One of those so-called reality shows takes too cavalier an attitude about safety, according to a blogger in the general media. If that’s the case, we want to take the issue one step further: Do the media’s messages harm attempts to increase workplace safety?
Marc Hirsh blogs on National Public Radio’s Web site that CBS-TV’s Survivor has been “dangling … the prospect of people getting hurt as enticement to watch the show.”
The evidence he presents:
- A recent episode description: Injuries threaten to send two castaways home.
- The first injury took place just 17 minutes into the current season during the first round of the first challenge. Stephanie LaGrossa dislocated her shoulder.
- Host Jeff Probst’s comment about LaGrossa: “We have our first injury.”
- Later, Probst “gleefully” recounted the injuries suffered in the challenge.
And all the challenges on Survivor happen without safety gear required in professional sports — or in the workplace.
Hirsh also opines that “injuring yourself on the show stopped being a sign that you were stupid or clumsy or just plain doing something wrong and turned into a badge of honor.”
So there you have it: bodily injury as a badge of honor mixed with an attitude of “come on, tough it out.”
And that brings us to workplace safety. Have you ever encountered this situation? One worker, a “tough guy” with an “I-don’t-need-safety-gear-it’s-for-wimps” attitude, discourages others from using PPE.
Unfortunately, safety pros tell us that type of worker isn’t as rare as they’d like.
And, as the title of Hirsh’s article puts it, it’s “all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”
How do you counter the “tough guy” attitude when it comes to getting employees to wear PPE and follow safety rules? Can we do better, at work and at home, to encourage better safety attitudes? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.