I was approached by my Plant Manager not long ago on a Saturday. "Sean, I was in a meeting the other day and your name popped into my head." -Well Don, usually that means you have more work for me, so what's up? "Well, with Eugenia leaving we need someone to lead safety and I think you'd be perfect for the job. Nobody here understands safety at the floor level better than you." -Oh, because I have so much free time already, Don.
Thus began my latest adventure in life. So Don talked to my boss Sal, and his boss, the VP Bill. Monday morning Bill calls me to his office. We had a good long talk and in the end I said simply, no problem on one condition. You, Don, Sal and myself sit down and discuss our (meaning Sal and I) salaries, because if I'm taking on this extra responsibility so is he. "Sean, are you telling me you won't take this position if we don't have this talk?" -Yes Bill, that is exactly what I'm saying. "Agreed!"
So, Wednesday of that week I was officially made Safety Director. Bill was nice enough to assure me that I'm not in this alone. So why do I feel like I'm moving a mountain of rocks alone and at any moment the whole mountain could come tumbling down on top of me? The very next day Line 1 caught on fire. Destroyed property, evacuated the building, found faulty fire extinguishers, learned we have no fire team, no fire training, no breathing devices and no MSDS sheets for a product we've been making a year. Did I mention all the Corporate Guru's from New York happened to be in the building.
So, my second day as Safety Director I find myself in a Safety Response Review meeting for a fire we just had with Don (plant manager), Bill and all of their bosses. We created a list... THINGS THAT WENT RIGHT and THINGS THAT WENT WRONG. One column we were able to list 2 items. The other column we were able to list 16 items. Who wants to guess which column was which?
I spent the rest of the week dealing with the aftermath. Fire Marshalls, Health Inspectors, Alarm Companies, Fire extinguisher companies, Sprinkler companies, not to mention the damaged line, which is for a very specific customer who tells us he will start running short of product in 10 days. We are his only supplier.
So the next week (last week) I sign myself up for a three day OSHA training course. Come to find out it is actually a 12 day course, so I still have 8 days to go. By day 2 of the course I am already overwhelmed. It amazes me how far out of compliance we are. The training ended on Thursday and I've had safety nightmares every night since then. It as if my mind wants to work through the mountain I have to move when I'm sleeping. I end up waking up numerous times throughout the night.
Tomorrow is my first day back to work since the training. I think I need a good sit down talk with Don about what he expects and what I expect. Than I need to figure out how to start tearing down the mountain. And I still need to have that talk about salaries. No way I'm keeping this beast at my current pay.
