Jobsite safety briefings saved my hand last Tuesday

Was framing a wall on a reno in Austin and almost put my hand through a live wire the sparky left dangling. Now I do a full walkthrough with the crew before anyone swings a hammer. Anyone else's GC skipping these?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley28d ago

Bro, I'm so glad you're okay. That's terrifying. A live wire in a wall is no joke, one wrong swing and you're done. I was on a jobsite a few months back where a guy slipped on a wet floor and put his hand right through a window, and it was because nobody bothered to do a quick safety check in the morning. It sounds like your GC is playing a dangerous game by skipping those briefings, because that's exactly how people end up in the hospital. Are you guys union or non-union? I feel like that makes a huge difference in how seriously they take this stuff.

jamie94028d agoProlific Poster

Is it just me or does union vs non-union kinda get overblown here sometimes? I mean, I've worked both sides and honestly seen lazy safety habits on both. Unions can make a big deal about protocol, sure, but I've also been on union sites where guys just go through the motions and don't really check stuff. Non-union crews I've been with were sometimes way more on top of it because they knew one screwup could get the whole crew sent home. Idk, I think it's more about the specific GC and foreman than whether there's a union card in your wallet. The safety briefing thing is a real problem either way, but it feels like blaming the system instead of the people in charge.

cora51827d ago

Always thought those briefings were just time-wasters to be honest. Used to roll my eyes and think it was just someone covering their butt on paper. Then a buddy of mine on a different site took a nasty fall because a ladder was set up on uneven ground nobody pointed out during the morning meeting. That changed my mind real quick. Now I get why you push for them, especially with something like a live wire situation. It is way too easy for one person to miss something that could hurt the whole crew.