Our favorite safety manager, Trip Fawl is back in the news again - this time for a decision he made when directing a project manager to attend a day of safety in lieu of isolating because he was experiencing symptoms of COVID.
Trip did a good job planning and scheduling the safety training a couple of months in advance. He sent out invites and got commitments back from attendees. Everything was on track until he got a call the night before the training from a project manager saying he had a cough and asking what he should do. The project manager was following company policy in alignment with notifications on the entry door and at the sign in sheet that anyone who has experienced any symptoms of illness from a small sneeze to a high fever and lack of taste and smell is supposed to stay out of the premises and call team safety which Trip is a part of. The same requirements also apply to anyone who even knows someone who may have had COVID symptoms. These requirements make Trips decision regarding the safety training and COVID requirements odd to completely baffling. He told the PM to come into training.
This is where safety intersectionality occurred. All safety training is mandatory and excuses to miss training are highly intolerable. This is in conflict with the company policy on COVID where there is no excuse to be on site or in the office. It's also a bit awkward as this was essentially the safety department's version of the "don't worry about that rule and just get it done" mindset the field is often associated with. Trip was just trying get his safety training done like so many leaders in the trailer are trying to get the daily work done too. Trip's decision to have the PM attend the training would not have gotten a second thought but for the fact that the PM tested positive for COVID and because Trip did not let him quarantine at home, a dozen people were exposed.
When interviewed for this article, Trip tried to play his decision off saying, "We place a high priority on safety training to guarantee that our people are trained to be safe in all situations. If we allow people to miss training, how are they going to know how to be safe on the job? Business, and construction, is all about taking and managing risk. I did, (coughs) herd immunity, the same here."
Filtered through his safety glasses, Trip does not see the similarities between his decision and the potential decision construction pros might make to get something done of stay on schedule. Because of his position in the company, he acts as the lawmaker, law enforcement and judge for all things safety so not much, if anything, will change.
***This was another Fake Construction News article. Stay tuned for more.***