The Official Bulletin - Quarter 2, 2019

By Kent Jorgensen,
Chairman, Safety Committee
The best answer is we, the employees,
let our bosses know there
did anything about it, and someone was more leverage has to be applied.
THERE’S
is a problem.
We are the qualified people. We etly stepped away, went to the person in won’t fix it, is taking long time, or
AN
going to
APP
get hurt.
FOR
The new member
THAT!
qui-
n Call your Local. If the company
have been hired because By: we Joe know Aldridge, what Paul charge Dean, and Jr., mentioned Kent Jorgensen, that the Sheila sawdust Pruden, Eddie Raymond, Alan
just to put a little more pressure to
we are doing. Much of the
Rowe--IATSE
training our
Craft was Advancement making the Program floor slippery. (ICAP) members The person
charge said, “You’re right, go get a They can help push the process.
get it fixed tell the steward or BA.
employers want us to have is identifying admin.iatse-intl.org/BulletinRegister.aspx
hazards. And, the easiest way to let the broom and sweep it up.” Problem solved.
n Call the IATSE Safety Hotline. If you
employer know is to tell them. Tell your I know that was easy. I know it
feel nothing is being done, or you
department head, tell the key, tell the doesn’t always work that way. I can be
fear retribution call the Hotline. An
forewoman, tell somebody who can do naïve and look at things through rose
operator will ask some questions.
something about the problem.
colored glasses. But, the most common,
You can talk to an IATSE safety
I know there is the worry that you will best way to get a hazard taken care of is
member. You can leave a number
and have someone get back to
be labeled a trouble maker, lose your job, illustrated in the above story.
or not get hired again. And, while retaliation
certainly happens and is difficult to in charge are not always willing to fix
Because employers and other people
you. IATSE Safety Hotline: 844-IA
AWARE, 844-422-9273.
make right, experience has shown that things and not very many employers
n Use the IATSE Safety App. The Safety
App has a feature that allows you
it is not the norm. Employers typically have put a health and safety program in
don’t want to see anyone hurt. Whether place, here are some of the ways you can
to report a hazard. A message will be
it’s because they don’t want to be fined report a hazard at work.
sent to someone that can help you
by OSHA, they don’t want the liability, or n In a dream world, run by safety professionals,
a worker follows their
with your issue. It is a free app.
they just don’t want to hurt someone, telling
The important point is that for a
your employer about a hazard is the employer’s procedure for reporting hazard to get corrected, the employer has
easiest way to get it corrected.
a hazard. Tell your department head, to be made aware of it. As our employers
A young, freshly sworn-in member they report up the line to the person
are becoming more corporate, they
takes a call to rig a show with a couple who can take prompt, corrective action,
rely on us to find and report hazards.
dozen other people. While waiting for
and the hazard is fixed. And, a Avoiding accidents is good for business.
the call to start a bunch of the crew report should be made to the Local. It saves them money and makes their
are complaining that the sawdust left n Real world: Tell people in the company
insurance companies happier. I person-
on the smooth concrete floor was really
to try and get it fixed. Some ally don’t care why employers choose to
slippery. They kept complaining companies have hotlines or other be safer. If it means IATSE members go
that they’d worked this show before, and way to make a report. Most of the home at the end of the day the same way