31st May 2011
Working safely is like breathing - if you don't, you die.
~Author Unknown
Health and safety – whose responsibility?
I was standing near a construction site where a worker was cutting a granite slab. I could not stand the sound. I was about twenty feet away and I moved out. I noticed that that the worker was not wearing an ear plug. I checked with the website and I came to know that a chain saw will make a noise of 100 decibels and that if a worker is allowed to spend more than 30 minutes per day at about 100 decibels, it will cause hearing impairment. This worker spends about seven hours cutting granite slabs!
The other day, I was noticing a motorbike rider without wearing his helmet. Of course, he did have a helmet – safely placed in front of him on the petrol tank! On the top of it, he was talking over his mobile phone with his telephone instrument held between his left shoulders and ears! I am sure he will be very proud about his time management skills of using his travel time effectively! I am also sure that he should have been practicing this skill for a very long time, since he was driving his bile pretty fast!
I am sure you would have noticed car drivers without wearing seat belt and the co passengers equally not comfortable with wearing a seat belt unless they are forced by law and punishment. It is also common sight in some places to see very young children driving a two wheelers which they are not allowed to do so under law, not to talk about children driving a car!
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was very proud that he `managed' to go see his friend in the critical care unit of a hospital by tipping the staff there. He was very proud that he was the only person to have gone and seen his friend, since the hospital is known for its strictness in not allowing anyone into the critical care unit!
All these made me to think why these people do what they do? Does it occur to them that health and safety cannot be enforced by others and that it is the personal responsibility of each and every one?
Next time when you are about to break any safety and health regulation, think about this article? Will you?
N C Sridharan
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