Addressing the Elephant in the Room

There is an elephant in the room that plays a role in the safety culture of our industry. That elephant needs to be exposed, even though it’s going to be tough to do.

Based on a less-than-official count, 12 to 14 lineworkers have lost their lives on the job over the past six months. The estimate is “less than official” because no dependable central recordkeeping authority exists other than OSHA, and OSHA can’t post an incident until they have either closed the investigation or formally cited the employer.

Some of you reading this have experienced a co-worker being killed on the job. In most cases, there is an emotional period afterward during which we process the event, grieve our lost brother or sister, and feel a great deal of concern and compassion for their family. But after a short time, that person becomes a singular part of the work location’s unfortunate history. I know there are exceptions to that rule. Still, a deceased employee’s co-workers are rarely privy to everything that takes place after a lineworker is fatally injured.

A Unique Perspective
I have a unique perspective on deadly industry incidents. For the past 25 years, I have served as an industry expert in both OSHA and civil litigations, some of which didn’t begin until three to five years after the incident. In each case, I examine every exhibit related to both the incident itself and the post-incident investigation. I review the employer’s investigation, the OSHA investigation, the coroner’s report and the reports from local law enforcement. I also investigate the incident myself. Lastly, I compare all this data to statutory safety requirements, consensus standards and best practices, as well as the employer’s training and safety programs, records and manuals.

At the time I am writing this, I am keeping files for more than 40 fatal industry incidents. “Fatal industry incidents” is a more palatable way of referring to lineworkers who were killed on the job. I want to offer iP readers details about all 40-plus incidents so that they are shared industrywide, helping to prevent them from ever happening again. But as a consultant and expert witness, I routinely sign nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements that are in effect throughout litigation and into perpetuity. Here is a tip, though: If you really want to know what happened in a specific case and have the name of the injured or deceased worker, you can search for it on OSHA’s Fatality Inspection Data page (www.osha.gov/fatalities).

Very few employers or employee groups know how to react when a fatal incident occurs at their worksite. Defensive tactics are one thing I have found common in every instance. Obviously, as an employer, it is a gut-punch to have an employee die on the job. I have witnessed heads of companies in tears during post-incident factual reviews. But they still have companies to lead, so decisions must be made about what to say and do. Then there are the co-workers. It is human nature to want to defend the memory of the deceased and be sympathetic and caring toward their family.

Yet time and again, I have found myself on the witness stand, sharing pointed observations about fatal industry incidents with both plaintiff and defense attorneys. I use industry standards to back up my observations, explaining the exact errors people made that resulted in death. Families of the deceased are almost always in the gallery during my testimony, listening. Two things in particular bother me about these circumstances. First, I know the family is being forced to endure the pain of their loss once again. Second, it is possible that the worker’s death and the resulting litigation could have been avoided entirely if the industry had honestly, publicly confronted its bad actions and actors.

And that brings us back to the elephant in the room.

Problematic Actions and Behaviors
Most readers are familiar with the idiom, but for those who aren’t, “the elephant in the room” refers to a significant if not obvious issue that people are reluctant to address because the discussion will almost certainly be uncomfortable. The specific elephant I’m referring to in these pages is our general refusal to candidly discuss problematic industry actions and behaviors – and it is hindering us from preventing incidents that seriously injure or kill workers.

On social media, I constantly see videos of crews doing stupid stuff. I decided to start a personal PowerPoint collection of photos snipped from these videos, which I use in my consulting work when explaining to lawyers what we do out on the line and the things that were done incorrectly in our cases. In less than a year, I have gathered 75 images of dangerous work methods, even if some of them don’t technically violate any OSHA rules. You might be curious about how I chose those images. Clearly, I think the actions in the videos are wrong, but I was primarily motivated to select the images because each of them features an activity that also killed a lineworker in one of my many files. Keep in mind that these instances aren’t obscure in nature; they routinely occur in the field and bear repeated responsibility for avoidable incidents. Several of my colleagues who also serve as litigation consultants have the same opinion and experience as I do. And while I have commented on these social media videos, my input was not appreciated by numerous industry workers. That disrespect is precisely how the elephant in the room continues to endanger our workforce.

Conclusion
Some companies and employees have taken on the very serious work of honestly evaluating incidents without any preconceived notions or hidden agendas. I have attended dozens of meetings with utilities and contractors during which honest conversations were had about what happened and how they got to that point. The discussions led to subtle changes in training, protocols, rules and accountability that will almost certainly have a lasting impact on the safety and health of the workforce.

We can grieve the loss of an employee and be sympathetic toward their family while also telling the truth about what happened. These actions are not mutually exclusive. Yet rarely have I investigated a fatal incident that did not involve co-workers who were reticent to share their versions of what happened. Some have even gone as far as covering for mistakes that were made.

The bottom line is that it does no one any good if we don’t learn the real lessons that an honest incident evaluation can provide. We also do a disservice to the deceased worker’s memory when we take a less-than-candid approach to the investigation. The only positive outcome from an on-the-job fatality is ensuring that it can never happen again – because we learned lessons by being completely truthful and then passed the lessons on to the next generation of lineworkers.

About the Author: After 25 years as a transmission-distribution lineman and foreman, Jim Vaughn, CUSP, has devoted the last 28 years to safety and training. A noted author, trainer and lecturer, he is a senior consultant for the Institute for Safety in Powerline Construction. He can be reached at jim@ispconline.com.