Many technicians and company owners in the electronic security industry tend to take job safety procedures, training, and documentation lightly. I never gave this concept much thought until I recently had a conversation with a long-time ESA member about his experience with an OSHA audit. Many technicians and company owners in the electronic security industry tend to take job safety procedures, training, and documentation lightly.
I never gave this concept much thought until I recently had a conversation with a long-time ESA member about his experience with an OSHA audit. I asked what kind of job his company was working on, as I didn’t realize OSHA touched many jobs that a security/fire alarm company would be involved in. Turns out it was work they were doing at an active construction site and it all boiled down to a ladder. I was shocked at the level of reporting and documentation that OSHA was requiring he provide. Not only was the audit time consuming, but it also resulted in fines for the company.
Yes, this audit was costly to the company, but what would have been worse is if the technician was hurt while at the job site. I decided to do some anecdotal research on injuries that can occur at electronic security installation job sites.
To do this research I sent an email off to ten friends in the industry and within 30 minutes I had the following examples:
Lift not locked: When completing a fire alarm system test & inspection, the technician was lifted to duct detectors in a warehouse. The customer
operated the lift but forgot to lock the cage in place. The technician fell out and the cage fell on top of him. The technician is still going through surgeries and recovery 3 ½ years later.
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