In message <v01530502ad2603d8c7cd@[205.228.188.65]>, Robert Washington writes:
>Does any body in this newsgroup want to talk about safety in the workplace
>and how to build safety and environmental awareness among resistant
>employees?...
>We have a considerably good training program, but our employees act like
>the information went in one ear and out the other.
Robert and others,
I'm not aware of the connection >you< draw between your dilemma and
ecofeminism. However, I'll take a stab at it and outline an approach
that I feel is compatable with ecofeminism to see if it helps you find
a favorable outcome.
Why would workers want to ignore safety and environmental precautions
that on the face of the problem seem to preserve their well-being
through continued employment and personal survival?
The first question I have is: Assuming your safety training presents
information in a way the workers understand, what are the specific
practices that the workers persist in performing or ignoring to make
the workplace hazardous?
Secondly, with a list of those practices, I would suggest examining
each one carefully from multiple perspectives: What are the workers
incentives to behave in acceptable or unacceptable ways? What are the
supervisors and high level managers' incentives for the workers to
have certain types of behavior? What may appear to be individual
ignorance or stubbornness may suddenly appear to be a conflict between
organizational incentives.
Another obvious consideration may be cultural barriers between
works and the people who are trying to bring the plant into
compliance. There seems to be a strong disparity betwen your plant
and the others that the company runs. Talking to a manager who is
sensitive to these differences or a worker who understands the the
incentives of management may shed some light on this problematic
situation. Keeping an eye out for authority issues about what is
being imposed on whom may uncover a power struggle that may have
nothing to do with the immediate issue at hand.
I feel a bit like a fortune teller providing this perspective, but I
am interested in whether others on this list find resonance with my
interpretation and whether Robert finds this helpful at all.
Lisa Covi
