SAFETY FITZ LLC

In college I tried to prepare myself for a career as a manager.  I learned how statistics worked, the theories of motivating people to work, accounting in business, how to plan work, and how to market goods to customers.  In the capstone classes of my final year I listened to retired executives from some of the largest companies in the country lecturing us on life and careers in those companies. I was also the child of two factory worker parents and had felt first-hand the good and bad ways companies sometimes treated their employees. During my senior year, my father lost his job when his company decided to move his plant to a southern state.  Figuring I would be a ‘company man’ soon I asked my Management Department Advisor how a manager lived with the responsibility to layoff, and take away the livelihoods, of several hundred employees and their families. He merely smiled and told me to read the German philosopher Nietzsche.  About 5 years later, as a new Personnel Manager, I would be doing exactly that myself, as I had to layoff 500 employees in a couple days. Nietzsche was not much help with the guilt I felt, especially as some of those people were my friends and former line employees.   

And so, I felt first-hand one of the two worst things in my career.  I learned in college the theory of employee discipline and termination of employees, and this was reinforced by my superiors in my first job as a Line Supervisor.  I remember what my first General Foreman told me going into my first discipline meeting ‘for cause’, “Try not to make it personal.  I know at our level sometimes it is very hard to make it non-personal but try to remember to discipline or fire the behavior not the person!”  I remember those words like it was yesterday and tried to remember those words the next several hundred times I had to do it.  My boss was also right, as a supervisor, it sometimes did feel very personal.  In those cases, the employee had somehow let your team down, or made me look bad.  As petty as it was it sometimes felt good to get them back, although I did feel a little guilt.  I also know in the twilight of my career I always tried to give the employee the ‘benefit of the doubt!’ 

However, there was nothing good when I had to tell someone they were losing their job because of an economic downturn.  Through no fault of the employees’ they would be out of a job, and not be able to provide for their family.  I remember during a massive layoff, several of my former fellow supervisors were being let go, some had several more years with the company than I had.  Newly assigned to Personnel I was assigned to go over their severance packages.  It took every ounce of willpower I had to look them in the eye as I talked to them.  I could almost feel their eyes on me asking, “Why does he get to stay?”  I would just dread these kinds of meetings.  In every case those situations just plain sucked! 

The worst professional experience of my career was when I was myself terminated.  I made a mistake and got in an argument with my boss, I lost!  First I had to deal with all the personal feelings of failure, and second was that awful feeling in your gut, worrying how you would feed your family, pay the mortgage, and keep up the medical insurance on my family, fighting for unemployment benefits, and trying to find another job.  It was just awful!  As bad as it was to give the bad news to others, the receiving end was worse!  After that experience I had a much clearer personal appreciation of this unpleasant task. 

The second worst thing in my career also occurred all too often.  Once you do it you will always remember the first time.  I was an inexperienced supervisor in a foundry.  One of my employees, Nick had a wife and four children, one a new baby.  Nick was a good worker and the kind of person everyone liked having on their team.  One night he put his hand in a conveyor while he was trying to free a jam-up of castings.  When the castings broke free three of his fingers on his left hand were in the gears, and those three fingers were severely crushed and detached. In his haste to free-up the conveyor he had not locked out the conveyor as he had been trained.   When the ambulance came into the plant and took him to the hospital, the General Foreman said, “I am sorry to lay this on you, as I know this is your first time, but I am going to head up to the hospital to assist the family. Jack (the other General Foreman in the plant on our shift) had to go home early. You will need to go to Personnel and get Nick’s contact info. Call his wife and tell her to meet me at the hospital. Tell her Nick’s left hand is injured and you are not sure how bad, but DO NOT tell her about the fingers, as you know the hospital is less than a mile away and they might be able to save them. Go do it right now!”   I had seen the fingers as they were put on ice and it was obvious they were mangled and crushed beyond repair, so I gulped and walked in a semi-run to Personnel.

In Personnel I quickly found the contact information.  I called the home phone number, a man answered, and I immediately said, “Is Mrs. _______ there?” 

The male voice said, “I am her father, we are visiting and helping with the new baby.  May I take a message, she is in bed sleeping?” 

I replied, “I am Nick’s supervisor at work, Tom Fitzgerald. I am sorry but I really think I should talk to her, my apologies.” 

He replied in alarm, “Is Nick OK? Is he hurt?”

I said, “Sir, he is hurt but conscious and responsive.  We are not sure how bad it is, but it is his left hand (he was right-hand dominate).  I think I should talk to Nick’s wife.”  

