Example Rushing the Healing Process

I was responsible at the corporate level for a project safety manager at a remote construction site in the Midwest. This project safety manager was injured one day on the job. He slipped on some plastic and fell, breaking a bone in his ankle. The subsequent trip to the emergency room resulted in numerous screws installed to keep the bone together, along with a cast. When I first received details of the incident over the phone, I assumed that this accident would be a lost time accident. After all, it seemed from the description that the injured person would probably be in the hospital for several days. 

All of the different responsibilities and work tasks that this person was supposed to do were discussed. After looking these tasks over, it appeared that this team member could provide a substantial service performing sitdown work at his desk. At this site, one of his jobs was orienting new workers, which took almost two hours and was needed almost daily. Besides the site orientation, this person completed a variety of paperwork on a daily basis. 

When f think back to this example, f sometimes wonder if this situation added to the development of the safety culture or detracted from it. More than a year later, some team members were discussing 

No one wanted to see this site s record blemished, but at the same time, no one wants the modified-duty person to come in on a stretcher. As it turned out, the injured person fought vigorously to be allowed to stay on the job. This injured person was an out-of-towner who would not really be able to do anything but watch TV by himself when he went home anyway. He advised that he was in no pain and was highly motivated to do whatever he could to contribute to his job. He was able to keep his leg elevated perfectly by placing it in the drawer of his desk. Transportation to and from the job for this person inconvenienced no one and did not affect the project in terms of cost or time. The doctor agreed that the injured person could in fact perform work tasks within the restriction and would probably not be affected by the prescription medications except for operating equipment or a vehicle. 

Some personal issues seemed to motivate this person more than most injured people. First and foremost, he was a seasoned safety professional with more than 20 years of experience. He did not want the embarrassment of seeing his name affect the perfect safety record. He was determined not to allow this injury to be lost time. The injured person also thought that the accident was in many ways his own fault. Certainly, slippery conditions contributed to this accident, but the accident victim felt that if the same fall occurred to a person who was more agile, younger, in better physical condition, and weighed less, then the broken bone might not have occurred. 

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