping Bag” Taught Me About Safety Culture.
When I was a little kid, my dad worked as a pipeline superintendent. He had been away from home for months on a project, and the day he finally returned, he crashed hard from pure exhaustion. While he slept, my sister and I decided to go explore his truck. We had missed him, and there…
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They Would Own You
Years ago, long before I was an instructor or a Construction Safety Officer, I witnessed an exchange that changed how I view professional integrity forever. A Supervisor wanted to get his quad on the company payroll to increase his pay from the project. There was one catch: he needed a quad certification. Unwilling to actually…
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Punishing Compliance
We once had a competitor with a strict “No Fail” policy. It didn’t matter how poorly a student performed; they could simply keep retaking the exam until they “passed.” The courses we instruct are designed with intention by very clever people. The material is written at a Grade 5 level, and the exam is at…