Reprinted from the ACJ - July, 1994
By now, whether we want to admit it or not, we have all become experts in OSHA compliance management. Our safety skills are top notch and our clean, efficient shops are showcases for the industry. Skilled workers perform only the necessary repairs in a timely and cost effective manner. We are all just several credits away from earning a degree in industrial hygiene.
But still on occasion we need a reminder of the do's and don'ts when it comes to regulatory compliance and safety. In past articles, we have spent considerable time discussing the "do's," practices and procedures designed to minimize risks and safety hazards around the shop.
Today we will look at the flip side. We will discuss what to do if you like to live on the wild side. You see every day as an adventure to live through, every regulation as a challenge to be met head on and destroyed.
Though the following helpful hints are aimed at regulatory compliance, they also address the true purpose of OSHA: a safe working environment. So while most of us dread a visit from OSHA, this is for you brave souls, you adventurous types, those of you willing to walk the edge.
Here is my Top Ten List of ways to get the attention of your OSHA inspector or industrial safety folks.
10. Continue offering, in your waiting room, the chocolate covered solder scrap to your customers.
9. Open up your boilout tank for "Hot Tub Night" on Fridays.
8. Tell them MSDS are for sissies.
7. Promote your all-the-solder-you-can-eat diet plan.
6. Institute a "Customer Opens His Own Radiator Cap" policy.
5. Fill in OSHA form 200 with bogus serious injuries and deaths and then fail to post it.
4. Go for the world record for blood lead level.
3. Remove all the machine guards prior to his visit and then pull the "severed finger in the box" trick.
2. Set up a test tank Kool-Aid stand.And the number one way to get the attention of the OSHA safety inspectors...
1. Have a torch ready, fill a balloon with acetylene and ask the inspector to "pull my finger."
OK, so I got a little carried away. Once you start thinking that way it's hard to stop. I'm sure you thought up a few yourself while you were reading this.
But now here is the big disclaimer. It's only a joke! Don't take this seriously! I'm only kidding! The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine, the author or any other sane individual who wants to continue in the radiator repair business.
So let's pull our tongues out of our cheeks, put back on our safety glasses, gloves and respirators, and get back to the business of safe, reliable radiator repair. And please don't show this to the OSHA guy.
The above article was written by David M. Brown, Chief Engineer of Johnson Manufacturing Company, Inc. and is published by JOHNSON with the expressed approval of the National Automotive Radiator Service Association and the Automotive Cooling Journal. Other reproduction or distribution of this information is forbidden without the written consent of JOHNSON and NARSA/ACJ. All rights reserved.
JOHNSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY
114 Lost Grove Road / PO Box 96 / Princeton, Iowa 52768-0096
Phone 563-289-5123 or Fax 563-289-3825