The Good, Bad & Ugly of My Safety Career
We are extremely privileged to be able to publish this work by George Robotham. George is one of the most respected and experienced safety practitioners in Australia. This paper is enthralling reading and documents Georges’ learning’s in his 38 year career working in some of the toughest environments for a safety person. This no holds barred document should be essential reading for safety students and experts alike.
Download and enjoy here
Extract:
Conclusion
Well, there is the Good, Bad & Ugly of my safety career. I hope you picked up a few things that will help you with your safety career.
Major lessons learnt-
- It is often the relationships you build, not your technical skills, that determines success
- Do not take yourself too seriously as if you do you will have difficulty coping with the fact many will not share your passion for safety.
- Use personal damage occurrences, not emotion, to guide your preventative efforts.
- Be a life-long learner in a variety of fields, not just OHS.
- Everything you do must pass the real world test.
- Minimise the use of lecture-style presentations.
- Challenging the status quo is a lot of fun and very satisfying, much better than putting up with fools and mediocrity. Being a bit of a stirrer is an admirable approach provided it is done sensitively.
- Do not get too focused on work, your family should come first.
- If it is not face to face it is not communication.
A ex-manager of mine, who has a way with words, says the trouble with safety is that management and safety professionals sometimes engage in acts of public masturbation! I apologise if anyone finds the foregoing offensive but my belief is it is an admittedly crude, but accurate, way of describing some of the things I have seen happen in safety.