American companies treat their employees like children?

A place for members to talk about things outside of Virgin Islands travel.
User avatar
linne
Posts: 1161
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 4:25 pm
Location: Denmark

American companies treat their employees like children?

Post by linne »

My son works in a firm, which is owned by a big American company.

Some days ago they received a mail with warnings about how to maintain a safe workplace in the Holiday season.

Here are some of the warnings:

Keep paper and other combustible materials away from electrical outlets, space heaters or other sources that could cause a fire.

Decorating our cubicles is fun, but hanging decorations from sprinklers and light fixtures can be dangerous and violate applicable fire code.

Take your time and pay attention to where you are going. :D

Wear appropriate footwear with non-skid soles

Remember to keep your car locked and to put valuables in the trunk or take them with you.


Do not leave valuables in your desk or cabinets. Lock all valuable items

Is it common with such warnings from the boss? Just curious!

Linne
Cid
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:18 am
Location: Barre, VT

Post by Cid »

No Linne, unfortunately the world is inhabited by a large population of idiots. That's why they need to tell cigarette smokers that smoking is hazardous to your health right on the package....like someone couldn't figure that out!
Still waiting to return to St. John!
http://facebook.com/cidsinclair
Image
[/url]
djmom
Posts: 1691
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:38 am

Post by djmom »

Not to hijack the thread, but remember when everyone was using those cardboard things inside their car under the windshield to block out the sun and keep the car cool?

We passed them out as promotional items one year and it actually said "Do not use while driving".
"Sponges grow in the ocean...I wonder how much deeper it would be if that didn't happen."
DELETED

Post by DELETED »

DELETED
User avatar
toes in the sand
Posts: 994
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by toes in the sand »

Unfortunately some of these warnings, although seemingly silly, are necessary. I was in my dentist's waiting room and noticed that they had halloween decorations hanging from the sprinkler head. I pointed it out to the receptionists and they didn't think it was a problem.
"got a drink in my hand and my toes in the sand"
jmq
Posts: 2373
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:32 am
Location: NJ

Post by jmq »

"Failure to warn" is a lucrative source of finding legal liablity in the good ol' U.S.of A.

Plus, people get complacent and do dumb things that jeopardize the safety of themselves and others, and, the safety dept. has to justify their existence.
Last edited by jmq on Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
DELETED

Post by DELETED »

DELETED
User avatar
liamsaunt
Posts: 5968
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:08 pm

Post by liamsaunt »

djmom, thanks for the morning laugh!

linne, yes, warnings like that are pretty normal around holiday time. My office gets something similar every year. Well, not the footwear thing, but the fire code reminder.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Post by mindehankins »

JMQ....risk management? LOL. I was going to say the same thing! And I'd add to that, that fewer and fewer people seem to have any sense of personal responsibility to the employer, or the facility. People won't bend down to pick a candy wrapper up or put a safety cone over a spill they come across.
But your answers are the primary reason we have to tell people the obvious!
User avatar
toes in the sand
Posts: 994
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by toes in the sand »

I work in a chemical lab environment where hazardous chemicals are commonplace. It is not uncommon to see female colleagues working in open toed shoes and others in athletic shoes even though lab rules requiring steel toed shoes are posted and reminded on a monthly basis. You should see the looks I get when I call someone on the violation during a safety inspection.
"got a drink in my hand and my toes in the sand"
California Girl

Post by California Girl »

I know most companies regularly remind people not to use space heaters under their desks at work. I've always been real cautious with having one under my desk where allowed, but even so, I have gone home and left it on a time or two.

But no one ever reminded me about safe footwear in an office environment (other than maybe they don't allow you to wear flip-flops to work).
DELETED

Post by DELETED »

DELETED
California Girl

Post by California Girl »

Oh SJ... we Californians have very thin blood. Space heaters go on when it drops below 70! LOL!! :lol:
jmq
Posts: 2373
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:32 am
Location: NJ

Post by jmq »

minde - yup, see below comment if you need further proof...

toes - an effective way to enforce use of safety gear is to write up the supervisor or dept mgr of the violator and have those warnings be a metric in the manager's performance evaluation. THEN they'll get the people in their area to shape up pretty quickly.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Wakey
Posts: 769
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 1:08 pm
Location: Atlanta/New Orleans

Post by Wakey »

jmq wrote:"Failure to warn" is a lucrative source of finding legal liablity in the good ol' U.S.of A.

Plus, people get complacent and do dumb things that jeopardize the safety of themselves and others, and, the safety dept. has to justify their existence.
Thread winner.

For every ridiculous warning sticker you remove from a new product, you can bet your arse that some fool made a million bucks for doing something stupid.
Post Reply