HI Dave,

On Sat 2038-Apr-10 06:45, DAVE DRUM (1:261/1381) wrote to RICHARD WEBB:



 RW> Yep, seen that one .  What part of ILlinois you from
 RW> DAve?

DD> Springfield, the state capitol. Right in the shadow of the steal
DD> mill.  
I grew up in Burlington, Iowa, stomped around western
ILlinois quite a bit, grandparents were from Henderson
county.



 RW> rules my lady and I have promulgated for our business, and
 RW> many which have to do with job site safety, i.e. wear the
 RW> hard hat when people are working overhead, etc.  HE did the
 RW> "see, I told ya" bit.  But, the employee has an option, use
 RW> the safety equipment, or look elsewhere for employment.

DD> Eggs Ackley! I have a sunset gig driving a delivery van for Auto
DD> Zone (to eke out me pittance from Social Security) which is really a
DD> gravy job. Lots of windshield time, listen to my favourite music on
DD> the radio and no one in my face unless I choose to let them be. I
DD> follow their rules ... well, except going through drive-throughs for
DD> a soft drink or snack. But, I wear my seat belt religiously and
DD> never, ever speed (I'm paid hourly). That isn't always the way I
DD> work it in my own car.   Bv)= 
Can understand that.  Kathy and I are very safety conscious, even with our
own vehicle, etc.  WE believe that the best
way to deal with the insurance companies is to never have to file a claim.



 RW> wHen I managed commercial kitchen and restaurant facilities
 RW> I was proud of an injury free workplace record, and intended to keep
 RW> that string unbroken.  THe first lecture a new hire
 RW> got from me was on workplace safety.

DD> It's a matter of business viability. If you have a good safety
DD> record as an employer your liability and worker's comp rates should
DD> reflect that. Auto Zone is so big as to be self-insured. And they
DD> certainly don't want to be paying out big and avoidable worker's
DD> comp claims.

YEp, and we're a very small business, barely getting by.  I
can't afford the grief, and the safety rules are essentially written in
stone, and I tell hires that.  Most of our hires
are by the job, a day at a time, and I let them know
straight out that we provide safety equipment, and they
*will* use it, no questions asked, no excuses.

DD> But, in the end it comes down to the gummint not having a proper
DD> place in protecting supposedly responsible adults from their own
DD> stupidity. 

Agree, and have always felt that way.  IF you have to
protect a person from himself then you've already got a
problem.  wHEn helpers come to help me with ham radio
antenna work, they're volunteers.  If you climb my tower,
you'll use your climbing belt or mine, doesn't matter, but
you'll use one.  IF you use yours, I insist that I watch you climb up a few
rungs, belt off to the tower then kick your
feet off the tower and see if the belt holds you.  IF it
does, climb away.  IF not, you won't fall far enough, or
hard enough to really injure yourself.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+