The real voices of front-line safety professionals

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On 2016-12-03, Lao Mao’s safety-focused website published a series of original articles regarding the \"Fengcheng 11.24 accident\". Thank you all; your attention is the best driving force for safe development. The following are excerpts from netizens’ comments; surely one of them will resonate with you! @My university major was Safety Engineering, and after graduating I started working in safety management roles at construction companies. It’s been just over 5 years now, and I’m becoming increasingly fearful; my courage is waning. To be honest, after working for several years and seeing the current state of safety practices in China, I can only sigh in disappointment. At present, all I can do is manage the projects under my responsibility well, ensuring that no safety accidents occur within my area of oversight. I can’t change this unfavorable situation, but I can make a difference in the projects that are under my control. I come from a farming family; my father used to work on construction sites as well. I feel deep sympathy for the migrant workers who work on construction sites today. The only thing I can do is use my knowledge and skills to ensure their safety! @Hong Hao↓↓↓ Chinese people like to pass the buck, and they are especially good at doing that. What exactly is the concept of safety? Perhaps many people don’t understand it, but that doesn’t stop them from categorizing all problems under the term \"safety.\" You say that machine tools should be equipped with protective covers to ensure that employees are not harmed, and he says that’s a safety issue... Think about it: what exactly is a safety issue? There are no such things as safety issues; these are production problems – problems arising from the fact that production equipment fails to protect employees’ health. However, what the Chinese are best at is finding a reason to attribute their problems to that reason—and happeningly, that reason is safety! So we need to pay attention to this! All these reasons are related to safety, so **it’s important – local authorities take it seriously, and businesses as well! How to pay attention? How to implement it? We established an agency called the General Administration of Work Safety, with local work safety bureaus under it, and enterprises also have safety management departments! That’s great~ Safety is being given priority~ Someone will be fully responsible for this~ If something goes wrong, your head will be on the line... Let’s think again about what exactly the problem is It’s a production issue! It’s because the production equipment doesn’t meet the requirements... Why take such a long route, go through all those detours, only to fail to solve the problem? Isn’t this exactly a matter of responsibility? Shifting responsibility? Leaders, your ears are covered and your eyes are closed as well… You are people with wide experience; have you ever seen foreigners having security agencies? In Europe, for human safety, turn to the Ministry of Labor; for environmental safety, turn to the Ministry of Environment; for equipment safety, turn to the relevant industries and enterprises! Is it possible that something so obvious, when applied in China, becomes a means for these people to shirk their responsibilities? Keep your eyes sharp and your ears open! For China’s security and for the happiness of everyone, let’s be more honest… @Haogey↓↓↓ Often, when they see the words ‘safety management’, most people think it’s something related to safety supervision departments and safety officers, and that it has nothing to do with them. What’s even more ridiculous is that the group held an accident report meeting; aside from the people from the safety supervision department who were listening and taking notes, most members of other departments were busy with their own tasks. Once a document containing the word ‘security’ is received, it is sent to the Safety Supervision Department. The inspections related to information security facilities are frustrating and annoying; the Safety Supervision Department is tasked with leading these efforts, but as a result, the information department ends up playing a passive role. I think it would be better to abolish the safety supervision departments; that way, each specialized department can focus on what it’s supposed to handle. @〖Dou Nao Yi Jiao〗↓↓↓ I also work in the field of safety management for construction projects. As soon as I started working at my company, the project manager said that while workers work for 10 hours, I have to stay on site for 9.5 hours; while other colleagues leave work, I still need to remain on site to oversee things. There are still many workers on site who work without wearing safety belts; even when they are fined, they don’t listen. Once a worker was fined, and at night those workers blocked his door and almost beat him. In the end, the manager turned a blind eye to it as well, without giving any explanation. Can it be said that security personnel don’t worry? I find myself being extremely worried; every time large items need to be lifted, I have to personally check the lifting points and make sure they are lifted safely. So what are the technicians and managers doing at such times? I don’t know. Security personnel are people who do good; it’s impossible to work in this industry if **every time an accident occurs, the blame is shifted onto those who do good. @Small packages↓↓↓ Safety personnel are a vulnerable group in enterprise management; they hold positions that do not generate direct economic benefits. When a safety accident occurs and losses are incurred, corporate leaders instinctively think, what’s the use of safety then? I ask, are we merely the entities responsible for supervision and management? Have the corporate leaders, who are supposed to bear dual responsibilities for both production and safety in all positions where such responsibilities are required, actually addressed the various problems we reported time and again? ! We endure in silence, telling ourselves that our profession is sacred – that through our work we can identify potential hazards, prevent accidents, and save lives. Yet the cruelty of reality is already harming our own families. May the safety person be well! @LD↓↓↓As soon as an accident occurs, the safety officer is immediately held fully responsible; whenever an accident happens, it’s assumed that it’s the safety officer’s fault. Working in such conditions means living in constant fear and anxiety – how can one possibly feel a strong sense of loyalty to this job? Only after