Safety First
A military friend of mine works for a heavy construction company where safety is a constant issue. Special clothing is necessary to protect workers from injury and other health issues. Workers are required to wear steel-toed shoes, hard hats, flame retardant clothing, special gloves, and must have a respirator to prevent from breathing in dust and chemicals. Last evening my friend called me and asked for my advice. I like to talk and often share my opinion, so I was asked what to do.
A fellow worker showed up for work wearing a dress with a long skirt and high heels. He showed up without a hard hat and without the respirator saying the color clashed with his ensemble. My friend told him in no uncertain words to go home and to leave the site for his safety. About fifteen minutes later my friend got a call from the Human Relations Office about the incident. The dude in the dress had secretly videoed the entire confrontation. Apparently he immediately contacted the Human Resource personnel because his “rights” were being violated. My friend is to report to Human Resources tomorrow to discuss the incident today.
The friend called me to ask my advice. From my limited view, I could see, the man in the dress violated several of the company’s policies on the shoes, clothing, and other gear necessary to protect each employee. I stressed to my friend, say that the man was sent home because he wasn’t dressed to meet the company’s policies that had been created for each employee’s safety. The dress was certainly not flame retardant, the high heels didn’t have steel toes, he wasn’t wearing a hard hat, and he was missing the respirator. I said to stress the reason was for safety issues. The regulations were created to protect each individual worker. The dress code was also to prevent an employee from having a reason for a law suit. The guy’s refusal to wear proper attire needed to be addressed. His attire was completely unacceptable to perform his job safely and should have been sent home until he complied.
I told my friend it sounded like the guy wants to sue the construction company for a big paycheck. I told my buddy to continually bring up the reason that the man was sent home was for safety reasons and because he was improperly dressed. The man and other employees would be adversely affected and the company would be held libel if the man was injured. If asked, say, “I don’t care what the man wears at home, but there are rules to which ALL employees must adhere. I am anxious to hear the outcome.”