Many of us laboring for the nation's railroads are truly concerned about the safety of ourselves and our experienced and inexperienced co-workers. Because of our experience and unique position to observe how risk and safety play out in the field, we can perhaps be considered the real safety experts. Our bosses also claim to be concerned about safety although their committment at times seems to be less than ours. When they are under the gun to get the trains moving or when there is not enough money in the budget to provide a totally safe work environment, then you will find them compromising on safety. These compromises can be viewed as the result of a realistic assessment of business realities if you are a manager, or as a form of hypocrisy if you are on the receiving end of a risky situation.
As an example, consider the following real but surreal Sup. Bulletin issued somewhere in UP Land:
Superintendent Bulletin #102
"To enhance safety on the service unit, newer employees will be identified with distinctive hats
while in the field."
Employees with less than one year, fluorescent Orange hat.
Employees with less than three years fluorescent Green hat.
Having colluded with a labor organization (our beloved UTU, sigh) to implement a cheap but inadequate training program for newhires, the mighty UP is looking for a cheap fix. Between an expensive training program that really prepares newhires for independent service or buying a few cheap fluorescent hats, you know what they are going to go with. We agree with the anonymous brother who penned the following, and ask our union to do the cheap and painless thing. Simply oppose a cheap measure that doesn't address the real safety issue:
Discussion:
Why is there a need to identify employees by using different colored hats? The employee already knows he is new, other crewmembers know he is new, so to whom are they identifying themselves to?
The new employee already has enough to worry about, he does not need to wear a scarlet letter to be identified.
How does this "safety hat" promote safety, if in fact the issue is SAFETY?
I think that this is unfair treatment of the new hires and newer employees. Setting these employees apart from others is profiling and identifies employees to management only. Is this putting a target on the forehead of the employee? What will be next, if your on the discipline system will you now have to wear a black hat? Where does it end, what other identifiers will be put on UP employees?
I think if the Union lets this happen, we will be opening up pandora's box. This hat issue undermines the true essence of safety and does nothing for my safety or yours.
Recommendation:
The Union opposes these safety hats and. This is a bad idea, it does nothing to improve safety and degrades our members.
12:18:27 PM
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