an accident occurs do rights and responsibilities become relatively equal. When departments blindly hold safety officers accountable and all those responsible are held to account accordingly, then safety professionals are no longer made to bear the blame; they need not walk on thin ice at all times, nor do they have to constantly try to avoid legal risks, and they can then develop a sense of loyalty to this industry! @Toads↓↓↓ The current state of safety management in our country is such that people only talk about it; no one takes any action, with only the safety officers concerned about it, while everyone else ignores it. After an accident, meetings are held, special inspections are conducted, and there are wave after wave of efforts to identify potential hazards. All the hassle ultimately only affects the safety managers at the grassroots level; no one really pays any attention to it. . This accident was caused by the rush to meet deadlines and the failure to assign clear responsibilities; were the safety managers willing to make changes in order to prevent such things from happening? ? ? If nothing goes wrong, it’s highly unrealistic to expect your safety officers to go and stop it. He started working in safety in 2002; for a time, when Li Yizhong was in charge, it seemed that the spring of safety management was upon us. More than 10 years have passed,, the sound of the waves remains the same, just as it was. . In which unit is safety not marginalized? Those in charge of safety live in constant worry and stress, with no chance to exert their efforts. @Rectification↓↓↓ The current safety management model needs to be reformed; nowadays, safety inspectors have become omnipotent, tasked with handling and overseeing everything. For example, for major operations, safety inspectors are required to be present, while technical personnel seem to focus only on the technical aspects; safety seems to have nothing to do with them. There is homework to be done at night, and safety supervisors must be present; but what are the professional managers doing? @Gao Yongqiang↓↓↓ The title of the article is enough to show the severity of the issue; this is a profession that involves real risks. If there were other options, I would never do this job again (that’s the truth). I have been in this position for almost twenty-five years now; my supervisors have always recognized my work every year, but my year-end bonus has always been average. Very few people in the safety field are promoted, yet it is said everywhere that safety is extremely important. My experience: To be a competent safety professional, one must first have technical knowledge to back oneself up, as well as absolute and strong support from the management ； Secondly, one must also have a strong management attitude and a sense of service ； Finally, one needs a healthy body and quick thinking (which is necessary for regular checks at the production site), as well as the ability to act in a humble manner (by respecting others). That’s all! @Zheng Hong↓↓↓ Just graduated from school and works as a safety officer. She has encountered many situations where she was powerless to do anything. Research and production always take precedence over safety measures, but they don’t realize that safety is the foundation of all work. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand what the future holds for those who work in safety. In case of an accident, it’s the safety officers who bear the brunt of the consequences. It truly seems like working in safety relies on luck. I still feel very upset. How can we ensure that safety officers are treated fairly? @~Rui Shui~↓↓↓ The reason I’ve left the engineering industry and returned to work in a factory now is that management is too lax: there is layer upon layer of subcontracting, management is outsourced instead of being handled directly, and various other problematic practices exist. Previously, I worked as a safety supervision engineer and had to deal with both state-owned enterprises such as China State Construction and China Railway, as well as private companies. State-owned enterprises actually have fairly standardized management procedures, but the actual construction and installation work is delegated to labor teams; sometimes their policies are difficult for those on the ground to understand and implement, and in some cases they end up being controlled by those labor teams. I often joked with them, saying that they’re like shells with nothing inside. As for private companies, they try to cut costs wherever possible. When I was supervising a project for China Resources, the construction company was private, and by the time it came to the insulation work, there were hardly any fire extinguishers left at the site – either broken or lost. . . The temporary water supply on site has been removed, and the floors inside cannot be used yet. . We really have no way; no matter how we try to urge them or send out notices, it’s useless, as the property owners turn a blind eye. . . It was a truly terrifying time back then. . The construction market is currently sluggish, and many construction companies win bids at low prices, so. . . Engineering enterprises manage their operations in a crude manner; safety efforts are mainly aimed at meeting regulatory requirements, avoiding legal risks, or dealing with inspections by authorities. If a construction site truly excels in terms of safety and professionalism, it requires significant investment. This success depends on competent safety officers and cooperative construction teams, but there is no real concept of systematic management or involvement from all employees. @Happy guy↓↓↓ I hope that the status of those in charge of safety can truly be improved, and that they have more say in matters related to safety. Only then will their recommendations carry more weight, and it will be easier to implement them. It is hoped that accident investigations will be conducted based on the extent of responsibility, rather than holding safety personnel accountable immediately after an accident occurs. There should be a balance between responsibilities and rights, and actions should be taken in accordance with facts. Otherwise, the safety industry will become a high-risk field, and more and more people who are passionate about safety will be deterred from working in this area. It is hoped that **top management will truly pay attention to this issue and initiate meaningful changes, so that safety professionals can devote themselves fully to their work and make a positive impact in their roles... Submitted by the safety professionals at China State Construction