He replied, “Where is Nick? I will get her up and take her there immediately!”   

I said, “Sir, Nick is at the Community Hospital, he just left by ambulance less than 10 minutes ago.  My General Foreman, Gary is there, you cannot miss him he is 6’8” and is 280 pounds (former NFL Defensive End) and will assist the family as much as you desire! I will call Nick tomorrow. I am very sorry.  We are all hoping for the best!”  The father in-law hung up.    

Nick’s father in-law did as he said and took his daughter to the hospital.  Regrettably, Nick got a nasty infection while in the hospital and they were not able to reattach his crushed fingers.  I called him on the phone a couple times and visited him in the hospital twice.  He never returned to work at the foundry again.  As I said, once you do your first one, you will never forget it.  I would like to say, the more you make these kind of calls the easier they get, but that is not the case.  That first call to a spouse was as bad as last one I made a twelve years ago.    

Knock on wood, I never had to make the very worst call of all!  That is the one some of my peers have had to make when an employee is never coming home!  Those must simply be awful!  I came very close a couple times, but never really had to make that awful call! I shiver at the very thought of how close I came a couple times!   I thank my lucky stars I never had to do that!

Over the years I have had to make many of those phone calls, and I have sat at the hospital with families.  They were always tough! I count these experiences as the worst   experiences of my entire career.  However, my mother always told me, “Tommy there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud!”  About 12 years ago I was sitting at the hospital with a family whose Millwright husband/father had a thumb and an index finger amputated by a mechanical press, somehow my mother’s words came to me.  But how could such a tragedy, where a skilled employee just lost a thumb and finger on his dominant hand ever have any good attached to it?

I then remembered a couple more things:

1. The second worst thing in my career was terminating someone. The worst was sitting here with this family. 
2. I was preparing to do annual Lockout Training for Authorized Users at the plant.

How could I somehow use these things?  I thought and thought about it but just could not grasp how the three things fit together.  Two week later I was training a group of Millwrights in Lockout, that were in fact peers of the employee that lost his thumb and finger above. I had gone through most of the training and was getting ready for a big finish.  Sometimes as a trainer you can tell your message is really hitting home, as all the eyes in class are following you.  In this case I was almost there but not quite. I needed a big finish!  In that moment, a new ending popped in my head, the three things above all came together in my head, and I said, “Look guys it is this simple, Lockout is NOT hard!  You know it is the right thing to do.  I have seen all too many of you believe you are smarter than the system.  Sometimes some of you think because of your excellent skills and training you do not need to Lockout. I am telling you that you have absolutely NO CHOICE but to ALWAYS LOCKOUT!  I will even put it simpler.  I hate most in my job two things!  First, if I have too fire someone for any reason!  I do not care what anyone says it is nothing any good manager enjoys!  Second, I hate to call a spouse and tell them their spouse is injured.  In fact, I hate that most of all! Therefore, I am telling you I will fire you in a heartbeat for not LOCKOING OUT when that is compared with even the possibility of having to call your wife! I do not care if you have worked here for a day or 40 years! No one has a right to blatantly disregard a Safety Policy!  If you have a problem with a Lockout you complete a Hazardous Work Permit and take it to your boss for approval!  Got it?”  

They all looked at me with a stunned silence. I then added, “I do not care what you offer as an excuse.  I do not care if you got away with it and got lucky and did not get hurt!  You disregard any safety policy especially this one, you are out on a limb by yourself!  If we catch you, I will make sure that we cut that dead wood off!  I am done sitting up at the hospital with a spouse for a severed limb on her husband!  Either you Lockout or get an approved Hazardous Work Permit.  There are no other options! You got it?” (I thought to myself, “And that Hazard Work Permit, better be very good if you want me to approve it!”)

I have told something similar as the above to every safety class I have taught since.  I even use something like it to this day in my consulting work!  First the bad news, a couple people tested our resolve and I had to do that second worst thing. We had to fire or severely reprimand (last chance deals) a very few people.  However, the good news is in the next 12 years I never had to sit at the hospital again with a spouse due to a lost finger or limb!  In my opinion it was an easy choice to make!  I sleep better!  In every Safety Training Class I do there are two lessons:

1. You (the student) have no choice, you must always do the safe thing!
2. You (the student) disregard #1, you will not be on our team!

The way I look at it is Ma Fitz was right.  I never liked the Two Worst Tasks of My Career, but I can make them work for the greater good!  It really is that simple!

If you have any questions or concerns please let us know, here on the blog, or at fitz@safetyfitz.com